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Building
Commissioning
Building commissioning
is a systematic process of ensuring that building systems
are designed, installed, functionally tested, and capable
of being operated and maintained according to the owner's
operational needs. The objective of commissioning is
to provide documented confirmation that a facility fulfills
the functional and performance requirements of the building
owner, occupants, and operators. To reach this goal,
it is necessary for the commissioning process to establish
and document the owner's criteria for system function,
performance, and maintainability; and also to verify
and document compliance with these criteria throughout
design, construction, start-up, and the initial period
of operation at least through the warranty period. In
addition, complete operation and maintenance (O&M)
manuals, as well as training on system operation, should
be provided to the building operators as part of the
commissioning process. Commissioning should be accomplished
by a qualified commissioning agent under contract to
the owner independent from the design and construction
contracts. Commissioning may be done by the engineering
firm responsible for the project design, or by an independent
commissioning agent. The commissioning agent should
become involved early in the design process, and should
continue through at least one year after occupancy of
the facility. In general, the heating, ventilating,
and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and controls, lighting
controls, and life safety systems should be commissioned.
Other systems such as plumbing, data and communications,
security, emergency power, and elevators may also be
included in the commissioning plan. The cost of commissioning
is generally less than $1 per square foot of building
space. The savings far outweigh the cost.
Benefits
of commissioning include:
- Early detection
of potential problems
- Precise tune-up
of systems and controls
- Better building
documentation
- Trained building
operators
- Shortened
occupancy transition period
- Lower utility
bills and operating costs
- Healthy and
comfortable environment
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