Practical Tools for Better Buildings: Prism Supports NRCan on Building Optimization Resources

Home » Practical Tools for Better Buildings: Prism Supports NRCan on Building Optimization Resources

As buildings age, equipment and control systems can gradually drift from peak performance. This can increase energy use, maintenance costs, and create occupant comfort issues. Building optimization through Existing Building Commissioning (EBCx) helps building owners and operators make informed decisions to optimize their systems and improve performance across lighting, HVAC, and other energy-intensive equipment.

Sharing our expertise with NRCan

For over 35 years, Prism has helped organizations across Canada identify and implement energy-saving opportunities through building optimization. We’re proud to bring this experience to our collaboration with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), contributing to a new set of educational factsheets designed to empower building professionals across the country.

“The factsheets will help raise awareness and education among building owners and operators when deciding to optimize existing building systems,” says Sam Thomas, Principal and Strategic Energy Management Team Leader at Prism.

Prism worked with NRCan to develop five factsheets, each highlighting a key opportunity for improving the performance of existing buildings. These resources can be accessed through NRCan’s EBCx webpages, which feature a wide range of tools to support building optimization efforts across Canada.

They are also available here for direct download:

The factsheets provide best practices and guidance for building owners and operators navigating building performance improvements, whether they’re working independently or with consultants.

“If they are working with consultants, the factsheets can also offer them guidance on what needs to be done and things to look for in the reports,” Sam adds.

Prism Engineering staff in conducting various energy audits and system analysis.

Prism engineers and technical specialists conducting various building and energy audits.

Experience in 1,000+ building audits

The content in these resources draws directly from the on-the-ground experience that Prism’s multidisciplinary team has built up over the years. Our engineers and technical specialists have worked on more than 1,000 building audits—totaling over 73 million square feet.

Prism is also one of the most active service providers in BC Hydro and FortisBC’s Continuous Optimization Program (C-Op). We’ve delivered more than 300 C-Op projects—representing approximately one-third of all C-Op projects approved by BC Hydro.

“The factsheets reflect our experience on what has and hasn’t worked in these projects, as well as trends we’ve seen in the industry and how they might help operators,” Sam explains.

New EBCx pre-screening tool

In addition to the factsheets, Prism collaborated with NRCan to update the EBCx pre-screening tool. This new user-friendly tool helps building owners and operators quickly identify which buildings within a portfolio may be good candidates for existing building commissioning.

Moving from insight to action

Whether you manage a single building or an entire portfolio, tuning up your systems through existing building commissioning can uncover meaningful opportunities for energy and carbon savings. The new factsheets are designed to make that path clearer—providing trusted guidance to help you act with confidence.

Explore the EBCx factsheets or connect with our team to learn how you can get started.