on all the applicable codes for different systems . The Cx requirements for a stadium are different from those for a lab , and we know all the systems for both . And anything we might not be familiar with , we learn even before we bid on something . In my 12 years in Cx , I ’ ve commissioned over 150 buildings . All of them have been different , and I have experience in every aspect of commissioning and various types of buildings . I teach what I know to ensure that my team is as well educated as possible and gets the experience they need .
Are there any facility types for which commissioning services can be especially beneficial ?
DH : Every type of building benefits from commissioning . Back before commissioning was widely adopted , I would see a lot of nuisance complaints from owners . The project team would have to go back and forth trying to figure out what was wrong because the building systems were never appropriately tested before turnover . Frequently , the team would have to go back to fix issues while the building was occupied . Needless to say , you had some very disgruntled owners sometimes . When building systems commissioning began to take off , we saw less and less of those types of complaints . Simply put , every single building out there should be commissioned .
That being said , facilities like mission-critical data centers should be commissioned through a Level 5 program . Anything that ’ s mission-critical needs to be commissioned , but owners have different definitions of mission-critical . We define a mission-critical facility as a building that has to operate under any conditions , like buildings found on military bases or a large data center that needs to maintain operation continuously . These types of facilities have multiple redundancies , and they have to be commissioned to ensure that those redundancies can ’ t fail all at the same time .
Do you test the building systems individually and then as an integrated whole ?
DH : With your standard commissioning , we ’ ll test the system ’ s individual components , like the air handler and VAV boxes . Then we ’ ll test all the system components in conjunction to make sure that they ’ re all working together . In Level 5 commissioning , we ’ ll test the entire air handling system in conjunction with the boiler system , the hydronic system , the cooling system , etc . We ’ ll test all of those systems together to ensure that the building is fully functional and operates as one system , per design intent .
With several Cx services available , how should owners decide which service best suits their needs ?
DH : A lot of time , we get brought in to help the owner and the architect write the Owner ’ s Project Requirements ( OPR ). This is where you ’ re interviewing with the owner and asking , ‘‘ what do you want your building to do ?’’ Some owners are very knowledgeable and know exactly what they want , and some don ’ t . In those cases , a series of meetings take place to get the OPR written . After it ’ s written , the engineer of record can use that OPR to produce the basis of design for the project .
One of the things that owners should be aware of is the level of sophistication of their facility . If it ’ s a warehouse , then you ’ re only looking to commission the lights , the heating and cooling systems , the office spaces and bathrooms . If the project is at an office building where they ’ re building a tenant improvement , you ’ re looking at commissioning the HVAC system , lighting , lighting controls and daylighting , and the hot water system . If the building is a laboratory , that lab ’ s sophistication will drive the commissioning requirements , especially if there are spaces with positive or negative air requirements . The level of sophistication ultimately comes down to the use of the building .
You ’ re involved in a project even before the design ; what other contributions do you make as the project progresses ?
DH : First , we give clients a graphical timeline that outlines what needs to be done at different phases . Under Title 24 , there ’ s a requirement where all the parties have a meeting to develop the OPR , so the engineers know what they ’ re required to do during the schematic design phase . During the design phase , the Cx team is there to do design reviews , which LEED requires . During construction , the Cx team will be visiting the job site , especially when they get to the time where they start hanging ductwork and are putting in sprinklers and piping . It ’ s required of us to actually look at the systems that are being installed to make sure that they are installed correctly and have their manufacturer ’ s required maintenance clearances . At LAX , we work closely with the facilities folks , and one of the things they ’ ve always asked us to do is to ensure that they have space to get in there and maintain the equipment .
Once the equipment is all started up and they get into the testing or acceptance phase , that ’ s when we go through and ensure that everything is ready , all pre-functional checklists are filled out , the controls have done pointto-point checkout , and the sequence of operations is programmed and tested . We test all of that to ensure it correlates to the design intent drafted at the beginning of the project .
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Issue 04 / 2021