myAPPA

Membership        

Knowledge

Professional Development

Regions/Chapters

About Us

What's New?

Facilities Manager Magazine

Features
Commissioning Provides Value to Campus Facilities
by John A. Heinz, P.E. and Richard B. Casault, P.E.

John Heinz is a professional engineer in Seattle, Washington, and can be reached at jheinz@bcxa.org. Rick Casault is president of Casault Engineering, Seattle, Washington, and can be reached at rickc@casault.com. They are coauthors of APPA's new book, The Building Commissioning Handbook, second edition, from which this article is excerpted. This publication was developed jointly by APPA and the Building Commissioning Association.

During the latter half of the 20th century a great deal of refinement has taken place in the building design and construction industry. Somewhat common throughout that period have been the several stages of project development--predesign, schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding, construction, and warranty--followed by many years of operation and maintenance. Each of these phases has experienced significant process refinements, all intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process and the quality of the final product for the building owner.

One of the more recent refinements has been the introduction of building commissioning. Even though the process of building commissioning has been developing during the past 30 years, it is still in its early stages of acceptance throughout the industry. In fact, as the subject of commissioning the building is brought into the early planning or design stages for a new facility, often some of the first questions to arise are:

• Why do we have to have a special program for commissioning the building?
• With a good design professional and construction contractor shouldn't the building work like it is supposed to?

• more stringent energy conservation requirements,
• the need for safer work environments,
• demands for improved indoor air quality and comfort control,
• technological advancements in office equipment,
• advanced phonic, image, video, and data communications technologies, and
• rapidly changing research and teaching methodologies.

• It helps the owner develop and document the owner's project requirements for the facility.
• It helps the design professional determine and document the important parameters of the basis of design, select optimum system design solutions, ensure their commissionability, and prepare construction documents leading to construction of a commissionable building.
• It helps the prime contractor, subcontractors, and vendors select and properly install components and systems in accordance with the commissionability requirements for the project, and then to perform all commissioning tests necessary to validate performance of the facility as required by the owner's project requirements.
• It helps the owner make sure operating staff is properly trained and provided with the necessary documentation to be able to ensure optimum operational sustainability of all systems.

Each step is intended to assure the quality of the effort at hand, which is critical to the next sequential step of the program. A lapse in quality during any step can contribute to lack of proper understanding of requirements in subsequent steps, which can become cumulative and ultimately result in degradation of the final outcome, thus increasing the likelihood that the project will fall short of meeting the owner's project requirements.

For a variety of reasons commissioning is often not initiated until late in some projects, perhaps during the construction documents design phase or the construction phase. Even though this late application of the process has significant disadvantages in achieving the preferred optimum results of the commissioning process, there are still benefits to be gained. However, the potential optimum benefit will most likely have been lost.
A skilled commissioning authority can document the potential savings and economies that commissioning can bring about during each step of the process. It is a rare case when such documentation does not demonstrate that the savings achieved exceed the otherwise additional costs for corrections during or after construction and the ongoing increased energy costs that result from the loss of optimum efficiency performance of the systems.

Definition
An all-inclusive definition of "commissioning" has not been universally adopted. As one listens to early commissioning advocates it becomes apparent that definitions often reflect the specialty within a facility that is being commissioned. Electrical utilities concentrate on commissioning energy conservation measures for which they have contributed funding in order to optimize energy consumption profiles. Local fire departments concentrate on commissioning fire and life safety provisions required by related codes. Other regulatory agencies insist that provisions within their purview be proven fully operational in accordance with their specific requirements.

As these narrow definitions persist, they have had a negative effect on the proper understanding of the comprehensive
requirements for commissioning an entire facility. Whereas utilities and regulatory agencies focus on commissioning
certain systems the owner must be assured that all systems within the facility have been commissioned. Commissioning is imperative for hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and is becoming a critical requirement for high-technology laboratories and research facilities. It is also becoming an important way for classroom and office buildings to meet the specific and diverse needs of the occupants. Hence, it is essential to come up with a broad definition of total building commissioning.

