Reduce energy costs, get cash back, and meet upcoming BPS compliance.
What Is Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx)
Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx) combines continuous building data, analytics, and engineering expertise to identify energy waste, control issues, equipment faults, and other performance problems that often go unnoticed. NWESI then helps prioritize the fixes that deliver the greatest system performance improvement, reducing energy use, and lowering operating costs.
Benefits of MBCx:
- ✅ Lower energy costs by finding and fixing waste
- ✅ Catch problems before they become expensive failures
- ✅ Improve occupant comfort and cut complaint calls
- ✅ Keep your EUI on target
Reach Your EUIt Before your Oregon BPS Compliance Deadline
Oregon’s Building Performance Standard (BPS) requires covered buildings to track
energy performance, and Tier 1 buildings must meet an Energy Use Intensity Target (EUIt) or comply with additional requirements. Compliance deadlines begin as early as June 1, 2028. Starting MBCx now gives you time to identify and implement Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs) that can reduce your building’s EUI before your compliance deadline.
If you reach your EUI target before the deadline, you may avoid a longer, audit-based compliance path.
Compliance Benefits of Installing MBCx:
Benchmarking & Annual Reporting
Oregon BPS requires covered buildings to report energy use annually. MBCx keeps that benchmarking data accurate and audit-ready year-round.
Hitting Your EUI Target
BPS sets an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) target for covered buildings. MBCx finds the operational fixes that lower EUI, often without a capital retrofit.
Building a Stronger BERI Application
BERI funding is competitive, scored on the project plan and verified savings. MBCx generates that documentation as part of normal monitoring.
Staying Compliant Long-Term
BPS reporting and targets continue each cycle, not just once. MBCx’s ongoing monitoring keeps you compliant for every reporting period.
Fund Your MBCx Implementation
Cost shouldn’t be a barrier to energy-saving improvements. Through Energy Trust of Oregon’s Incentive Program, the initial MBCx process is covered, including NWESI’s feasibility study and monitoring integration services. If the feasibility study determines that your building doesn’t qualify for the program, you don’t pay anything.
Once your building moves into active monitoring, verified savings earn $0.45 per kWh and $5.00 per therm, potentially offsetting up to 100% of your measure costs.
Energy Trust of Oregon’s 4 Phase MBCx Program
NWESI’s MBCx implementation follows Energy Trust of Oregon’s four-phase program, from a funded feasibility study and monitoring integration, through 12 months of active implementation, to project closeout. We help coordinate quarterly reimbursements through Energy Trust’s MBCx Incentive program while guiding you through implementation, issue resolution, and verification of the energy savings.
Proactive Maintenance: Find Problems Before They Become Failures
Traditional maintenance often starts after something goes wrong. MBCx takes a different approach. Using Fault Detection & Diagnostics (FDD), trend data, and continuous system monitoring, MBCx can identify abnormal equipment operation and developing problems before they turn into larger failures. Proactive maintenance can help save energy and improve occupant comfort in the long run.
Predictive Maintenance with MBCx
- Low-cost fixes
- Detects developing problems early
- Allows maintenance to be planned
- Reduces hidden energy waste
- Root cause can be identified and resolved
- Occupant satisfaction can improve retention
Reactive Maintenance
- Costly large scale fixes
- Relies on alarms, complaints, or breakdowns
- Expensive on-call emergency work
- Faults may waste energy for months
- Repairs may not address the root cause
- Can interfere with occupant operations
Proven Long-term Savings
By using building analytics tools such as energy information systems (EIS) to track energy trends and fault detection & diagnostics (FDD) to catch equipment faults, MBCx helps you save money and avoid costly problems before they start. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Smart Energy Analytics Campaign analyzed cost and savings data from 104 organizations and more than 6,500 buildings, and the results show measurable value.
2-year median simple payback
for organizations using EMIS (building analytics)
9% median annual energy savings
for buildings using FDD
3% median annual energy savings
savings for buildings using EIS
27% savings reached after 5 years
for buildings using FDD
Kramer, H., Lin, G., Curtin, C., Crowe, E., and Granderson, J. Proving the Business Case for Building Analytics. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, October 2020. https://doi.org/10.20357/B7G022
In-house vs third-party MBCx implementation
Running MBCx internally means adding staff, software, and expertise your team doesn’t have today, along with the time it takes to build all three from scratch. Here’s how that compares to bringing in a partner who already has the people, tools, and process in place.
| Category | Bringing MBCx In-House | Partnering with NWESI |
|---|---|---|
| Staffing | Employee training or hiring additional personnel | One predictable monthly fee |
| Workload | Managing implementation, reporting, and assessment yourself | Consistent, on-time reporting and action plans ready to implement |
| Field Work | Hiring a separate contractor for in-person commissioning, TAB, and MEP design | Streamlined services with direct access to the analytics team |
| Focus | Operation-minded, focused on keeping the building running | Savings-minded, focused on finding what’s costing you money |
| Ramp-Up Time | Months to hire, train, and get software/IT approvals in place | Faster start using an already-established process and platform |
| Benchmarking | Only sees your building’s own data in isolation | Cross-portfolio experience, so findings are benchmarked against what’s normal (and abnormal) elsewhere |
| Software Overhead | Purchasing, licensing, and maintaining EMIS/FDD tools yourself | Bundled into the service, no separate software procurement |
Why NWESI?
Since 1958, NWESI has worked hands-on with building HVAC and energy systems, not just designing them on paper, but verifying they perform as intended. That same independent, third-party approach is what makes MBCx effective: an engineering team that understands your mechanical systems well enough to know which alerts matter and find what’s genuinely costing you money.
Monitoring-Based Commissioning FAQs
What is Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx)?
Monitoring-Based Commissioning is an ongoing process that uses continuous data monitoring and analytics software to track how a building’s HVAC and energy systems perform over time. Unlike a one-time audit, MBCx catches issues as they happen and verifies that fixes actually work.
Does my building have to comply with Oregon’s Building Performance Standard (HB 3409)?
If your commercial building is 20,000 sq ft or larger, it’s likely covered under Oregon’s Building Performance Standard. Compliance deadlines are phased by building size and type, starting as early as June 1, 2028.
What incentives does Energy Trust of Oregon offer for MBCx?
Energy Trust of Oregon funds MBCx feasibility studies and monitoring integration directly through its Existing Buildings program and pays $0.45 per kWh and $5.00 per therm for verified energy savings during implementation.
Is my building eligible for Energy Trust of Oregon incentives?
Eligibility depends on your utility provider. Buildings served by Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural, Cascade Natural Gas, or Avista generally qualify, regardless of building size.
