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Workshop 1: Data Analysis and Diagnostic Tools for Commissioning: A Demonstration Workshop

For the past decade, the increase in the availability of building data has led to the development of more data analysis and diagnostic tools for commercial HVAC systems. Recently, some exciting public and commercial tools have emerged on the market and are ready for widespread use. These tools facilitate and streamline data analysis to help pinpoint problems in building HVAC systems.

This workshop is designed for commissioning providers and building operators who want to learn how to use these new tools to more effectively utilize data in identifying building system problems. This day-long session will start with an overview of the available tools and a discussion of how they fit into the overall picture of data analysis and diagnostics. Tool developers will then offer guided demonstrations of six different tools, discuss tool features, and give results from case studies where the tools have been implemented. The workshop will conclude with an interactive Q&A with the tool developers.

Workshop Agenda and Presenters

Introduction – Kristin Heinemeier, PECI

Commercial Tools

• ENFORMA – Stuart Waterbury, Architectural Energy Corporation
• PACRAT – Jay Santos, Facility Dynamics Engineering
• Energy Expert and WorkSite Toolkit – Patrick O’Neill, Northwrite
• Energy Witness – Bill Gnerre, Interval Data Systems

Public Tools

• Universal Translator –- Ryan Stroupe, Pacific Gas & Electric Company
• Metrics and Charting Tool – Bill Koran, PECI
• CITE-AHU – Natascha Castro, NIST

Tools Under Development

• Diagnostic Agent for Building Operators (DABO) - Natural Resources Canada
• Functional Testing Data Analysis Tool - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Automated Building Cx Analysis Tool (ABCAT) - Texas A&M Energy Systems Lab

Workshop 2: Using Commissioning to Maximize LEED^® Benefits and Credits

This workshop focuses on commissioning for LEED-NC (new construction/major renovation) and LEED-EB (existing buildings) projects. The morning will focus on LEED-NC and the afternoon on LEED-EB, but both segments will emphasize how to communicate with owners about what to expect from commissioning in LEED projects.

Commissioning is seen by some owners as one of the more expensive measures required by LEED, and its benefits are not always apparent. The workshop will describe the benefits of commissioning of new and existing buildings, and how to communicate these benefits to owners. A particular emphasis will be placed on some of the lesser-communicated benefits, such as maintainability, persistence (which gives owners a head start on subsequent LEED recertification), and interaction with other LEED credits and sustainability measures. The discussion will be illustrated with examples of commissioning of particular systems and the impact on these systems.

Participants will also learn how to communicate what the commissioning process is and why is it different from standard building and operation practices. The speakers will present some of the potential problems that teams experience when integrating commissioning into projects, especially in green/sustainable projects using the LEED rating system.

Case studies of implementing commissioning for LEED certified buildings will illustrate obstacles encountered during the projects, the cost of commissioning, benefits resulting from the commissioning effort, and lessons learned.

Presenters

LEED-NC

• H. Jay Enck, LEED AP, Principal, CxGBS.

LEED-EB

• Paul McCown, LEED AP, SSRCX Facilities Commissioning
• Rusty Ross, SSRCx Facilities Commissioning.

Plenary Session

Welcome and Benner Award Presentation

• Phil Welker - PECI
• J. Phillip Novak - Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation
• Barry Mitchell - President of ComEd
• Liz Fischer - PECI

The Critical Needs of Healthcare Facilities

In mission-critical facilities like hospitals, commissioning can be an important tool to assure that a facility operates correctly and efficiently. Because hospitals are healing environments, the need for natural lighting, noise reduction, and measures to ensure infection control are all critical to the design and operation of the facility. The speakers in this session will describe these and other requirements that create the unique commissioning process for a hospital project.

• Ken Toombs - Toombs & Associates Engineering Specialists, Inc.
• Doug Maddox - The Weidt Group

Commissioning in the Windy City

The City of Chicago has made a commitment to environmental innovation and sustainable action. This commitment can be seen in its public school system, where in 2003, commissioning was first introduced into new school construction projects. The first speaker in this session will present the evolution of commissioning in the city’s schools, including its successes and failures, and will conclude with a look ahead at the next three years of commissioning implementation. A representatives from ComEd will follow with a discussion of the utility’s involvement in the greening of Chicago, touching on the city’s commitment to commissioning and giving a case study of a sample project. A representative from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation will then discuss the non-profit foundation’s support of energy efficiency improvements, renewable energy development and natural areas protection, and the more than $100 million in grants it has given to local government agencies and non-profit organizations to carry out these goals.

