[rwest]

To maybe better answer the OP, generally a commercial system operates differently than a home system. In most home systems, it either heats or cools and only runs when it needs to do the cooling or heating.

A commercial system will have a constant fan and also take in a certain percentage of outside air that it then has to heat or cool. So leaving it running all the time can be quite costly and not very energy efficient, which for many buildings the energy conservation is more important to the owners than the actual cost of running. Think zero carbon goals and net zero energy etc. being that it is a courthouse it is probably government and they will most certainly be trying to reach some sort of zero carbon goals.

A commercial system also try’s to keep the temp within a certain couple degree range, so it might heat and cool at the same time for different zones or times of the day.

I used to say that “I can make everyone is this building comfortable until the second person shows up!”

Balancing comfort and conservation is not a fun thing.