The owner views the entire building as a system, one that must meet a wide range of occupancies and functional needs. Perhaps the definition from the summary report from the 1993 National Conference on Building Commissioning is
appropriate: "Commissioning is a systematic process of assuring that a building performs in accordance with the design intent and the owner's operational needs."

Another valuable characteristic of commissioning is discovery. Although no quality assurance process, including commissioning, should be expected to achieve zero defects, commissioning is a process that ensures discovery of flaws in the design or construction that will preclude facility operation in accordance with parameters set forth by the owner. Of course, discovery will inevitably occur, but it usually occurs under the most unfavorable circumstances, resulting in operating difficulties that could be critical or, in the extreme, even fatal. The least that will result from untimely discovery is inconvenience for building occupants and operations and maintenance staff. Commissioning forces discovery to take place under controlled conditions and at a time when dire consequences are least likely to result.

Further, if discovery occurs before the construction contract is accepted as complete, the consultants and contractors will bear the burden of taking corrective action and, generally, paying all related costs. When discovery occurs later the owner inherits these responsibilities and costs with little or no recourse to those responsible for the failure.

Goals
The overall goal of building commissioning is to construct a facility that operates as intended. However, it is important to recognize several specific subgoals that will be achieved as a direct result of the commissioning process.

• The primary goal is to provide a safe and healthy facility for employees and the public in a commercial facility, or for students, faculty, staff, and the public in an educational facility. Commissioning minimizes functional and operational deficiencies that have been shown to be responsible for the majority of indoor air quality problems and complaints about comfort. Commissioning minimizes liabilities inherent in laboratory building operations.
• The second goal is to improve energy performance. Commissioning is the tune-up that brings about the most efficient performance by the installed equipment. Commissioning tailors the system's operating parameters to the conditions of actual usage. Commissioning optimizes system performance to meet the requirements of the conditions rather than simply operating at the capacity of the equipment.
• The third goal is to reduce operating costs. Equipment operating improperly is operating inefficiently. Improper operation usually induces more frequent maintenance and results in shorter life expectancy for the equipment, thus increasing annual operating costs and the frequency of capital replacement costs.
• The fourth goal is to improve the orientation and training of the staff who will operate and maintain the systems and equipment. The sophisticated systems being installed will be disabled or compromised if operations and maintenance staff do not understand operation and maintenance requirements. No matter how well the equipment and systems operate at the outset, systems will degenerate without proper care. Designers and contractors can barely keep up with the proliferation of high-tech system configurations and associated equipment and controls. Without design documentation, explicit diagrams and operating procedures, and opportunities for effective training, operations and maintenance staff will soon flounder as a result of the information overload and their lack of adequate training.
• The fifth goal is to provide improved documentation. Traditionally, specifications and drawings do not include all information needed for operation, troubleshooting, and renovation of the facility. The owner's project requirements, the basis of design documentation, control logic diagrams, one-line diagrams, and operating descriptions help to communicate the designer's intentions to current and future operators and designers. Fully documented testing procedures and results verify the capacity and operating parameters of the facility and the systems, and they facilitate recommissioning that will be needed in the future.
• The final and most important goal is to meet the owner's needs. Systematic scrutiny, verification, and functional performance testing of the design and construction will achieve the overall goal of providing a facility that operates as intended and thereby result in a satisfied owner.

• All building systems will function as intended. This includes one of the traditional gray areas that heretofore has been inadequately addressed, and that is the complex interaction between systems. For example, commissioning verifies the interaction of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems with fire protection systems and emergency power systems during emergency operating conditions, including restoration of normal operating conditions following an emergent condition.
• A safe, healthy, comfortable environment will be assured upon occupancy, resulting in higher levels of productivity because of occupants' satisfaction with their working environment. The flaws that heretofore often have been discovered long after initial occupancy will be discovered and corrected during the design and construction phases.
• The intended operating efficiency of the systems will be established before the project is accepted as complete and therefore result in optimized consumption of resources, hence, minimum annual utility costs.
• Efficiently operating systems indirectly result in less wear and tear on systems apparatus and less frequent need for replacement.
• Operations staff will be better trained and will receive extensive system operations documentation that has not existed heretofore. The newly available documentation will significantly enhance maintenance of the intended sustainable operation of the facility.
• Better documentation throughout the project will pay dividends in future years as alterations are needed because of changes in occupancy. Design consultants will not need to make assumptions about the original basis of design because it will all be documented.

All of the benefits that accrue to the owner lead to a higher probability that the project will be completed on schedule and within budget.

Benefits for the Design Professional

• The commissioning process refines design philosophies and concepts. The commissioning authority brings operating engineer experience directly into the design process, which more often than not influences many of the design details. Construction specifications become more highly refined via the commissioning authority's review, helping to ensure selection of the proper equipment and components that are critical to the intended and reliable operation of the systems.
• Commissioning-oriented review leads to a reduction in design errors. That, coupled with the rigorous functional performance testing of components and systems during the construction phase, virtually eliminates post-construction callbacks for the design professional.
• Profits for the design professional will not be eroded due to spending time resolving design or construction issues that did not have to occur.
• The qualifications and reputation of the design professional will be enhanced over time as they expand their expertise because of participation in commissioning activities.

• The commissioning process increases attention to scheduling and coordination, primarily because commissioning testing begins about one-third of the way through construction and continues on a regular basis thereafter. Better scheduling and coordination lead to smoother installation and fewer conflicts between trades vying for installation positions.
• There is greater contractor emphasis on quality control. The disciplines of the commissioning process result in easier, faster resolution of problems discovered during construction. As a result, there is increased likelihood that the project will be completed on schedule and within budget
• Commissioning nearly eliminates post-construction callbacks for the contractors.
• Contractors' profits will not be eroded because of the need to spend time resolving design or construction problems that did not have to occur.
• The qualifications and reputation of the contractors will be enhanced over time as they expand their expertise because of their participation in commissioning activities.

As evidenced by the increasing number of successful commissioning programs, when all parties enthusiastically accept and integrate a well-developed commissioning process into the project the process becomes a win-win situation for all involved.

When Does Commissioning Start?
There is a tendency to assume that commissioning is an activity that occurs only during or at the end of the construction period. In many cases it may happen that way, particularly in situations where commissioning had not been considered until the owner became concerned that the new facility likely would not, or will not, operate as intended. One might say, "Then it is too late." However, it is never too late. Nevertheless, there is a great deal to be gained by starting the commissioning effort much earlier in the design/construction process.

Ideally, commissioning should start during the predesign (programming) phase for the facility. A variety of factors often result in postponing hiring the commissioning authority until later, but the project team should at least agree during the predesign phase that the facility will be commissioned. If functional issues are not addressed and documented during this phase, and during the early design phases, it is very difficult to achieve the key goals of commissioning and meet the needs of the owner.

However, that is not to say that projects that have progressed past the predesign phase cannot be successfully commissioned. When commissioning is introduced during the design or construction phases, the process will not be as smooth but commissioning can still be initiated and still benefit the project. Revisions to design and construction contracts already in force will need to be negotiated in order to incorporate commissioning at these later stages.

We recommend that the services of a qualified commissioning authority be secured as early in the project as possible to help guide the process. To a great extent, the traditional members of the design and construction teams are not yet skilled in the commissioning requirements and processes.

Which Projects Should Be Commissioned?
Should every new facility be commissioned? In an ideal world the answer would be "Yes." However, the decision really becomes a consideration of what is critical to the owner in terms of health, safety, and liability risk as it relates to the primary use of the facility, and the comfort and productivity of the facility's occupants. Certainly, facilities that, by definition, provide critical services to the owner, institution, or community should be fully commissioned, including hospitals and other health care facilities, research and teaching laboratories, and any facility that handles hazardous materials or is involved with what might be considered potentially hazardous activities. The prudent owner will apply resources where they will do the most good and minimize risk for the community and the investment.