• Joseph Clair - Chicago Public Schools
• Chris Philbrick - ComEd
• Bob Romo - Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation

Commissioning Control Systems: Design, Logic, and Integration

The importance of starting commissioning at a project’s design phase is crucial. If the design engineer and the commissioning provider work together as a team from the early stages of a project, they can prevent costly problems during functional testing and later phases of commissioning. This presentation will discuss the need for teamwork and comprehensive design-phase controls logic and integration in commissioning projects. The speakers will use real-world examples to show the types of operational problems that may occur because of improper or insufficient design intent specifications and will give examples of how the issues between equipment, systems and disciplines can be resolved if procedures and responsibilities are clearly specified.

• Bill Gnerre - Interval Data Systems, Inc.
• Kent Barber, PE, LEED AP - Keithly Barber Associates
• Douglas R. Chamberlin, PE - Cogent Energy, Inc.

The Power of Information: Commissioning Datacenters

Data centers are highly complex environments and their operation must be maintained according the strict guidelines. The speakers in this session will call upon their experience to describe their unique challenges of commissioning datacenters, including controlling humidity, achieving Tier Level Standards, and completing functional testing on safeties and alarms. They will present a brief history of data center infrastructure topologies and use representative projects to illustrate techniques.

• Ed Rafter - Tier IV Consulting Group
• Roy Feinzig, PE - EYP Mission Critical Facilities

Gaining More Ground Support with Commissioning Technicians

With the increased need for commissioning services throughout the construction industry, provider firms have started to use technicians and testing specialists to execute commissioning processes. These technicians must have several important skills including technical expertise and an understanding of commissioning’s methodology and mission. Still, there are few educational and training resources available for technicians. This presentation will explore the training needs of technical personnel and the resources currently available for them. The speakers will involve the audience as they explore the various organizations that provide certified skills (such as for HVAC, testing and balancing, fire protection, building envelope and security system technicians) to examine how these skills can be integrated into the delivery of commissioning services.

• James I. Magee - AABC Commissioning Group
• Bradley Brooks, Ed. D., LEED AP - Glumac

Tips and Techniques for Energy Calculations

Energy savings is often a big motivator for utilities, building owners and public and private agencies to take on a retrocommissioning project. Estimating the energy and demand impacts of commissioning measures must be done accurately and reliably, but energy savings estimates are often complex and interactive, and guidelines are not always readily available. The skills required for making reasonable energy savings estimates are not the same as for identifying the findings in the first place. The presenters will give general tips and techniques on calculating savings and will provider the audience with valuable information for making more accurate energy savings estimates. They will also discuss several of the most common retrocommissioning findings and discuss the specific methods to calculate their estimated energy savings.

• Karl Stum, PE - Summit Building Engineering
• Bill Koran, PE - PECI

Biosafety Labs: The Cx Process and Lessons Learned

Commissioning research laboratories and biocontainment facilities is not only necessary to maintain their accreditation but can ensure their long term goals of performance reliability, safety, production capability, and environmental protection. This presentation describes the process, personnel and lessons learned from commissioning a biocontainment facility and a university vivaria facility. The two speakers in the session, both commissioning project managers, will discuss the processes and methods used when commissioning these facilities. They will talk about the impacts of working around infectious environments, the importance of a diverse commissioning team, and what happens when a facility needs to be shutdown, decontaminated, and restarted.

• Michael Weiss - WorkingBuildings
• John Lopez - Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute

Litigation and Mitigation Risk

When functional testing reveals problems with the installation or operation of equipment, the role of the commissioning provider can evolve from that of a third-party verifying agent to an expert witness in a lawsuit. This session also will provide crucial information for the new commissioning model, in which owners of high risk and complex projects look to commissioning as part of their risk analysis and mitigation programs, and a provider’s communication, methodology and verification of results might face legal scrutiny.

