I was able to participate in the Large Building Infiltration Presentation at ACI, which conducted a Commercial Building Energy Audit on a 25,000-square-foot commercial building. I participated on a technician level with my friends at The Energy Conservatory. I was allowed me to be a “fly on the wall,” and it was fascinating to see five Minneapolis Blower Doors in operation. This commercial energy audit was done to the Army Corps of Engineers Standard, which is the best available benchmark for performing a large building energy audit.

While this building was only 25,000-square-feet, it took a day of preparation to really seal the building up and determine what thermal boundary openings would be sealed vs which would be left open. Overall, we collected good data for continued work and revisions to the current large building audit standard. However, we all agreed that this kind of testing on big buildings may be too expensive to justify for energy auditing purposes – who even has 5 blower doors at their disposal? The insight to the process of auditing a big building was invaluable, and it’s amazing how much more prep work goes into a commercial building vs a residential home.

Visit our commercial energy auditor training page to learn more.