Short-Term Evaluation of Energy Performance Improvement in an Existing Office Building through Data-Driven Fan Commissioning Control

Inefficient heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) operation resulting from degraded building envelopes and aging HVAC systems often leads to unnecessary energy consumption.To address this issue, commissioning has been recognized as an effective approach for improving operational efficiency without requiring equipment replacement.This paper presents a case study of data-driven fan commissioning applied to an existing office building in Seoul, Korea.Analysis of Building Automation System (BAS) operational data revealed continuous air-handling unit (AHU) operation beyond occupancy hours and persistently excessive supply airflow rates, both of which were identified as key sources of operational inefficiency.Based on these findings, a commissioning strategy was developed that reduced AHU operating time by one hour and supply airflow rates by 10%.These modified conditions were defined as the proposed case, whereas the existing operating conditions served as the base case.The results showed that indoor air temperatures remained above the recommended heating setpoint of 20°C in both cases, confirming that thermal comfort was maintained after commissioning.Fan energy consumption decreased by approximately 30.8% and 30.6% on the 4 th and 16 th floors, respectively, while supply heating energy decreased by approximately 13.8% and 13.5%, respectively.Analysis over an extended period confirmed that these energy-saving trends persisted throughout the entire analysis period.These findings demonstrate that data-driven fan commissioning can effectively reduce HVAC energy consumption in existing buildings while maintaining acceptable indoor thermal conditions.