the growing challenges & benefits of commissioning: trends ... · well-known benefits of...

The Growing Challenges & Benefits of Commissioning: Trends & An Industry Tune-Up

Presentation for the ASHRAE Golden Gate Chapter

Presenter: Tyler C. Jones, P.E.

Presentation Topics

• Introduction to Commissioning

• Well-Known Benefits of Commissioning

• Current Trends in Construction

• Growing Challenges to Commissioning Process

• Growing Benefits of Commissioning

• Tuning the Commissioning Process

• Future Directions

Introduction to Commissioning:An Evolving Process

Commissioning has expanded greatly since buildings were first formally commissioned in the 1970s.

Current practices have been refined based on findings from multiple research studies.

Commissioning practices are also affected by short-term and long-term factors

Short-Term Factors:

Changes in construction delivery methods (IPD, Lean IPD, Design Build, etc.)

Labor shortages or labor diversity gaps

Economic Factors/Limited Capital

Long-Term Factors:

Changes in Building codes, Energy Codes, LEED requirements & enforcement

Changes in Technology

Ongoing need to “tune-up” the commissioning process

Introduction to Commissioning:What is Commissioning?

• Commissioning Defined

ASHRAE definition“a quality-focused process […] verifying and documenting that all of the commissioned systems and assemblies are planned, designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained to meet the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) of a new building and/or major renovation, and the Current Facility Requirements (CFR) of an existing building.”

Introduction to Commissioning:Many Different Flavors

Current Commissioning Types

New Building Commissioning

Retro-Commissioning

Re-Commissioning

LEED CommissioningFundamental

Enhanced

Measurement & Verification (M&V)

Monitoring-Based Commissioning

Building Envelope Commissioning

Continuous Commissioning

Introduction to Commissioning:New Building Commissioning

• Ensures that a new building achieves the project requirements as intended by the building owner and as designed by the building architects and engineers

• Main goal is to improve a project from the design phase through post construction and occupancy.

• The commissioning team, consisting of commissioning authority (CxA), Owner, Engineer, Contractor (and Trade Partners) begins commissioning process from project initiation through one year of occupancy.

Introduction to Commissioning:Retro-Commissioning

• Process to improve the efficiency of an existingbuilding's equipment and systems.

• Can help resolve problems that occurred during design or construction, or address problems that have developed throughout the building's life as equipment has aged, or as building usage has changed.

• Many of these improvements cost little or nothing to implement, yet some can have big effects.

Introduction to Commissioning:Re-Commissioning

• Recommissioning takes place after the building becomes fully operational and once the building owner and operator have a more realistic picture of how the building is truly used.

• The building operating and maintenance systems are examined and cleaned as needed, parts may be fixed or replaced, and systems reset as if they were being installed new.

Introduction to Commissioning:Continuous Commissioning

• An ongoing process to resolve operating problems, improve comfort, optimize energy use and identify retrofits for existing buildings.

• It does not ensure that the systems function as originally designed, but ensures that the building and systems operate optimally, as utilized, to meet the current requirements.

• Leverages data analytics and “internet of things (IoT)”

Well-Known Benefits of Commissioning

• Better Energy Performance

• Reduced Operational Costs

• Reduced Project Schedule Time & Project Cost

• Fewer Change-Orders or Claims Due to Scope Gap

• Improved Installation Quality/Reduced Warranty Call Backs

• Smoother Transition from Construction to Operations

Well Known Benefits of Commissioning:Better Energy Performance

• Energy savings tend to persist well over at least 3-5 year

timeframe (New Construction Cx: 16%, Retro-Cx: 13%) 2

• Comprehensive Approach to Cx provided significantly better

savings:

• ~ 2x overall median level of savings

• 5x savings of projects w/ constrained approach (non-

design phase)

2 Evan Mills, P. (2009, July 21). A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse

Gas Emissions. Retrieved from Lawrence Berkeley National

Laboratory: http://cx.lbl.gov/documents/2009-assessment/lbnl-cx-cost-benefit.pdf

Well-Known Benefits of Commissioning:Better Energy Performance = Reduced Payback Times

LBNL Study 2009:

• Median Payback Times for Retro-Cx for Existing Buildings: 1.1 Years

• Median Payback Times for New Building Commissioning: 4.2 Years

LBNL 2018 Update:

• Median Payback for Retro-Cx for Existing Buildings: 2.2 Years

• No update on New Building Commissioning in 2018. However, the costs per square foot remained

constant or decreased dramatically for some building types, meaning, the payback period is likely

less than 4.2 years for new building commissioning.

2 Evan Mills, P. (2009, July 21). A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse

Gas Emissions. Retrieved from Lawrence Berkeley National

Laboratory: http://cx.lbl.gov/documents/2009-assessment/lbnl-cx-cost-benefit.pdf

Well-Known Benefits of Commissioning:Commissioning Costs Trending Down

• Commissioning Costs From 2009 to 2018

• LBNL/BCA studied cost per square foot for new construction commissioning

in 2009 and 2018 for various building types.

