Evolution of Commissioning within a School District - Provider and Owner/Operator's Perspectives
Vivek Mittal, Enovity, Inc.
Mike Hammond, Folsom Cordova Unified School District
Enovity has commissioned ten school campuses (more than 500,000 SF) for the Folsom Cordova Unified School District (FCUSD) in Sacramento Metro Area over the past three years. Campuses range from 45,000 SF to over 175,000 SF and the scope of work includes commissioning of major bond-funded major improvement projects featuring new HVAC and controls to ground-up construction of new campuses.
This paper discusses the evolution of commissioning within the District that is currently responsible for 35 campuses in a fast-growing suburb of Sacramento. We will focus on the perceived value of commissioning within the District, by project managers, construction managers, A&E team members, and local contractors. A comparison of energy and operational issues between two similar projects - one that was commissioned and one that was not - will illustrate the impact of commissioning.
Along with the Enovity commissioning project manager (Cx Provider), this paper will be co-presented by FCUSD’s facility/energy manager (Owner), who has been instrumental in promoting “commissioning as usual” for District projects. He will share his experience on how his role as an owner/operator has evolved, with commissioning now being required for all new construction and major renovation projects. In addition to providing an insight into some of the challenges faced while integrating commissioning with their design/construction process, he will also share some of the benefits realized by the District since adopting the commissioning process. The study also describes how commissioning has changed the stakeholders’ perception of major construction projects.
Quantifying Energy Savings Through Commissioning In LEED® Schools
William Burns, ComEd
Chad Grindle, Farnsworth Goup
Andy Sebescak, Primera Engineers
The presentation will look at commissioning in schools and the challenges that arise when commissioning is introduced into the design and construction phases. In particular, it will examine the issues that affect retrocommissioning, commissioning of large mechanical and control system renovations, LEED-NC commissioning of schools, and how to successfully focus commissioning scope to achieve the owner’s goals. The presenters represent three separate firms currently providing commissioning services for Chicago Public Schools. Each has commissioned or is commissioning five to 15 schools, with each school being between 75,000 and 200,000 sq. ft.
The schools being commissioned range in age from more than 100 years old to newly constructed schools and have a broad range of mechanical systems. In addition to the more common systems, there are large ground source heat pump systems, built up multizone plenum and air tunnel systems, as well as under floor and displacement vent systems.
With many projects in progress at the same time, communication between the owner and the three firms has helped ensure issues are quickly communicated. All three firms have worked together to assist the owner in providing consistent commissioning documents and share lessons learned. The structure of this project enables the school district to take advantage of the collective experience of all three firms and quickly integrate the lessons learned and challenges in new and ongoing projects.
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