Building enclosure commissioning as an energy efficiency strategy: Energy and economic benefits through life-cycle operational costing

초록

The energy performance gap presents a significant barrier to reducing the operational energy consumption of the building sector. Building enclosure commissioning (BECx) is a critical quality assurance process to address this gap, yet its energy and economic benefits remain under-quantified. This study provides a quantitative evaluation of BECx as an energy efficiency strategy by analyzing its impact on both operational energy performance and lifecycle cost-effectiveness. The methodology consisted of three phases: (1) field inspections of 131 buildings to identify enclosure deficiencies; (2) dynamic energy modeling to quantify the resulting energy penalty; and (3) a life-cycle operational costing analysis based on ISO 15686-5 to assess economic viability using metrics such as the simple payback period (SPP), net present value (NPV), and savings-to-investment ratio (SIR). The findings reveal that on-site construction deficiencies led to an increase in energy consumption of up to 4.7% relative to design targets. The economic analysis demonstrated that BECx is an economically viable investment, with 9 of the 13 case studies achieving payback periods under a 15-year benchmark (averaging 9.9 years). These cases consistently showed positive NPVs and SIRs greater than 1.0, and a sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of these results against economic uncertainties. This study concludes that BECx is not merely a quality assurance measure but a practical and cost-effective energy efficiency strategy. The findings provide building owners, policymakers, and construction professionals with a robust, data-driven justification for its wider adoption, ensuring that high-performance buildings achieve their intended energy savings.

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