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Introduction to Commissioning
This section provides an overview of commissioning: what it is,
why it is done, how it is
structured, what methods and procedures are used, and who does
it today. Commissioning (Cx)is [generally] not common, yet it is
becoming more frequent as building owners and othersrecognize that
buildings and energy-using systems often do not perform as well in
practice as
designers predict. Although commissioning has many definitions,
one simple one is "a set ofprocedures, responsibilities, and
methods to advance a system from static installation to fullworking
order in accordance with design intent." [Wilkinson, 1999] [Yoder
and Kaplan, 1992].
Definitions vary according to the scope of commissioning and the
activities related to it. Somecommissioning projects begin early in
the design stage and continue through ongoingoperations and
maintenance.
Commissioning of building systems has its roots in shipbuilding
where the term was first used
to describe the process to ensure a ship was seaworthy and ready
for service. Commissioning iscommon today in industrial plant
control systems. The principles behind commissioning aresimilar to
those of "total quality management" (TQM). In TQM one attempts to
establish criteria
that can be tracked and evaluated to determine whether the
quality of a desired activity orsystem meets expectations; for
example, TQM practitioners might attempt to measurecontinuous
improvements in employee productivity.
Some of the primary reasons that the buildings industry has
begun to pursue commissioningare: first, building systems are more
complex and dynamic than ever; Energy ManagementControl Systems,
dynamic daylighting, direct-digital controls, variable frequency
drives, andthermal-energy storage systems are just a few
technologies that confuse building operators and
need to be carefully tuned during installation. A second reason
for commissioning is thatdemand-side management evaluations of
energy-efficiency measures have shown that manymeasures do not
perform as well as intended; a key reason is that the systems have
not beencommissioned properly [Piette et al., 1995]. Many building
owners have a growing awareness of
the need to track buildings' energy performance, and
commissioning is seen as a way toestablish proper operations during
start-up. A third factor in the increased awareness ofcommissioning
is that building designers, both architects and engineers, are less
involved todaythan in the past in ensuring that a building they
have designed actually works as intended. This
lack of involvement results in a knowledge gap. The designers
often do not understand how thesystems they design actually
function in practice. The focus on minimizing first costs,
especially
in speculative construction, means that little effort is placed
on activities after a building's initialstart up, so little
attention is given to bringing building systems into operation with
optimalenergy efficiency, good indoor air quality, and realistic
procedures for operation andmaintenance.
More:
Costs and Benefits of CommissioningThe Commissioning Process
The Scope of Commissioning
Who Should Commission a Building?
Cx Summary
Commissioning Overview
Commissioning (Cx) Team
Operations and Maintenance Hand-off
Seite 1 von 1Introduction to Commissioning
14.03.2006http://ateam.lbl.gov/design-guide/DGHtm/introductiontocommissioning.htm