• Ray Dodd, PE - Architectural Energy Corporation
• Michael L. Weiss - WorkingBuildings, LLC

Overcoming the Challenges of Daylighting

Daylighting, hailed as a cornerstone of sustainable design of buildings, has the potential to significantly reduce costly lighting energy. However, its installation is complex and requires coordination between several different building and construction trades. Often the systems are not shipped, installed, or documented as designed, leaving the owners with systems that perform inadequately. The speakers in this session will discuss the challenges and pitfalls of daylighting projects, examining case studies in which daylighting systems did not meet performance quality or energy saving expectations and giving tips on how to properly commission advanced lighting systems through the design, specification, construction, and testing phases of a project.

• Trina Larsen, P.Eng. - Cohos Evamy
• Joe Deringer, AIA - The Deringer Group Inc.

Utility Program Updates

• Steven Long - Southern California Edison
• Peter Turnbull - Pacific Gas and Electric Company
• Jeff Alexander - San Diego Gas & Electric Company

You say, “Retrocommissioning,” I say, “Existing Building Cx”

• Kristin Heinemeier, PECI

Techniques for Improving Cost-Effectiveness

Cost-effectiveness is always a primary goal of commissioning providers. The speakers in this session will examine data collection equipment (such as data loggers) and building automation systems as tools to maximize the cost-effectiveness of the commissioning process. They also will present case studies and discuss the role and importance of the participation of owner, building staff, and subcontractors in a successful project.

• Alfred Turnbull - Boeing

• Rick Lasser - Arup

Biosafety Lab Commissioning: Essential Airflow and Pressure Relationships

Airflow and pressurization relationships are adjusted and verified in most buildings with little concern for health and safety. But in the biosafety laboratory, incorrect pressurization can introduce the risk of respiratory transmission of serious and potentially lethal infections. The speakers in this presentation will discuss their real-world experiences with commissioning biosafety laboratories and tell of the varied components that influence the performance of an enhanced laboratory, the standards and considerations of its design and testing, and important safety factors to remember when testing biosafety laboratories.

• Michael C. Rosenberg, PE - Affiliated Construction Services, Inc.
• G. Trevor Powers - WorkingBuildings, LLC

ASHRAE/NIBS Commissioning Guidelines Panel

This combination presentation will begin with a short overview of Total Building Commissioning and the objectives of the ASHRAE/NIBS collaboration. The presentation will describe the development history and the objectives, structure, and content of the guideline and its annexes. The speakers will also describe the content of the different guidelines currently and imminently available from ASHRAE. The panel also will involve the audience in a discussion of how to improve the usability of current guidelines, as well as report on future guideline collaborations and presentation techniques.

• Joseph Deringer, AIA - The Deringer Group Inc
• Earle Kennett - NIBS
• Jeff Traylor - EMCOR Facilities Services
• Charles Dorgan, PhD, PE - University of Wisconsin - Madison

Commissioning: Concepts to Craftsmanship

Chiller plant performance can be defined as financial where costs are tied to life cycle and reliability. Risk is managed to ensure reliability, and life cycle costs are managed by optimizing performance in terms of maintenance and efficiency. The commissioning process for a chilled water plant—at its best—focuses on performance delivery at the time of turnover. It is a process that documents specific results at a single point in time. But when we commission a plant can we do more than declare immediate success? Can we provide the groundwork for persistent performance? By seizing benefits available with today’s technology we can extend commissioning benefits to achieve efficiency, evaluate risks, and initiate asset management. In this session the speaker will discuss how to take industrial quality assurance and performance control methods, combine them with asset management strategies, and use the knowledge base to deliver a fully commissioned facility.

• Wayne Dunn, PE, E. W. Dunn Developments, Inc.

Underfloor Air Distribution in a Commercial High Rise Building: The New York Times Building

Building systems are becoming more complicated. See how the New York Times project, a 1.6 million sq ft building is using sophisticated methods to measure performance of a under floor air system.

• Glenn Hughes - The New York Times
• Mike English, PE, CCP - Horizon Engineering Associates, LLC

RCx in Practice: Utility Program Experience

The speakers in this session will bring together their varied experiences and perspectives to present important lessons learned during their retrocommissioning programs. A project manager will discuss the importance of screening criteria in large scale commissioning programs, an engineer will discuss the use of permanent energy systems monitoring, and a state utility representative will discuss how commissioning can help with demand side energy management. Their different perspectives are a great jumping off point for an interactive discussion about the key points in successful commissioning programs with differing sizes and goals.

