Determining Project Performance Requirements
The Commissioning Process
- The Commissioning Process involves a systematic means of verifying that the critical systems are designed, installed, functioning, and maintained in optimal condition.
- The Owner's Performance Requirements (OPR) defines the Owner's project goals, measurable performance criteria, cost considerations, benchmarks, success criteria, and supporting information for the project. The OPR must be developed with significant Owner and/or Owner Representative's input and approval. Cobeal typical facilitates the process for the Owner in identifying the facility's requirements regarding such issues as energy efficiency measures, environment and sustainability issues, security, and operation and maintenance of the building.
- Cobeal effectively incorporates input from the design team, operation and maintenance staff and end users of the building. Methods for obtaining input include: questionnaires, workshops, etc.
Recommendations
UNDERSTAND NEEDS OF SPECIAL BUILDING TYPES
- The focus for commissioning varies based on the purpose of the building. Health care facilities are highly sensitive to temperature and relative humidity, as are museums, libraries, and archives. Laboratories require fume hoods to operate correctly, while data centers demand reliable power.
- Some government and private sector facilities have special requirements for access control, internal security, and communication technology that are essential to their function. Sustainable buildings with highly energy efficient mechanical, lighting, and control systems must be designed, constructed, and operated properly to achieve their projected energy and water savings. Some buildings must meet multiple requirements.
- Virtually every building will have building systems, assemblies, or performance features that could benefit from commissioning. Commissioning can be applied to all building types.
DETERMINE KEY PROGRAM GOALS & RECOMMENDATIONS
- All commissioning projects require detailed planning for project success. Cobeal includes key project personnel in the planning of the project commissioning to ensure the identification of all key program goals and objectives. Once these goals and objectives are identified, the Commission Plan is developed.
- Cobeal helps clients identify team goals, key tasks, and team member responsibilities so that the commissioning schedule can be developed. The Commissioning Plan is a living document that will need to be updated throughout the project.
- Depending on the Owner's Project Requirements, design objectives and functional characteristics that need commissioning to verify building performance may include:
- Accessibility
- 24x7 facility reliability
- Adaptability
- Building pressurization control
- Energy and water efficiency
- Flexibility in audio visual systems
- Functionality
- Maintainability
- Redundant and resilient HVAC systems for climate control
- Reliability
- Scalability
- Security / Safety
- Serviceability
- Sophisticated detection and fire suppression systems
- Space and organizational process functionality
- Structured raceways for flexible cabling installations
- Sustainability
- Survivability
DEFINE THREATS, RISKS, AND CONSEQUENCES
- In order to determine performance expectations and measures, Cobeal must have a clear understanding of the owner's key overall business objectives.
- Cobeal will guide the team in establishing and documenting priorities by which project success will be measured. It is important for the owner to work closely with Cobeal to define business risks, occupant threats and risks, hazards, consequences, and impacts that a system failure may have on the overall mission performance of a facility, so that defined priorities can be integrated into the systems performance.
System Criticality & Goals
- System criticality, and the need for its performance verification through commissioning, is determined by examing how each system, assembly, or building feature, and the integrated aggregate systems, support key program goals and facility mission.
- This may necessitate high-performance HVAC system design that provides constant airflow direction and pressure differentials between interior spaces under all operating conditions.
- This type of building functionality can only be achieved through both systems and whole building-based planning, design, construction, quality assurance, and commissioning testing and verification of the operating systems under various conditions.
- Download the Program Goals Matrix below for a better understanding of the critical program-system relationships that Cobeal addresses.
CONDUCT KEY COMMISSIONING PROGRAMMING ACTIVITIES
- Many design and construction programs execute careful planning and programming that is embodied and encompassed in master plans, building engineering reports, special studies, feasibility studies, and program development studies. Yet, some building programs execute planning and programming only minimally given the myriad of business tasks companies already address.
- Cobeal's successful commissioning relies on integrating all documentation to summarize that which is both general and specific to critical requirements.
- ASHRAE Standard 202-2013 (Annex D) and Guideline 0-2013 (Annex J) provides a general format for developing an Owner's Performance Requirement (OPR) which includes:
- Project schedule and budget
- Commissioning scope and budget
- Project documentation requirements (submissions and formats)
- Owner directives
- Restrictions and limitations
- User requirements
- Occupancy requirements and schedules
- Training requirements for owner's personnel
- Warranty requirements
- Benchmarking requirements
- Operations and Maintenance criteria
- Equipment and systems maintainability requirements
- Quality requirements for materials and construction
- Allowable tolerances for facility systems operations
- Energy and water efficiency goals
- Environmental and sustainability goals
- Community requirements
- Adaptability for future facility changes and expansion
- Systems integration requirements
- Health, hygiene, and indoor environemental requirements
- Acoustical requirements
- Seismic requirements
- Accessibillity requirements
- Security requirements
- Aesthetics requirements
- Constructability requirements
- Communications requirements
- Applicable codes and standards
- NOTE: This is a general list of programming documentation that will vary by project depending on scope, size, complexitity, and budget.
Emerging Issues
Increased Emphasis on Occupant Security
Providing occupant safety to visitors and workers in public facilities is a driving force to deliver and commission facilities with enhanced building safety measures. Commissioning of security systems, advanced IT systems that integrate into security systems, fire life safety systems that are also integrated into IT, and HVAC systems will need additional scrutiny when commissioning. Cobeal takes the necessary care in commissioning these critical elements.
Certification Programs and Standards
Whether your building requires certifications such as LEED, ENERGY STAR, or others, Cobeal will discuss and help you better understand certification requuirements in planning and design phases so that commissioning for certifications procedures and documentation can be included in the OPR and Commissioning Plans.
Ongoing Commissioning
The benefits of ongoing commissioning or monitoring based commissioning (MBC) are well documented in annual energy savings in studies conducted by many institutions. Threats and risks to operational/business continuity, occupant safety, and health and systems degradation and inefficiency often warrant the added expense of ongoing commissioning.
Commissioning in Building Code
Commissioning in the Building Code is becoming more prevenient in all levels. The Commissioning Plan is designed to ensure that the building is built to the OPR and that the Commissioning Plan meets the requirements for the respective jurisdiction.
Smart Buildings
Smart Building technology requires integration of most, if not all, of the building systems. Integration requires a high level of knowledge in IT structure, communication protocols, system registries, and systems interactions. Cobeal works with leading IT experts to provide clients an in-depth knowledge of life-safety codes that are critical if these systems are integrated into the Smart Building approach.