Principles of building commissioning : principles and practices

Savvy building owners have adopted commissioning as an effective way to improve the facility acquisition process. Green building initiatives have embraced commissioning as a way of assuring quality in the delivery of high-performance buildings. This long-established quality control process for building mechanical systems is emerging as a broader construction management tool improving nearly all aspects of a project.

What exactly is this thing called commissioning? Principles of Building Commissioning answers this fundamental question with the first all-inclusive, practical guide to the application of the principles of commissioning. The book clarifies the underlying philosophy of commissioning: the why, what, when, and who of this process. Shaped by the ASHRAE Guideline 0 view of the world of commissioning, Building Commissioning:

Maps out the territory of commissioning

Outlines its defining characteristics

Explains its flow of processes

Demystifies its documentation

Making the fundamentals of commissioning accessible to all parties--building owners and operators, architects and engineers, users and suppliers--who may be called upon to join the commissioning team for a particular project, Building Commissioning serves as the professional's road map to the commissioning process, from the predesign phase through occupancy.

Author Notes

Walter T. Grondzik, PE, Leed-AP, is a professor in the School of Architecture, Ball State University. He has served as president of the Architectural Research Centers Consortium and the Society of Building Science Educators, and is a Fellow of Ashrae and a member of several Ashrae technical and guideline committees.

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
1 What Is Commissioning?	p. 1
Building Commissioning	p. 1
The Building Acquisition Process	p. 3
What Building Commissioning Is and Is Not	p. 7
What Building Commissioning Can Do	p. 8
What Building Commissioning Cannot Do	p. 8
Total Building Commissioning	p. 9
References	p. 13
2 The Commissioning Process	p. 15
Commissioning Is a Process	p. 15
Predesign Phase	p. 16
Owner's Project Requirements	p. 16
Commissioning Plan	p. 18
Design Phase	p. 20
Basis of Design	p. 20
Commissioning Plan	p. 22
Construction Documents	p. 22
Construction Phase	p. 23
Equipment and Systems Verification	p. 24
Training	p. 24
Systems Manual	p. 25
Commissioning Plan Updates	p. 25
Occupancy and Operations Phase	p. 25
References	p. 29
3 The Commissioning Team	p. 31
Teamwork Is Necessary	p. 31
The Commissioning Authority	p. 32
Owner Representatives	p. 36
Design Team Representatives	p. 37
Contractor Representatives	p. 38
Specialists	p. 39
Commissioning Team Participation Expectations	p. 39
4 Commissioning Coordination	p. 53
The Role of Coordination	p. 53
Defining and Conveying Project Requirements	p. 54
Defining and Verifying Design Solutions	p. 55
Defining and Conveying Construction Verification Requirements	p. 56
Defining and Conveying Training Requirements	p. 57
Defining and Conveying Operational Information	p. 57
Planning for Ongoing Commissioning	p. 58
References	p. 62
5 Verification and Testing	p. 63
The Importance of Verification	p. 63
Predesign Phase	p. 64
Design Phase	p. 67
Construction Phase	p. 69
Occupancy and Operations Phase	p. 71
Reference	p. 76
6 Documentation	p. 77
Commissioning Documentation	p. 77
The Commissioning Plan	p. 77
Owner's Project Requirements	p. 78
Basis of Design	p. 79
Contract Documents/Construction Documents	p. 80
Construction Checklists	p. 81
Training Plan	p. 83
Systems Manual	p. 84
Issues Log	p. 85
Meeting Minutes	p. 86
Commissioning Process Reports	p. 86
References	p. 87
7 Training	p. 89
Training Owner's Personnel	p. 89
The Training Plan	p. 90
Predesign	p. 90
Design	p. 91
Construction	p. 93
Occupancy and Operations	p. 94
Reference	p. 94
8 Special Commissioning Contexts	p. 97
Special Contexts?	p. 97
Ongoing Commissioning	p. 97
Retrocommissioning	p. 99
Commissioning for Green Buildings	p. 100
Discipline-Specific Commissioning Guidance	p. 104
References	p. 111
Glossary	p. 113
Commissioning Resources	p. 121
Index	p. 129

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Author Notes

Table of Contents