• Lia Webster, PE - Nexant, Inc.
• Kimberlie A. Lenihan - NYSERDA
• Michael K.J. Anderson, PE - Newcomb | Anderson | McCormick

Roundtable Discussion: Commissioning the Building Envelope

Because the building envelope is not viewed as a system, it is often overlooked in the commissioning process. However, the functionality, performance, and indoor air quality of the entire facility is highly influenced by the performance of the building envelope and its components. The speakers in this roundtable discussion will examine the design review, installation checklists, building materials, construction methods and functional performance tests that are required to achieve a functioning, cohesive building enclosure. They will discuss the challenges and risks of commissioning the building envelope and will use data from case studies to show how the failure of the building envelope to function optimally affects the ability for other systems to pass functional performance tests. The speakers will also discuss the available guidelines for commissioning the building envelope, give commissioning tips and strategies, and will talk about how insurance and liability concerns are changing the role of commissioning providers.

• Tony Martin - WorkingBuildings, LLC
• Daniel J. Lemieux, AIA - Wiss Janney Elstner Associates, Inc.

Commissioning for LEED

More and more owners and developers are considering LEED certification for their projects, both to stay ahead of the competition and to add value and efficiency to their properties. Often, owners are concerned about the cost of achieving LEED certification, and LEED’s commissioning requirements represent a major part of that cost. The first speaker in this session will explore these concerns using the results of an 11-building study that examined perceived and achieved benefits of LEED certification. This session will provide a wealth of information to help guide owners in setting commissioning budgets for LEED projects as well as to understand the benefits and potential pitfalls related to commissioning LEED projects. It will be also useful to engineers and providers as it presents the scope of commissioning services and their associated costs and gives building owners’ feedback on the process.

• Peter D’Antonio, PE, CEM, LEED AP - PCD Engineering Services, Inc.
• L. Vincent Pratt, PE, LEED AP - Zapata Engineering

Selling Commissioning to a Frugal Market

This session will highlight successful commissioning projects in the notoriously stretched market of educational institutions. The speakers have managed to break through the barriers of commissioning in public and private schools by selling its benefits to upper management, justifying the extra cost, and even managing to make commissioning “business as usual” for one campus. The speakers will describe the typical questions and objections raised about commissioning by public sector executives and will discuss the most advantageous responses. They will use real-world examples to highlight the effectiveness and impacts of commissioning on university facilities, discuss the importance of collaboration between the design team, constructors, and commissioning providers, and present their lessons learned from their projects.

• Ron Wilkinson, PE LEED AP - Dome-Tech Commissioning Services
• Bill McMullen - EMC Engineers Inc.

Ensuring Dependable Electrical Systems

An unexpected power failure and the ensuing recovery can wreak havoc on a building and its systems. With an ever-increasing demand for efficient and reliable electrical systems, it is becoming more common to see electrical equipment and systems included in building commissioning specifications. However, there are currently only limited resources available for electrical commissioning documentation and procedural references, making it difficult for owners to develop detailed and effective commissioning plans for their project’s electrical systems. This presentation will offer a practical approach to correctly commissioning complex electrical systems and equipment. The first speaker will give useful tips for the installation inspections, pre-functional testing, start-up, and functional testing of electrical systems to ensure that they meet the owner’s expectations and are safe, efficient, reliable, and maintainable. The second speaker will give a mechanical engineer’s perspective on electrical system commissioning, using field experience to illustrate important HVAC and building system considerations and discussing the Power Failure Recovery section of the Functional Testing Guide as a resource for commissioning these systems.

• David Sellers, PE - Facility Dynamics
• Bob Hopkins, PE - RTKL Associates, Inc.

The Worldwide Commissioning Market

Join in on this international session as members of the bourgeoning international commissioning industry bring news from their home countries. Speakers from Finland, Japan and Germany and an American provider that has worked in China will each speak on their experiences with commissioning abroad. They will highlight the challenges of working in the overseas market and describe how the evolving industry might affect commissioning projects in the United States.

• Peter Keithly - Keithly Barber Associates Inc.
• Jorma Pietilainen - VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland)
• Michiro Shimazu - Tonetz Co. Ltd.
• Oliver Baumann - Ebert & Baumann Consulting Engineers, Inc.

