References: PNNL Building Re-tuning
CAMBER's rules and advisory actions follow the free Building Re-tuning material that the
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) publishes for large commercial buildings. This page
lists every resource CAMBER links to, and which rules each one backs. The same list is the
registry camber.references (provisional, 0.96), which the reports use:
- the audit report's findings table and its Recommended actions table carry
Learn more links to the guide behind each finding (plain text:
learn more: <ids>); - the RCx report adds the links to each issue page, links chapter 9 from its Verify on site walk-down checklist, and ends with a short Further reading section listing only the guides relevant to its issues;
- JSON outputs carry the reference ids (
Recommendation.references, the action-plan rows'references, and each RCx issue'sreferences).
Link policy. CAMBER links to these documents and never copies them: no text, figures or PDFs
from them are in the repository or in a report. Where a guide backs a rule, the mapping was
checked against the guide's own section headings (listed below, heading only). A rule that no
guide clearly covers is mapped to the relevant training chapter, or left unmapped; nothing is
forced. Every URL is checked weekly by scripts/datasets_linkcheck.py, and verified_on records
when each one last answered.
Guides to the re-tuning measures
| Guide | Number | Rules | Checked against (headings) | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air-Side Economizer Operation | PNNL-SA-86706 | outdoor_air_fraction, economizer_high_limit, free_cooling_missed |
Is the outdoor-air damper open when outdoor conditions are not favorable (outdoor-air temperature > return-air temperature)?; Does the cooling coil operate during economizer mode? | 2026-09-29 |
| AHU Static Pressure Control | PNNL-SA-84187 | static_pressure_reset, damper_census, static_rogue_zone_census, static_cohort_starvation |
Is there a reset-schedule for the duct static pressure?; Determine whether the static pressure set point is too high or too low | 2026-09-29 |
| AHU Discharge-Air Temperature Control | PNNL-SA-84186 | supply_air_reset, supply_air_reset_compliance, supply_air_control, sat_rogue_zone_census |
Is reset being used to control the discharge-air set point?; Is the discharge-air temperature meeting set point, or do deviations occur? | 2026-09-29 |
| Occupancy Scheduling: Night and Weekend Temperature Set back and Supply Fan Cycling during Unoccupied Hours | PNNL-SA-85194 | night_weekend_setback |
Is there night set back for unoccupied hours? | 2026-09-29 |
| Zone Heating and Cooling Control | PNNL-SA-85200 | reheat_penalty, reheat_minimization_g36 |
Is there significant reheat occurring at the interior zones? | 2026-09-29 |
| Central Utility Plant Cooling Control | PNNL-SA-89198 | chw_plant_reset, chw_pump_dp_reset |
Is reset utilized on the chilled water supply temperature?; Is the loop delta-T (ChWRT-ChWST) low?; Is the loop differential pressure set point constant and if so, can it be reset at partial load conditions? | 2026-09-29 |
| Central Utility Plant Heating Control | PNNL-SA-89222 | hw_plant_deltat, hw_pump_dp_reset, hw_pump_summer_lockout |
Is the loop delta-T (HWST-HWRT) low?; Is the hot water loop differential pressure constant and if so, can it be reset at partial load conditions? | 2026-09-29 |
| AHU Minimum Outdoor-Air Operation | PNNL-SA-88958 | outdoor_air_fraction, dcv_verification, dcv_system_verification, co2_ventilation, co2_ventilation_system, ventilation_rate_62_1, ventilation_system_62_1 |
Is outdoor air sufficient for ventilation or is over-ventilation occurring? | 2026-09-29 |
| AHU Heating and Cooling Control | PNNL-SA-88359 | simultaneous_heat_cool, leaking_valve |
Is there simultaneous heating and cooling occurring? | 2026-09-29 |
| Trending Requirements for Re-Tuning | — | — | — | 2026-09-29 |
The pnnl-trending-requirements guide lists the points to trend before re-tuning; it backs no single rule, and pairs with chapter 4 and CAMBER's data readiness checks.
