ATLANTA – A newly published standard focused on the commissioning process will help ensure a fully functional, fine-tuned facility.
ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 202, Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems, identifies the minimum acceptable commissioning process for buildings and systems as described in ASHRAE’s Guideline 0-2005, The Commissioning Process. Standard 202 is ASHRAE’s first standard focused on the commissioning process. The commissioning process as detailed in Standard 202 applies to all construction projects and systems and is an industry consensus document.
“Given the integration and interdependency of facility systems, a performance deficiency in one system can result in less than optimal performance by other systems,” Gerald Kettler, P.E., chair of the committee that wrote the standard, said. “Implementing the Commissioning Process is intended to reduce the project capital cost through the warranty period and also reduce the life-cycle cost of the facility. Using this integrated process results in a fully functional, fine-tuned facility, with complete documentation of its systems and assemblies and trained operations and maintenance personnel.”
The commissioning process assumes that owners, programmers, designers, contractors and operations and maintenance entities are fully accountable for the quality of their work. The process begins at project inception and continues for the life of a facility.
The process includes specific tasks to be conducted to verify that design, construction, verification, testing, documentation and training meet the owner’s project requirements, according to Kettler.
The standard defines the commissioning process through 13 functional steps, each of which contains deliverables. The commissioning activities and deliverable are as follows:
-
Initiate the Commissioning Process, including defining roles and responsibilities
-
Define the project requirements, which results in the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) document
-
Develop commissioning plan – produces a written Commissioning Process Plan
-
Plan design approach to Owners Project Requirements – defines the basis of design
-
Set contractor commissioning requirement, which are included in the commissioning specifications
-
Design review by the commissioning authority provides feedback and a design review report
-
Submittals review verifies compliance with the OPR in a submittal review report
-
Observation & Testing verifies system performance with results documented in construction checklists and reports
-
Issues resolution coordination is done with an issues and resolution log
-
Systems manual assembly results in a systems manual for building operation
-
Conduct training for building operations with training plans and records
-
Post occupancy operation commissioning provides an end of warranty commissioning report
-
Assembly of a commissioning report captures all the project commissioning documentation
Other commissioning guidance from ASHRAE includes Guideline 0-2005, The Commissioning Process;Guideline 1.1-2007, HVAC&R Technical Requirements for the Commissioning Process; and Guideline 1.5-2012, The Commissioning Process for Smoke Control Systems.
ASHRAE also is working on several other guidelines related to commissioning: Guideline 0.2P, The Commissioning Process for Existing Systems and Assemblies; Guideline 1.2P, The Commissioning Process for Existing HVAC&R Systems; Guideline 1.3P, Building Operation and Maintenance Training for the HVAC&R Commissioning Process; and Guideline 1.4P, Procedures for Preparing Facility Systems Manuals.
The cost of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 202-2013, Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems, is $72 ($61, ASHRAE members). To order, contact ASHRAE Customer Contact Center at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or 404-636-8400 (worldwide), fax 678-539-2129, or visitwww.ashrae.org/bookstore.
ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is a building technology society with more than 50,000 members worldwide. The Society and its members focus on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability. Through research, standards writing, publishing, certification and continuing education, ASHRAE shapes tomorrow’s built environment today. More information can be found atwww.ashrae.org/news.
Related Stories
| May 1, 2013
A LEGO lover's dream: Guide to building the world's iconic structures with LEGO
A new book from LEGO master builder Warren Elsmore offers instructions for creating scale models of buildings and landmarks with LEGO.
| May 1, 2013
New AISC competition aims to shape the future of steel
Do you have the next great idea for a groundbreaking technology, model shop or building that could potentially revolutionize the future of the steel design and construction industry? Enter AISC's first-ever Future of Steel competition.
| May 1, 2013
Data center construction remains healthy, but oversupply a concern
Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are among the major tech companies investing heavily to build state-of-the-art data centers.
| May 1, 2013
Groups urge Congress: Keep energy conservation requirements for government buildings
More than 350 companies urge rejection of special interest efforts to gut key parts of Energy Independence and Security Act
| May 1, 2013
World’s tallest children’s hospital pushes BIM to the extreme
The Building Team for the 23-story Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago implements an integrated BIM/VDC workflow to execute a complex vertical program.
| Apr 30, 2013
Healthcare lighting innovation: Overhead fixture uses UV to kill airborne pathogens
Designed specifically for hospitals, nursing homes, child care centers, and other healthcare facilities where infection control is a concern, the Arcalux Health Risk Management System (HRMS) is an energy-efficient lighting fixture that doubles as a germ-killing machine.
| Apr 30, 2013
First look: North America's tallest wooden building
The Wood Innovation Design Center (WIDC), Prince George, British Columbia, will exhibit wood as a sustainable building material widely availablearound the globe, and aims to improve the local lumber economy while standing as a testament to new construction possibilities.
| Apr 26, 2013
Apple scales back Campus 2 plans to reduce price tag
Apple will delay the construction of a secondary research and development building on its "spaceship" campus in an attempt to drive down the cost of developing its new headquarters.
| Apr 26, 2013
Documentary shows 'starchitects' competing for museum project
"The Competition," a new documentary produced by Angel Borrego Cuberto of Madrid, focuses on the efforts of five 'starchitects' to capture the design contract for the new National Museum of Art of Andorra: a small country in the Pyrenees between Spain and France.
| Apr 26, 2013
Solving the parking dilemma in U.S. cities
ArchDaily's Rory Stott yesterday posted an interesting exploration of progressive parking strategies being employed by cities and designers. The lack of curbside and lot parking exacerbates traffic congestion, discourages visitors, and leads to increased vehicles emissions.
