Energy Savings

Commissioning from the Owner’s Perspective in Higher Education Facilities – A Panel Discussion

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Abstract:

This presentation will address common concerns and approaches to commissioning higher education facilities. The panelists include representatives of higher education organizations directly involved with planning, scoping, procurement, and management of commissioning processes on projects at university campus buildings and facilities. The goal of this interactive session is to address successes and challenges experienced in commissioning various projects through personal experiences, case studies, and dialogue between the panelists and audience.

Learning Outcomes:

 

  1. Recognize challenges and discuss opportunities for effective scoping and procurement of third-party commissioning providers for both capital and in-house projects in the higher education market.
  2. Understand the needs and expectations of higher education commissioning stakeholders from commissioning turnover, including training, systems manuals, etc.
  3. Understand and implement continuous commissioning techniques being introduced in higher education facilities operations including ongoing commissioning, automatic fault detection and diagnostics, and automated continuous commissioning, among others.
  4. Identify strategies to improve collaboration among design teams, contractors, and facility operations to enhance deliverables, streamline turnover, and support long-term building performance.
Sponsored By: EnergyCAP
For over forty years, EnergyCAP has helped over 10,000 energy and sustainability leaders across government, education, and commercial sectors streamline utility bill accounting, energy management, and sustainability reporting. EnergyCAP’s financial-grade energy data analytics platform and tools make it the leading energy and sustainability ERP platform on the market today. EnergyCAP, LLC is a multiple year winner of ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year, Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies, and Environmental Leader’s Product of the Year. In addition to software, EnergyCAP, Inc. provide implementation, training, utility bill processing & management, and support services.

Date

Jul 08 2026
Expired!

Time

2:00 pm
Category

Speakers

  • Gordon Stead Gordon Stead Commissioning Engineer, University of Georgia
    Gordon Stead
    Gordon Stead
    Commissioning Engineer, University of Georgia

    Gordon Stead has served as the Commissioning Engineer at the University of Georgia since January 2022, developing the Cx Department with the brief of saving energy systematically over UGA’s 7.8 million square feet GFA, 440 conditioned buildings, and various District Energy Systems. With operations covering both New Construction and Existing Systems CX, he has learned that the most significant and scalable energy-savings strategies need to be analyzed and applied in a distinct way by owners of campus facilities compared to the mainstream strategies that are focused on the efforts of contractors and single buildings.

    Gordon’s undergraduate degree is in Physics from the University of Oxford in Great Britain and he enjoyed a ten-year first career in teaching and educational middle-leadership before gaining his master’s in Engineering from UGA. He holds the LEED AP certification, is working towards the CEFP, and aims to complete CEM or EMP as soon as the experience prerequisites are satisfied!

  • Michael Hoffman Michael Hoffman University of Arizona
    Michael Hoffman
    Michael Hoffman
    University of Arizona

    Michael has been in energy and facility management for more than twenty-five years including experience in building automation design and installation, building commissioning, energy auditing, measurement and verification and strategic energy management planning. He holds a Master of Science in Facilities Management from Pratt Institute in New York. Michael is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and Certified Educational Facilities Professional (CEFP), and holds additional certifications in building commissioning, and measurement and verification. As the first Energy Manager at the University of Arizona, Michael has been responsible for developing ongoing successful programs for in-house commissioning, automatic fault detection and diagnostics, energy management planning and improvements to the university’s internal utility metering program.

  • Stephen Seller Stephen Seller P.E. , Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Stephen Seller
    Stephen Seller
    P.E. , Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Stephen is a Certified Commissioning Authority (CxA) + Building Enclosure (BE) as well as Building Enclosure Commissioning Process Provider (BECxP).
    His work at MIT focuses on planning for commissioning of Buildings for both MEP and enclosures.
    In addition, he spends time on working the building turnover process.
    In the past, Stephen also worked as a Senior Commissioning Engineer with commissioning agent, a Controls Systems Engineer for a large HVAC manufacturer and a Project Engineer for a refrigeration company.

  • Thomas Diliberti Thomas Diliberti CEM, CMVP, CIAQP, CLEP, Energy and Sustainability Manager, EnergyCAP
    Thomas Diliberti
    Thomas Diliberti
    CEM, CMVP, CIAQP, CLEP, Energy and Sustainability Manager, EnergyCAP

    Tom Diliberti is an energy and sustainability expert with a background in facilities technology and operational efficiency. A former energy manager himself, he applies his analytical and educational skills to help organizations optimize energy use, improve sustainability, and maximize ROI. With experience in energy management software solutions, Tom specializes in turning complex data into actionable insights and training energy professions. He holds CEM, CMVP, CIAQP, and CLEP certifications from the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE).