Building Commissioning

By Wayne Alldredge, Assoc. Director of O+M, Energy & Commissioning

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Commissioning helps extend the life of equipment and in existing

buildings can maximize ROI by reducing utility consumption 10%-

22%, providing cash-on-cash returns of a staggering 91%1.

1- What is Building Commissioning (Cx)?

Cx is a proactive quality assurance process that ensures building systems are designed, installed, and tested to prove that they operate and perform as intended to the owner’s expectations and requirements. Cx utilizes a multi-disciplined approach involving own-ers, designers, construction teams and commissioning professionals from pre-design planning through post-construction operations.

2- Isn’t Cx just another regulation adding both scope and cost, forcing building owners to spend more money?

Sure there are costs in Cx, such as: staff training, research, contract compliance, Testing/Adjusting & Balancing (TAB), design flaw correction, deficiency resolution, and improvement, contractor coordination, functional testing, and travel. However, why we have Cx regulations is because commissioned buildings are more efficient. Studies go back decades now on commissioning. On average, operating costs of a commissioned building range from 8%-20% below that of a non-commissioned building (LBNL Study)1. These numbers have been repeated with such consistency that California requires Cx for new construction as part of the CALGreen Process.

Frequently Asked Questions About Commissioning

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FAQ

Building Commissioning

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3- What are the benefits for the Building Owner/Manager, Designer, Builder, and Occupants?

A. Owner/Manager Benefits • Reduced change orders – Potential savings in construction costs • Smoother process and turnover & early occupancy benefits • Less disruption to occupancy and operations during turnover • Improved safety resulting in reduced risk to the building • Extended life of existing equipment resulting in reduced O&M costs • Fewer warranty claims with better warranty enforcement • Higher energy efficiency resulting in lower utility costs • Reduced operational problems

B. Design Team Benefits • Improved equipment layout • Reduced liability • Fewer change orders • Greater control of construction costs • Accuracy in equipment sizing

C. Construction Team Benefits • Clarified delineation of responsibilities among team members • Reduced “All-In” construction time • Increased likelihood of client/owner satisfaction • Reduced warranty issues mitigating litigation • Reduced Testing/Adjusting and Balancing (TAB) costs • Better coordination among contractors • More vigilant contractor behavior (knowing that Cx will follow their work) • Reduced contractor call-backs due to reduced complaints from occupants

D. Occupant Benefits • Enhancement of overall building quality • Improved Indoor Air Quality • Improved lighting and visual environment • Comfortable & productive environment • Improved worker satisfaction

E. Other • Compliance with LEED or other sustainability rating system • Qualification for rebate, financing, or other services • Qualification for participation in utility programs • An enabling factor for comprehensive system overhaul

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4- Can You Provide Examples of the Benefits Provided by Commissioning?

A. Altweis (2002): Study of six projects showed change orders were reduced by 87%; contractor call backs by 90%; construction cost reduced 4-9%.

B. Nelson (1999): Study showed 12 legal claims (aggregate award of $60 million) could have been avoided by proper commissioning.

C. The Whole Building Design Guide2 estimates owners can achieve operational savings of $4.00 over the first 5 years of occupancy as a direct result of every $1.00 invested in commissioning.

D. An LBNL1 study provides new, compelling indicators of cost-effectiveness of commissioning in facilities:

• The median normalized cost to deliver commissioning was $0.30/ft2 for existing buildings and $1.16/ft2 for new construction (or 0.4% of the overall construction cost). • The commissioning projects for which data are available revealed over 10,000 energy-related problems, resulting in 16% median whole-building energy savings (about $20 billion) in existing buildings and 13% in new construction, with payback time of 1.1 years and 4.2 years respectively. • The median cost of commissioning existing buildings showed to be $0.27 per sq. ft. In terms of other cost-benefit indicators, median benefit-cost ratios of 4.5 and 1.1, and cash-on-cash returns of 91% and 23% were attained for existing and new buildings respectively. • High-tech buildings were particularly cost-effective and saved higher amounts of energy due to their energy-intensiveness. Projects with a comprehensive approach to commissioning attained nearly twice the overall median level of savings and five-times the savings of the least-thorough projects.

5- I’ve heard about Retro-Commissioning. What is it?

Existing Building Commissioning on a building that was never commissioned or was inadequately commissioned is called Retro-Commissioning or RCx. Re-commissioning is known as “RCx” and refers to the same process on an existing building that was commissioned properly, but needs it again.

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6- What are the benefits of RCx?• Increased value of the asset• Reduced utility and operational costs• Coordinated operations of building systems• Average energy savings of 16% per year• Improved and comprehensive building documentation• Improved Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)• Increased O&M staff skills and knowledge• Enhanced equipment care extending the useful life• Improved equipment performance and reliability

7- What results could I expect from RCx?The LBNL1 study of Cx Projects in Existing Buildings (RCx) showed:• The cost for RCx was $0.30/ft2 • Average energy savings was 16% of Whole Building Energy• Median non-energy benefit was an additional $0.18/ft2

• 11 deficiencies were found per building on average• Simple payback time was 1.1 years!

8- Can I expect these savings to last the life of the building?Some commissioning benefits may not persist if you don’t continue to maintain the building in a commissioned state:

A- Easier to quantify benefits that could be lost include:• Overall energy efficiency• Water utilization efficiency• Indoor environmental comfort• Adequate indoor air quality B- More difficult to quantify benefits that could be lost include:• Increased occupant productivity• Detecting problems early that enable accelerated repair of issues• Preventing premature equipment failure• Reduced operations and maintenance costs• In-house staff skills and knowledge of systems could be lost

Resources and References:1- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has built the world’s largest meta-analysis of

commissioning experience in commercial buildings (100 million sq. ft.). Their July 21, 2009 PIER Study of Cx Projects included 224 Buildings’ Top-level Findings.

2- Whole Building Design Guide is a program of the National Institute of Building Sciences

Building Commissioning

For more information, contact Moe Fakih: 714.363.4700 | mfakih@vca-green.com or visit us at www.vca-green.com

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