People dream about a lot of things and I am no exception. The topics range from the bizarre to the very real-like. Lately I have experienced a flurry of dreams and fortunately, most have been fairly normal. Until last night.

Yes, this is an HVACR-related topic. The dream I had last night involved building retro-commissioning. Sounds like I lead an exciting dream life doesn’t it? I bet very few of you dream about building retro-commissioning. But the more I thought about it, the more the dream made sense and could be an omen.

In a nutshell, retro-commissioning basically involves a reevaluation of an existing building’s energy-using systems and implementing a plan to improve energy efficiency. It is kind of like a “tune-up” of the building’s mechanical system to achieve maximum energy efficiency and lessen the carbon footprint.

So here I was in a remote location. I think it was somewhere in South Dakota (no offense to my friends in that great state). I was visiting someone on business and touring his building. A contractor, who somehow popped up in my dream, wanted me to leave and visit some other facilities but I balked, saying, “I think this building needs a retro-commissioning.” Yes I actually dreamt that.

I woke up soon afterward so I never found out if I actually became a “retro-commissioner” or not. However, it seems like a pretty good job to study up for once I leave the media profession (if I ever do). There are probably a good number of HVACR professionals making a nice living in the retro-commissioning field, so why not me?

Now that I am awake and enjoying that first cup of coffee, I can daydream a bit. Being a retro-commissioner sounds like a fun job. Maybe in my next dream I’ll land that dream job: NFL commissioner.