COST GUIDE
Commercial HVAC tenant improvement cost per sq ft
WHY THE RANGE IS WIDE
Square footage is not what drives HVAC cost
HVAC cost follows load, occupancy and ventilation, not area. A lightly occupied office and a restaurant of the same size can differ by several times, because one needs modest cooling and a few diffusers and the other needs hood exhaust, makeup air and far more cooling.
The second big driver is what is already there. A second-generation suite with sound rooftop units and reusable duct mains costs far less than a cold dark shell that needs new equipment. Units near the end of their life can swing the number just as much.
That is why any per-square-foot figure without a use, a condition and a location attached is close to meaningless. The rest of this page explains the drivers so you can see which apply to your space.
The biggest cost drivers
- Whether existing equipment can be reused
- Shell condition: cold dark, warm shell or second generation
- Occupancy density and ventilation requirements
- Kitchen exhaust, lab exhaust or other specialty systems
- Controls and building automation requirements
- Crane lifts, roof work and after-hours work
WHAT GOES INTO THE NUMBER
The cost components of an HVAC TI
Equipment
New rooftop units, split systems or fans, or nothing at all if the existing equipment can be reused. Often the largest single item.
Ductwork and distribution
Duct, boxes, diffusers and grilles. Scales with the number of rooms and zones, not just area.
Ventilation and exhaust
Outside air, restroom and specialty exhaust, and kitchen or lab systems where the use requires them.
Controls
Thermostats at a minimum, or full building automation integration where the landlord requires it.
Balancing and commissioning
Test and balance, and the commissioning the energy code or specification requires.
Soft costs
Engineering, permit fees, crane and roof work, after-hours premiums and closeout documentation.
BUDGETING STEP BY STEP
How to budget before you have drawings
01
Define the use
02
Find out what is there
03
List the special loads
04
Check the equipment early
USING A RANGE HONESTLY
What a per-square-foot figure is good for
A per-square-foot rate has one legitimate use: a first-pass feasibility check, before there is a layout, to decide whether a space is worth pursuing at all. Used that way it is genuinely helpful.
It stops being helpful the moment it is used to set a budget you will be held to. Two projects with the same rate can be far apart once the equipment and existing conditions are known, and the difference surfaces later as a change order.
We will give you a planning range on a call if you need one for an early pro forma — and we will tell you what it assumes, then replace it with a line-item estimate as soon as there is a layout to count from.
Get a real number instead
- Send a rough layout, even a hand markup
- Tell us the use and any special loads
- Share photos of the rooftop units if you can
- Give us the target occupancy date
- We return a line-item estimate with allowances marked
- Most estimates come back within three business days
COMMON QUESTIONS
HVAC cost questions
We can give a planning range once we know the use, the shell condition and the location, along with what it assumes. It is useful for feasibility, not for a budget you will be held to.
New equipment, kitchen or lab exhaust, dense occupancy, building automation integration, crane lifts and after-hours work are the usual drivers.
Usually, when the existing equipment and duct can be reused. Not always — units near the end of their life or undersized for the new use can erase the savings.
We list them separately so you can see them, rather than hiding them in the total.
Much better than a per-square-foot figure. We mark allowances for items still undefined so you can see where the number could move.