The variable involved in making decisions about which projects should be commissioned is not so much which facility should be commissioned but, rather, how much of the facility--that is, which systems should be commissioned. That becomes a process of identifying the best commissioning scope for each particular case. Should one apply total building commissioning or should it be reduced? The key to whether to pursue a reduced scope of commissioning is the assessment of the risks involved. A reduced or modified commissioning scope should be employed only where the perceived risk is low.

Which risks should be evaluated? Clearly, risks to occupants' health and safety are primary. Energy consumption efficiency should be considered for most projects. Political sensitivity, such as space being prepared for a high-profile faculty member, a project championed by the administration, or a project funded by a generous donor should receive careful consideration for commissioning. Generous donors become less generous when projects don't live up to their expectations.

Which Systems Should Be Commissioned?
Ideally, all building systems--both static and dynamic--should be commissioned. Dynamic systems are more readily recognized because they are the ones that maintain the environment, provide utility services, convey people, materials, and communications, and respond to emergent conditions. Static systems are not recognized as readily because they include the building envelope, contribute to the desired acoustic environment, minimize vibration, mitigate seismic impacts, and so forth.

Without question, all health and life safety systems should be commissioned. Building codes generally require functional performance testing of such systems to validate performance in accordance with code requirements. Municipal fire departments were probably the first to require confidence testing of life safety systems before initial occupancy; followed by annual retesting of these systems. Environmental health and safety agencies require performance testing and certification of a range of equipment and systems in high-tech research laboratories. None of this testing is optional.

Beyond the health and life safety systems, the owner should focus on those systems in previous projects whose unsatisfactory performance has plagued occupants and the operations staff. If the owner's biggest facilities operations headaches are traditionally leaking roofs and fenestration, then one emphasis of commissioning should be those systems. Roofs and window systems can be performance-tested for waterproof integrity. During the initial construction period, mockups of these construction features can be erected and tested, and accepted. The proven construction methods can then be applied to the entire facility, virtually ensuring a successful outcome.

Similarly, if indoor air quality has been a plaguing problem, applying the commissioning process to the HVAC and envelope systems will virtually ensure that the design solution, construction documents, and construction process will result in a trouble-free heating, cooling, and ventilation system. Experience indicates that, in general, seventy-five percent of the commissioning work and ninety percent of the problems discovered are associated with the HVAC systems.

During predesign is when all of the scope-of-commissioning issues should be discussed and philosophical agreement reached amongst the owner, commissioning authority, and the design professional, if available.

Can We Afford It?
The obvious concern is: How much is all of this additional effort and detail during design and construction going to cost? It is easy to jump to the conclusion that the process will inevitably increase the cost of projects. It is fair to say that at the outset there will be some net increase in the overall cost of design and construction. However, experience will prove that, when all costs of commissioning are compared with all costs of not commissioning, commissioning will not increase the owner's overall costs. Moreover, as the commissioning industry matures and design professionals and contractors become more accustomed to the building commissioning process and its benefits, it is reasonable to expect project costs to decrease, although that may be difficult to prove.

Whereas a decrease in costs may seem unrealistic,experience indicates that project management by the prime contractors is markedly enhanced due to the increased discipline for scheduling and coordinating throughout the entire construction period, with commissioning properly integrated throughout, and the increased level of quality control induced by the realities of commissioning. The net result is tighter schedule control, better consideration of submittal materials, improved installation and workmanship, and so forth, resulting in a reduction in construction deficiencies and associated delays in completing construction.

Regardless of the specific circumstances at your institution, most owners will agree that they cannot afford to not commission their new facilities.

Ed. Note: The Building Commissioning Handbook, second edition is available for $65 for APPA member institutions, $95 all others. Order at www.appa.org/applications/publications/ index.cfm.