• Commissioning costs per square foot are trending down in most building

types. Ironically, costs for more complex building types, healthcare and

laboratory buildings, have shown the largest reduction in cost per sq. foot,

while office buildings and schools have seen a slight increase in cost per

square foot.

5 Crowe, E., & Poeling, T. (2018). The Value of Commissioning: Market and Building Data Surveys. Nashville,

TN: Building Commissioning Association, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Well-Known Benefits of Commissioning:Reduced Operational Cost

• Commissioning process may incur costs during

the construction and turnover phase resulting in

additional labor and potential rework.

• However, these are one-time costs that are often

offset by both one-time and ongoing benefits.

• Non-Energy Benefits may include:

• Reduction in repair/replacement during and

after construction

• Longer Equipment Lifetimes

• Reduction in Required Future TI Projects

• Reduction in future consultation costs Conceptual map of commissioning costs and benefits

Well-Known Benefits of Commissioning:Persistence of Savings Due to CommissioningCEC Case Study 2002

• Reviewed Persistence of Energy Savings Over 2 Year Period following

commissioning for 10 commissioned projects on west coast

• Outcomes:

• Persistence is highly dependent on working environment for

building maintenance staff

• Limited Operator Support (i.e. High turnover, Lack of time to

assess building)

• Poor information Transfer During Turnover

• Lack of Systems in Place to track performance

• Administrative Staff Not Focused on Building

Performance/Energy Costs

• Persistence successful for following Cx fixes:

• Re-piping

• Corrected wiring

• Added control valves

• Controls Programming (SOO) Fixes

• Design Phase Fixes

• Persistence not as successful for following:

• Controls modifications not requiring programming (overrides,

set points)

• Sensor Repairs

• New/”Exotic” Technologies/Measures

• Design Problems

Well-Known Benefits of Commissioning:“More Than Just Another Energy-Saving Measure”

Reduced Project Schedule & Costs:

• 79% of projects that participated in 2018 LBNL study

reported buildings were occupied on schedule due to

commissioning, and up to 90% of those projects

reported problems were detected and corrected earlier.

• Commissioning detects problems that would eventually

surface as far more costly maintenance or safety issues.

Fewer Change Orders:

• Recent study found 56% of projects reported fewer

change orders as a result of Commissioning.1

1 Crowe, E., & Poeling, T. (2018). The Value of Commissioning: Market and Building Data Surveys. Nashville,

TN: Building Commissioning Association, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Well-Known Benefits of Commissioning:“More Than Just Another Energy-Saving Measure”

Reduced Warranty Call-Backs:

• Deficiencies Corrected in Real-Time = Less post-occupancy

corrective action

• 62% of projects reported the number call-backs was lower

due to commissioning being implemented

Smoother Transition from Construction to Operation:

• A fully developed and integrated commissioning plan can

bridge the gaps between building owners, design teams,

contracting teams, and the end users

• Improved Quality of Training and Operations & Maintenance

documentation

• Ensures that building owners get what they pay for with

their buildings

Current Trends in Construction

• Increasing Complexity in Sequence of Operations & System Design

• Growing Adoption of Design-Build & Integrated Project Delivery Methods

• Growing Reliance on Packaged Systems

• Industry Becoming Increasingly Segmented Between Trades

• Growing Skills Gap in the Trades

• Accelerated Construction Schedules

• 2018 International Energy Conservation Code® (IECC®) update requiring building commissioning

Growing Challenges to Commissioning: Increasing Complexity in Sequence of Operations & System Design• Building Codes becoming more stringent requiring additional energy savings measures

• Standardization of HVAC and Central Plant Sequence of Operations (ASHRAE Guideline 36)

Commissioning Impacts:

• Basic understanding of systems is becoming challenging for design engineers, manufacturers, trade partners, and end-users

• Industry constantly playing catch-up with the increasingly stringent code

• Design engineers are providing less detail in designs as a result

• Manufacturers attempting to upgrade systems to comply with latest code

• Contractors are becoming less involved in equipment start-up and commissioning.

• Commissioning agents trying to find ways to test new sequences

• Difference between working vs. working correctly is becoming difficult to decipher

Code

Design

Engineers

ManufacturersContractors

Commissioning

Agents

Growing Challenges to Commissioning: Growth in Design-Build & Integrated Project Delivery Methods

• Design Build Institute of America Market Study: Design-build is anticipated to account for 44% of construction spending in the assessed segments over the 2018-2021 forecast period.

• Non-Resident Construction Institute Survey: 40% of survey respondents anticipate widespread adoption of IPD and 54% anticipate widespread adoption of Lean/IPD within 3-5 years.


• “Design intent” and “project requirements” become a little fuzzy

• “Third-party” nature of Commissioning Provider becoming increasingly compromised

Growing Challenges to Commissioning: Growing Reliance on Packaged Systems

• Growing reliance on “packaged” systems from manufacturer to meet project requirements results in limited ability to resolve issues in field

• Most modern systems equipped with PLCs and MODBUS/BACNET communication cards

• Within manufacturing companies, there are multiple divisions, or work that is subcontracted to firms often spread over multiple states.


