Enhanced Commissioning for LEED Projects
To further support the design, construction, and eventual operation of a project that meets the owner’s project requirements for energy, water, indoor environmental quality, and durability.
Requirements
Implement, or have in place a contract to implement, the following commissioning process activities in addition to those required under EA Prerequisite Fundamental Commissioning and Verification. Commissioning authority
The CxA must have documented commissioning process experience on at least two building projects with a similar scope of work. The experience must extend from early design phase through at least 10 months of occupancy;
The CxA may be a qualified employee of the owner, an independent consultant, or a disinterested subcontractor of the design team.
Good News! Two Trails complies with these requirements so you are at the right place.
Option 1. Enhanced systems commissioning (3-4 points)
Path 1: Enhanced commissioning (3 points)
Complete the following commissioning process (CxP) activities for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and renewable energy systems and assemblies in accordance with ASHRAE Guideline 0–2005 and ASHRAE Guideline 1.1–2007 for HVAC&R systems, as they relate to energy, water, indoor environmental quality, and durability.
The commissioning authority must do the following:
Review contractor submittals.
Verify inclusion of systems manual requirements in construction documents.
Verify inclusion of operator and occupant training requirements in construction documents.
Verify systems manual updates and delivery.
Verify operator and occupant training delivery and effectiveness.
Verify seasonal testing.
Review building operations 10 months after substantial completion.
Develop an on-going commissioning plan.
Include all enhanced commissioning tasks in the OPR and BOD.
OR
Path 2: Enhanced and monitoring-based commissioning (4 points)
Achieve Path 1.
AND
Develop monitoring-based procedures and identify points to be measured and evaluated to assess performance of energy- and water-consuming systems.
Include the procedures and measurement points in the commissioning plan. Address the following:
roles and responsibilities;
measurement requirements (meters, points, metering systems, data access);
the points to be tracked, with frequency and duration for trend monitoring;
the limits of acceptable values for tracked points and metered values (where appropriate, predictive algorithms may be used to compare ideal values with actual values);
the elements used to evaluate performance, including conflict between systems, out-of-sequence operation of systems components, and energy and water usage profiles;
an action plan for identifying and correcting operational errors and deficiencies;
training to prevent errors;
planning for repairs needed to maintain performance; and
the frequency of analyses in the first year of occupancy (at least quarterly).
Update the systems manual with any modifications or new settings, and give the reason for any modifications from the original design.
AND/OR
Option 2. Envelope commissioning (2 points)
Fulfill the requirements in EA Prerequisite Fundamental Commissioning and Verification as they apply to the building’s thermal envelope in addition to mechanical and electrical systems and assemblies.
Complete the following commissioning process (CxP) activities for the building’s thermal envelope in accordance with ASHRAE Guideline 0–2005 and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Guideline 3–2012, Exterior Enclosure Technical Requirements for the Commissioning Process, as they relate to energy, water, indoor environmental quality, and durability.
Commissioning authority must complete the following:
Review contractor submittals.
Verify inclusion of systems manual requirements in construction documents.
Verify inclusion of operator and occupant training requirements in construction documents.
Verify systems manual updates and delivery.
Verify operator and occupant training delivery and effectiveness.
Verify seasonal testing.
Review building operations 10 months after substantial completion.
Develop an on-going commissioning plan.
What is Commissioning? & State Code Commissioning
Commissioning is intended to be an all inclusive process for the planning, delivery, verification, and managing risks to critical functions performed in, or by, facilities. Commissioning ensures building quality using peer review and in-field or on-site system performance verification. Commissioning also accomplishes higher energy efficiency, environmental health, occupant safety and improves indoor air quality by verifying that the building components are working correctly and that the Commissioning plan is implemented with the highest efficiency.
Essentially, the commissioning process formalizes the review and integration of all project expectations during planning and design, construction, training and occupancy phases by way of inspections and functional performance testing. This initial commissioning event also becomes the Owner’s “baseline of reference" for system operations and functional model of the building.
Who Commissions a Building?
Who actually performs commissioning depends on the owner and the project. Typically, the building owner hires an independent third party to perform commissioning. This individual is often referred to as the commissioning agent (CA).
Those involved in the building commissioning field generally believe the CA should work for the owner and represent the owner's interest. However, there are numerous options. The commissioning agent can work under contract to the construction manager. This works well when the construction manager is independent of the contractor's team. There is interest among architecture and engineering firms to include commissioning as part of their services to help ensure they deliver quality buildings to their clients.
What are the Steps in Commissioning?
The extent of the commissioning process can vary as well as the roles of those involved in the project. Ideally the CA is hired during the predesign phase and is involved through the post-acceptance phase of the construction process. The roles of the CA in each phase of the design and construction process are described below.
Predesign
The CA, working with the owner, establishes the parameters and expectations for the commissioning process. The CA may have a limited input and review role in this phase.
