The popularity of building commissioning in the past ten years has increased dramatically largely due to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building certification program. The prescribed commissioning requirements for LEED were designed to validate that the energy consuming systems in the building–HVAC, lighting and domestic hot water–perform as designed. However, commissioning can deliver far more than an energy performance validation.
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There have been debates for years about what terms to use for the different commissioning tasks. One of those tasks is Functional Testing. There have been several suggestions for alternative terms. Below are my thoughts on some of the terms suggested to me. Read the rest of this entry »
As commissioning authorities we are asked to think outside of the box, ask questions such as: what if? and why? to get people thinking and to try to avoid unforeseen problems. It’s like the graphic below, which I love. Can you connect 9 dots in a 3 x 3 square using only four lines and only going though each dot once?
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I want to thank the Utah ASHRAE Chapter for inviting me to give my presentation called “Who Stole My High Performance Building?” on Friday December 3, 2010. It was a packed house with over 70 people in attendance. The audience participation and questions were great. This presentation shares many of the lessons learned in the field and gives valuable feedback of how different designs are performing in the field. Read the rest of this entry »
I received some feedback from a reader, Daryl, the other day that was great and I’d like to share it with you.
From Daryl…
I would like to talk about HVAC air flow engineering with you some just for fun. I have some text book errors to share with you. Read the rest of this entry »
The Total Building Commissioning industry is relatively new and growing up as we speak. It has been fun to be involved in the process and rub shoulders with many of the industry pioneers and experts. A couple of years ago at a NCBC conference a “History of Commissioning” was presented as a display. It was fascinating to see the information gathered together in one place. PECI has posted this information on their website and kept it updated.
You never know if a website link will go bad someday so I will copy the information below (giving full credit to PECI). I will also add a couple of things to the list which I have put in bold and italics.
I hope you enjoy looking back at and seeing just how far the commissioning industry has come. Read the rest of this entry »
In the Air Handler Supply Air Temperature Control post, we discussed a method of resetting the air handler supply air temperature set point based on the outside air temperature (OAT). This post will discuss another method of resetting the air handler supply air temperature set point (AH SAT StPt) based on VAV box cooling demand.
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I recently attended the ACG Annual Conference on Total Building Commissioning in Las Vegas, NV. One presentation provided information that was categorized as a “game changer” for commissioning providers, constructors and engineers alike.
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As noted in The Genesis post, we will be sharing a lot of stories from the field. This example seems like a great place to start.
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Building owners from all over the country are finding that the energy, water and operational savings resulting from commissioning offset the cost of implementing the commissioning process. Recent studies indicate that on average the operating costs of a building that has been commissioned range from 8-20 percent below that of a non-commissioned building. An investment in commissioning at the beginning of a project often results in operating cost reduction that last the life of the building.
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