• Many trade partners and design engineers treat these systems as “black boxes” limiting involvement with design/installation of systems

• Increased potential for component failures with additional electronics, software, etc.

• Difficulty garnering manufacturer/vendor support or information to assist with commissioning and troubleshooting due to proprietary concerns or personnel shortages

Growing Challenges to Commissioning: Industry Becoming Increasingly Segmented Between Trades

• Building Professionals Reducing Fees to Compete in Prevailing Low-bid environment

• Quality control mechanisms and building system documentation eliminated from building development process

Commissioning Impact:

• Intersections Between Trades are often not fully coordinated or checked out at the time of commissioning

• When issues arise, determining appropriate resolution of issues becomes difficult due to partial involvement of multiple parties

Growing Challenges to Commissioning: Growing Skills Gap in the Trades

• US construction industry unemployment levels at an 18-year low.

• Since 2014, while the number of jobs openings have almost doubled, the number of hires over the same period has just increased by 14 percent.

• Labor shortages reaching crisis proportions and are expected to continue through 2019


• Growing skills gap in trades results in many systems being unfinished at the time of Commissioning.

• Many projects operating with “skeleton” crews with personnel managing multiple scopes and trades having a detrimental effect in coordination between trades

• Commissioning is growingly becoming focused on start-up and pre-functional activities

Growing Challenges to Commissioning: Accelerated project schedules

• Due to advancements in BIM, Pre-Fabrication, Modular Construction, and Construction Management Software, project schedules have become accelerated.

• Project Schedules may project better timelines than may be realized

• BIM is only as effective as the accuracy and completeness of the model and strict adherence to constructability

• Construction Management Software is useful if all constraints and coordination are captured in schedule


• Delays may be caused by coordination issues occurring in early construction resulting in a condensed commissioning schedule

Growing Challenges to Commissioning: 2018 International Energy Conservation Code® Updates Requiring building commissioning

• Expanded requirements to HVAC, all lighting systems including occupancy sensors and daylighting controls, building service water heating systems, and the entire building envelope using approved third parties for verification.

• Requires a commissioning compliance checklist for the preliminary commissioning report ensuring all systems included. The checklist also requires information on when the follow-up testing will occur.


• Increased adoption of third-party commissioning across the United States where IBC/IECC is widely referenced

Growing Benefits of Commissioning:“The Flip Side”

• Commissioning Providers have the best mix of relevant design and field experience to turn design into a finished system due to involvement from design to post-occupancy

• Early Design Phase Commissioning can identify scope gaps between various trades and between building controls and packaged skid systems

• Commissioning Providers focus on achieving a fully functional and well-understood complete system for the end user

• Commissioning providers view individual components and equipment as part of a whole system rather than project scope

• Commissioning can identify special needs that cannot be accommodated by standardized systems to meet owner’s requirements

• Commissioning provides assurance that components are fully functional before turnover on growingly complex skids

Tuning the Commissioning Process:Real-World Example: CPMC Van Ness Campus

• Eliminating Ambiguity Early in the Project

• 35+ SOO Coordination Meetings

• Emphasis on Thorough Equipment Submittal Reviews for Completeness/Compliance with Project Requirements

• CxA/EOR concurrent reviews of submittals for conformance to owner’s project requirements and design intent

• Identified issues early before equipment was purchased and delivered

• Effective Communication Throughout Project

• Open dialogue between the team will ensure expectations are aligned

• Test procedures provided 1+ years in advance for reference to clarify expectations of a successfully commissioned system

• CxA Involvement in Planning Construction Schedule

• Advocating for Good Written Documentation

• Industry Turnover is a big problem. Formal documentation is key to passing on past wisdom and reducing time wasted

• Drawings updated and finalized following SOO Coordination Meetings.

• Inclusion of the End-Users in the Process

• Most last-minute issues can be avoided if the end-user was integrated into the process.

• Allows more effective training of how the building works as a whole

• End user fully involved throughout design phase, construction phase, and turnover phase to ensure delivered building meets desired expectations.

California Pacific Medical Center Van Ness Campus

San Francisco, CA

990,000 SF | 274 Licensed Patient Beds | 12 Floors | 5 Living Roof

Gardens

Future Directions in Commissioning

• Increased Adoption and Improvement of Continuous Commissioning Analytic Tools in Commissioning Process

• Emphasis on Design Phase commissioning to identify scope gaps and potential issues with achieving design intent/project requirements

• Design Phase corrections have highest persistence of Cx Benefits

• Growing focus on final turnover and educating end users on new systems

• Leveraging Technology (Videography) for continual education for new building management personnel

• Continued transitional presence on site through 1st year of operation

• Increasing involvement in construction process with Trade Partners

• Growing Relationship Between Commissioning Provides & Manufacturers

• Testing may be performed “in house” with manufacturing or controls companies (Standardized Sequences)

• Increased communication and transfer of technical knowledge

• High-Performing, Well-Understood, & Efficient Buildings

Questions?

Tyler C. Jones, P.E.

Sindoni Consulting & Management Services, Inc.

Website| www.scms.net

E-mail| [email protected]

Phone| 510.292.0168

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