Design Phase
The CA will outline the scope of design requirements and design intent, describe the systems to be installed, outline the documentation requirements for each party involved in the commissioning process, define subsequent commissioning procedures, and document the process.
Construction Phase
The CA completes the commissioning plan at the beginning of the construction phase. The CA obtains project schedules and gathers and reviews the contractor submittals and operation and maintenance manuals. The CA writes detailed functional performance test plans for each system and piece of equipment involved in the commissioning process.
The CA makes site visits to observe construction, noting details that might affect equipment and system performance or operation. He or she coordinates with the various contractors to perform the pre-functional performance tests. The CA oversees all start-up tests and ensures that pre-functional performance tests and checklists are completed and all deficiencies resolved.
Acceptance Phase
Using the functional performance test plans, the CA observes and verifies the proper operation of equipment, systems, and controls per contract documents. He or she verifies that corrective measures are taken, and ensures the presence of complete operation and maintenance manuals. The actual performance testing is usually carried out by the various contractors. The CA oversees this process and may be actively involved. Shortly after the functional performance tests are complete, the CA finishes a commissioning final report, including all documentation, and submits it to the owner.
Training for the building operations staff generally occurs near the end of the acceptance phase or shortly after the building is occupied. The training should be done by the installing contractors, designers, and manufacturers' representatives and may include the CA. The CA should be involved in establishing the training needs of the building operations and maintenance staff and ensuring those needs are met.
Post-Acceptance Phase
Building operations and maintenance staff ensure the proper functioning of the facility's systems, adapt the system to changing occupancy and use, maintain a history of the facility, and document all changes. The CA can be involved in establishing the documentation methods for this phase and in reviewing performance and recommending improvements.
What About Cost?
The price of building commissioning varies depending on the size of the project, complexity of building systems, and the systems to be commissioned. The following ranges provide rough rules of thumb:
Total building commissioning: less than 1% of total construction cost. Equipment commissioning: 2% to 5% of equipment cost. Owners often say they cannot afford to pay for building commissioning. It is important to recognize the potential costs of not commissioning. These costs include schedule overruns, change orders, litigation costs, high vacancy levels, uncomfortable occupants, excessively long shakedown periods, costly post-occupancy corrections, and inability to perform adequate operation and maintenance. These costs can far exceed the price paid for commissioning. Commissioning reduces the risk of incurring these costs. Also, experience has shown that a building that is not commissioned will cost 8% to 20%more to operate than a commissioned building.
New for the State of Florida Building Code 2014 5th edition. Newly built commercial buildings will require 3rd party commissioning. At Two Trails we have experience commissioning buildings since this is a requirement for sustainable certified commercial projects. While this is new to you, rest assured this is business as usual of us.
Here are a few items that are required under the new Florida building code.
Commissioning plan by a registered design professional or agency
Commissioning of the building mechanical, electrical power and lighting systems
Air distribution system testing, adjusting and balancing
Air system balancing
Hydronic system balancing
Functional performance testing
Fundamental Commissioning vs. Enhanced Commissioning
Fundamental Commissioning
Fundamental commissioning is aimed to make sure that the energy systems in a building are installed and calibrated properly to perform in an energy efficient manner to meet the owner’s project requirement and in a sustainability perspective. Commissioning Authority (CxA) will be the lead person who manages the commissioning process of the project. They will have required experience to perform tasks assigned to him and he should report directly to the owner of the project. CxA is responsible to produce primary commissioning documents like owner’s project requirement, commissioning plan, commissioning specification and commissioning schedule. At the same time, they are responsible to verify the installation of the energy related systems and performance of the same. At the end of each phase of construction, CxA is expected to produce a commissioning report to summaries the finding of their work.
Fundamental commissioning shall be limited to following energy related system, on the other hand, other non-energy systems can be commissioned too, if time and budget permits.
Heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems (mechanical and passive) and associated controls
Lighting and day-lighting controls
Domestic hot water systems
Renewable energy systems (e.g., wind, solar)
Enhanced Commissioning
Enhanced commissioning covers all requirements mentioned in the fundamental commissioning. At the same time, it calls for the appointment of the commissioning authority early in the design phase of the building commissioning process. In addition to this, CxA should perform verification of end user training and he should verify the performance of systems after ten months of completion of the project. In enhanced commissioning, CxA should undertake following tasks too:
Minimum one 1 commissioning design review of the owner’s project requirements, basis of design and design documents prior to the mid-construction documents phase and back-check the review comments in the subsequent design submission.
Review contractor submittals applicable to systems being commissioned for compliance with the owner’s project requirements and basis of design. This review must be concurrent with the review of the architect or engineer of record and submitted to the design team and the owner.
Must develop a systems manual that gives future operating staff the information needed to understand and optimally operate the commissioned systems.