Training chapters (Large Commercial Buildings: Re-tuning for Efficiency)
| Resource | Number | Rules | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large Commercial Buildings: Re-tuning for Efficiency, chapter 1: Introduction | PNNL-SA-85063 | — | 2026-09-29 |
| Large Commercial Buildings: Re-tuning for Efficiency, chapter 2: Building Personality | PNNL-SA-85063 | — | 2026-09-29 |
| Large Commercial Buildings: Re-tuning for Efficiency, chapter 3: Collect Initial Building Information | PNNL-SA-85063 | — | 2026-09-29 |
| Large Commercial Buildings: Re-tuning for Efficiency, chapter 4: Pre-Re-Tuning Phase: Trend Data Collection and Analysis | PNNL-SA-85063 | — | 2026-09-29 |
| Large Commercial Buildings: Re-tuning for Efficiency, chapter 5: Air Handling Units: Pre-Re-Tuning and Trending and Re-Tuning | PNNL-SA-85063 | dcv_verification, dcv_system_verification, co2_ventilation, co2_ventilation_system, static_pressure_reset, damper_census, supply_air_reset, supply_air_reset_compliance, supply_air_control, simultaneous_heat_cool, leaking_valve, control_hunting, night_weekend_setback, sat_cohort_starvation, static_cohort_starvation |
2026-09-29 |
| Large Commercial Buildings: Re-tuning for Efficiency, chapter 6: Economizer Operations: Pre-Re-Tuning and Re-Tuning | PNNL-SA-85063 | outdoor_air_fraction, economizer_high_limit, free_cooling_missed |
2026-09-29 |
| Large Commercial Buildings: Re-tuning for Efficiency, chapter 7: Terminal Units in Air Distribution System: Pre-Re-Tuning and Re-Tuning | PNNL-SA-85063 | damper_census, reheat_penalty, reheat_minimization_g36, overcooling_min_flow, overcooling_severity, unmet_setpoint_hours, airflow_tracking, zones_heat_cool_census, reheat_capacity_shortfall, actuator_stuck, cohort_airflow, cohort_space_temp, sat_rogue_zone_census, static_rogue_zone_census, sat_cohort_starvation, static_cohort_starvation |
2026-09-29 |
| Large Commercial Buildings: Re-tuning for Efficiency, chapter 8: Central Utility Plant: Pre-Re-Tuning and Re-Tuning | PNNL-SA-85063 | chw_plant_reset, chw_pump_dp_reset, chw_supply_tracking, chiller_efficiency, chiller_staging, condenser_water_reset, cooling_tower_approach, condenser_bypass_leak, chiller_approach_fouling, chiller_staging_fleet, cooling_tower_fan_effort_drift, hw_plant_deltat, hw_pump_dp_reset, boiler_short_cycle, boiler_summer_lockout, hw_pump_summer_lockout, boiler_efficiency_drift |
2026-09-29 |
| Large Commercial Buildings: Re-tuning for Efficiency, chapter 9: Building Walk Down | PNNL-SA-85063 | — | 2026-09-29 |
| Large Commercial Buildings: Re-tuning for Efficiency, chapter 10: Re-Tuning Building Controls and Systems | PNNL-SA-85063 | — | 2026-09-29 |
Chapters 1–4 and 9–10 cover the re-tuning process (building personality, initial information, trend collection, the walk-down, re-tuning the building) rather than one fault, so no rule maps to them. Chapter 9 (Building Walk Down) is linked instead from the RCx report's Verify on site section (0.98): every walk-down item carries it (camber.references.WALKDOWN_REFERENCES), and the report's Further reading list adds it when that section is present.
Small/Medium-Sized Commercial Building Re-tuning
PNNL's second course covers small buildings that have packaged rooftop units and thermostats and often no BAS. Its measures chapter is the closest match for a packaged unit's compressor.
| Resource | Number | Rules | Checked against (headings) | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small/Medium-Sized Commercial Building Re-tuning Training, chapter 3: Identifying and Implementing Re-tuning Measures | PNNL-SA-92685 | compressor_short_cycle |
Building HVAC Implementation: Different HVAC System General Guidance Examples (packaged units); Building HVAC Implementation: Thermostats | 2026-10-10 |
compressor_short_cycle maps here since 0.103 (#125). The chapter has no heading on compressor
starts. Its packaged-unit and thermostat sections cover the settings that make a unit cycle: the
thermostat's set points, its location and its fan mode. The large-building course's chapter 8
covers chillers, but not their compressor starts.
Other resources
| Resource | Kind | Number | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interval Data Analysis with the Energy Charting and Metrics Tool (ECAM) | tool guide | PNNL-20495 | 2026-09-29 |
| Energy Savings Modeling of Standard Commercial Building Retuning Measures: Large Office Buildings | report | PNNL-21569 | 2026-09-29 |
| Building Re-tuning (project page) | project page | — | 2026-09-29 |
| Building Re-tuning: downloads | project page | — | 2026-09-29 |
| ECAM (Energy Charting and Metrics), an Excel-based M&V and trend-charting tool | related tool | — | 2026-09-29 |
ECAM, the Energy Charting and Metrics tool the PNNL interval-data guide uses, is a related tool listed in the ecosystem; CAMBER neither ships nor wraps it.
Rules without a reference
These rules have no Re-tuning guide or chapter that clearly covers them, so they carry no link:
- the G36 reset-effectiveness rules (
sat_reset_effectiveness,static_reset_effectiveness), which check a trim-and-respond sequence the guides predate; - the G36 fault conditions (
g36_afdd), which cite ASHRAE Guideline 36 itself; filter_fouling;- the DX and heat-pump rules other than
compressor_short_cycle, andsource_loop_deltat(the course covers built-up air handlers and central plants); - the drift detectors, except
cooling_tower_fan_effort_driftandboiler_efficiency_drift, which map to chapter 8.
The zone-request census rules map to the guide whose heading covers them: the discharge-air guide's reset section bases a zone-driven reset on the zones the unit serves, setting aside the warmest and coolest, and the static-pressure guide's "too high or too low" section reads the box damper positions, sets the static by the most demanding boxes (leaving out failed or outlier ones) and reads boxes held wide open as starved.
Using the registry
from camber.references import references_for, reference
for ref in references_for("dcv_verification"):
print(ref.id, ref.url)
reference("pnnl-guide-min-oa").label()