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COMMISSIONING

TnC is a member of "AABC Commissioning Group" and also a "Certified Commissioning Authority"​
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Building Commissioning is the professional practice that ensures buildings are delivered according to the Owner's Project Requirements (OPR). Buildings that are properly commissioned typically have fewer change orders, tend to be more energy efficient, and have lower operation and maintenance cost. The documentation of the commissioning process provides the foundation for correctly benchmarking the baseline energy consumption of the facility.​
Definition

 

 

ASHRAE Standard 202-2013, The Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems, and ASHRAE Guidelines,  define commissioning as:

 

"A quality-focused process for enhancing the delivery of a project. The process focuses upon verifying and documenting that all of the commissioned systems and assemblies are planned, designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained to meet the Owner's Project Requirements."

 

Commissioning is an all-inclusive, quality assurance-based process for working with project teams and documenting the planning, delivery, verification, and managing risks to functions performed in, or by, facilities.

Documentation

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The purpose of commissioning documentation is to serve as the historical record of the "what, why and how to" of key delivery team decisions throughout the planning and delivery process. Commissioning documents the establishment of standards of performance for building systems, and verifies that designed and constructed work meets those standards. Key commissioning deliverables supporting Document Compliance and Acceptance include:

  • Final Commissioning Report

  • Training Documents

  • Systems Manual

  • Functional Tests

  • Pre-functional Checks of Facility Systems

  • Commissioning Plan

  • Basis of Design

  • Owner's Project Requirements

Project Performance Requirements

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Every new project goes through Pre-Design and Design Stages that establishes an owner's needs, goals, scope, and design solutions for a proposed project. Proposed designs and constructed work can only be evaluated against objective criteria and measures that are embodied in a well-documented OPR. Project development is a learning process where building performance decisions are refined to successive levels of detail over the course of a project's life cycle. These decisions should be documented throughout the project and in the OPR.

 

Creating The Commissioning Plan will answer these questions. Key commissioning activities include:

 

  • Establish Existing Building Commissioning Plans

  • Determine Operational Staff Training Needs

  • Determine Special Testing Needs

  • Develop Commissioning Specifications

  • Establish Testing and Inspection Plans

  • Establish Commissioning Schedules

  • Establish Commissioning Plans

  • Establish Commissioning Budgets

  • Establish a Commissioning Scope

  • Establish Goals for Quality, Efficiency, and Functionality (part of Project Management)

  • Assign team members and responsibilities

Benefits

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Commissioning assists in the delivery of a project that provides an efficient, safe and healthy facility;optimizes energy use; reduces operating costs; ensures adequate O&M staff orientation and training; and improves installed building systems documentation.

 

Commissioning benefits owners through improved energy efficiency, improved workplace performance due to higher quality environments, and prevention of business losses. The cost of not commissioning is equal to the costs of correcting deficiencies plus the costs of inefficient operations. For example, in mission critical facilities, the cost of not commissioning can be measured by the cost of downtime and lack of appropriate facility use.

Commissioning Goals

The primary goal of commissioning any project is to ensure that success for the project is clearly defined in the OPR and that the building performs as intended to fulfill that mission. The definition accurately depicts commissioning as a holistic process that spans from pre-design planning to occupancy and operations at a minimum and should also include ongoing commissioning. Accordingly, the goals of commissioning are to:

  1. Deliver buildings and construction projects that meet the owner's project requirements.

  2. Prevent or eliminate problems inexpensively through proactive quality techniques.

  3. Verify systems are installed and working correctly and benchmark that correct operation.

  4. Lower overall first costs and life-cycle costs for the owner.

  5. Provide documentation and records on the design, construction, and testing to facilitate operation and maintenance of the facility.

  6. Implement trend logs, automated and semi-automated Cx tools to enable O&M staff ongoing Cx.

  7. Maintain facility performance for the building's entire life cycle.

Application

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All new or renovation building programs can benefit from some level of commissioning. Recent case studies conducted in private sector facilities have shown that commissioning can improve new building energy performance by 8% to 30%. Similar results can be expected in other facilities. For complex building types with highly integrated building systems, commissioning will provide compounded benefits.

 

 

Industry Standards and Guidelines

The commissioning process is mainly based on Whole Building Design Guide which is based primary on ASHRAE Standard 202-2013, The Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems and ASHRAE Guideline 0-2013. It is highly recommended that project teams who employ commissioning should follow the process outlined in ASHRAE Standard 202-2013. This Standard has been adopted by NIBS and leading industry organizations. It does not focus upon specific systems or assemblies, but rather presents a standard process that can be followed to commission any building.

 

 

Conclusion

Commissioning should be considered a whole building quality assurance process which starts with design phase and can be customized to suit project needs. However, it always requires clear definition of performance expectations, rigor in planning and execution, thorough testing, staff training, and documentation.

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