energy design resources design brief building commissioning In projects all over the country building industry professionals are finding that commissioned Summary Commissioning is a quality assurance process designed to increase the likelihood that a newly constructed building will meet client buildings are more energy efficient more comfortable and eas expectations Although commissioning was originally created to ensure that HVAC systems were correctly specified and properly ier to maintain installed in building projects the process can be applied to nearly any building system In projects all over the country building industry professionals are finding that commissioned buildings are more energy efficient more comfortable and easier to maintain Commissioning stretches over the entire design and construction process It should ideally begin at the design phase with the selection of a commissioning agent who helps ensure that the building owners and designers intent is written into project documentation The building designers then incorporate commissioning requirements into their specifications Later the commissioning agent is responsible for inspecting building systems during construction and when the project is near completion the contents agent and contractors conduct rigorous performance tests At the end of the commissioning process designers and vendors provide What Is Building Commissioning building operators with training and documentation to ensure the Who Does Building Commissioning 4 proper operation and maintenance of the building Commissioning a new building costs about 0 30 to 0 90 per Five Steps for Successful Building Commissioning 2 7 Case Studies 19 For More Information 24 Notes 25 square foot On average simple payback periods for such investments range from about three to four years as a result of energy savings improved occupant comfort and productivity and reduced rework costs What Is Building Commissioning Commissioning is a quality assurance process conducted throughout a construction project to increase the likelihood that a building will meet client expectations Tersely defined by ASHRAE the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers as the process of ensuring that systems are designed installed functionally tested and capable of being Commissioning includes careful docu operated and maintained to perform in conformity with the mentation from the beginning to the end design intent 1 commissioning starts as soon as a new facility is of a project inspections during construc conceptualized and it continues until the building is occupied tion testing to ensure that the installed Through this process expectations for the performance of the systems meet the design requirements building systems are established and procedures are put in place and training for operations and mainte to determine whether those expectations have been met nance personnel Although commissioning was originally formulated to be applied specifically to HVAC systems the process can be applied to nearly any building system Commissioning procedures include careful documentation from the beginning to the end of the project inspections during construction testing to ensure that the installed systems meet the design requirements and training for operations and maintenance O M personnel to ensure that the building will be operated as designed The process begins with the creation of a design intent document that becomes the basis for all subsequent design planning and evaluation That document is used throughout the commissioning process as a benchmark for determining whether the building meets the design intent During construction inspections are conducted to identify any installation or design problems that can be more easily dealt with during rather than after construction After the systems have been installed a series of tests are performed to make sure that the equipment operates properly and meets the design intent In projects all over the country industry professionals are finding that commissioned buildings are more energy efficient more comfortable and easier to maintain They are also finding that page 2 building commissioning in many cases these buildings are less expensive to own and operate over the long haul The Division of Facilities and Services of Montgomery County Maryland has included commissioning on about ten of its projects The division is very happy with the results Although the commissioning process requires more time and money for planning and review checking and correcting work throughout the design and construction process has dramatically reduced the amount of rework required at the end of the construction cycle The division s overall costs have been about the same as without Companies are able to move into commissioned buildings sooner than would have been possible without commissioning and they tend to experience far fewer post occupancy problems commissioning However the benefits of the process have been immediate Occupants have been able to move into the commissioned buildings sooner that would otherwise have been possible and there have been far fewer post occupancy problems On two representative Montgomery County projects the division estimates that commissioning saved them 1 57 per square foot due to reduced mechanical electrical change orders and claims plus another 0 48 per square foot in energy costs during the first year of occupancy 2 Because Montgomery County requires all contractors to include commissioning as a part of their bids the specific cost of commissioning on these two projects is difficult to determine but based on typical commissioning costs ranging from 0 30 to 0 90 per square foot and the savings noted above the process easily paid for itself 3 Are the energy savings the division noted typical In 1994 Southern California Edison SCE ran a study that compared the before and after performance of buildings that had not previously been commissioned In their before evaluations SCE found quite a few system flaws that would probably have been found and corrected if the buildings had originally been commissioned Some of the most significant problems included Evaporative coolers that had been disconnected because they did not operate correctly and created bad odors inside the building building commissioning page 3 A pneumatic air compressor that was pumping oil throughout the control system Miscalibrated thermostats Some
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