Common Needs for Improved Commissioning Documentation

Commissioning providers are often faced with a poorly defined scope and a vague set of requirements for their work. The first speaker in this session will discuss the need for standard commissioning documents to end this confusion and to properly define the provisions, duties, rights, responsibilities, and the limits of the commissioning provider during each phase of project delivery. The second speaker will offer a solution to this problem by presenting an alternative to standard commissioning documents. The revised documents were developed through interviews with contractors, design firms, and commissioning providers and are meant to aid coordination between design teams and installing contractors by increasing everyone’s understanding of a project. Ultimately, the improvements in communication can result in a project that better meets the owner's project intent and fulfills the ultimate goals of the commissioning process.

• Michael J. King, FCSI, CCS – ARCOM
• Scott Williams, PE - Target Corporation

Ground Source Heat Pumps: Lessons from the Earth

Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems are gaining popularity as a way to achieve long-term energy efficiency with little water consumption, visual impact, low noise. Even though this technology has been available for decades, renewed interest in its benefits is resulting in new design applications. For the commissioning provider, the unique challenges of GSHP systems must be met in the design, installation, startup, and troubleshooting phases. In this session, the presenter will discuss the two main types of GSHP systems, unitary and non-unitary, and give case studies and lessons learned from commissioning each type of system.

• Trey Austin - Geo-Energy Services

Award Winning ABN AMRO Presentation and Site Tour

ABN AMRO Plaza is a 1.3 million-square-foot, 31-story office tower in downtown Chicago with a dynamic design and state-of-the-art systems. The building was completed in 2004 and houses ABN AMRO North America's Chicago offices, a 24-hour data processing facility, a ground floor retail arcade and mezzanine lobby.

When ABN AMRO decided to undertake the project they gave their developers a very specific mandate: design a "simple vanilla box" to allow for flexibility, redundant systems for reliability, tight security to protect mission-critical functions, and make it all energy efficient. For flexibility the development team installed an under-floor air plenum distribution system, only the second such system in Chicago. The building's onsite power generation and water storage as well as its UPS and generator back-up protect it against utility and outside failure. A double-level lobby provides public access and connects two major east-west streets at the ground level but allows for strict security on the upper floors. Energy efficient features abound - in addition to the underfloor air system they include a high-performance exterior wall, higher-than-normal floor heights (9 feet, 6 inches), floor-to-ceiling low-E glass perimeter walls and a rooftop garden evenly divided between a green roof and light-colored pavers to reflect light and heat.

ABN AMRO Plaza has received numerous awards, including the 2004 Project of the Year (Commercial) from Midwest Construction Magazine and New Construction Award 2004 (Private/Corporate Category) from Buildings Magazine.

Testing Tools and Techniques

The speakers in this presentation will provide an overview of two innovative commissioning tools: Kyoto University’s seasonal thermal storage testing and optimization simulation tool and the State Technologies Advancement Collaborative’s (STAC) Functional Testing Guide. The first tool consists of physical models of a ground coupled thermal storage system in which circulated water in embedded tubes and the ground is exchanged with components of a HVAC system such as cooling towers, cooling coils, and pumps. The tool was applied in a commissioning project to test the system’s performance and improve its operation strategies, and the first speaker will go over the results of the project. The second speaker will build a functional test using the Functional Testing Guide's Checklist Tool, an interactive feature of the online guide that helps users create custom-made tests for several important building systems. The Checklist Tool is linked to the publicly available Functional Testing Guide, which provides a practical description of fundamentals and field tips for functional testing HVAC systems.

• Masato Miyata - Kyoto University
• Larry Luskay - PECI

Assuring Performance and Savings with M&V

There are many advantages to including measurement and verification (M&V) techniques in commissioning projects, including easing concerns about actual achieved savings and persistence, providing operators with tools to maintain and improve energy performance, gaining an accurate accounting of savings over time, obtaining LEED-EB credits, and improving energy efficiency. The speakers in this session will discuss practical M&V methods, such as complying with industry-standard guidelines, identifying and isolating systems, obtaining reliable data, and meeting programming requirements. They will also delve into the risk and value of associated with several common commissioning measures and their M&V methods. The discussion will include real-world examples including the presentation of two campuses that participated in the University of California/California State University’s Monitoring-Based Commissioning Program.

• David Jump, Ph.D., PE - Quantum Energy Services & Technologies, Inc.
• Russ Chitwood - Nexant, Inc.