David Sellers addresses a packed house at Greenprints 2002.

Commissioning: A Greenprints Interview with David Sellers

David Sellers is a senior engineer for Portland Energy Conservation, Inc. (PECI), a Portland Oregon based non-profit promoting responsible energy use with a focus on commissioning as a mechanism to achieve that goal. His background includes more than 25 years of experience in the buildings industry including working for design and consulting firms, mechanical and control systems contractors and facilities engineering groups. His involvements at PECI include performing commissioning work in new and existing facilities, and commissioning facilities involved in the LEED™ program. In addition, he takes part in developing commissioning processes and creating resources to support commissioning, energy conservation and efficient building design and operation.

Q- What is commissioning?

Basically, commissioning is a process. It’s systematic quality control, trying to make sure that all the building elements work together in harmony. HVAC for instance: just because the building is comfortable doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s working as efficiently as it could.

Ideally you’ll start very early in [the design phase] because if you can pick up some of the problems when they’re on paper, they are a lot easier to fix. It’s a lot easier to write specs differently and draw designs differently than to tear out walls and cut out concrete.

Design issues have sustainability implications. If you bend a piece of sheet metal one way to make a fitting, well you just change how you bend that piece, and all of a sudden the fitting has a much better pressure. So you save some energy just by making a better fitting, you can maybe even use less sheet metal. If you just use the fitting a little more wisely you could get better energy efficiency and sometimes less material used in the first place.

The word “commissioning” has been around since the eighties, which is when the concept started to become elevated to the point where people were thinking, “Wow, these buildings aren’t working and we need to do something.”

So to get a LEED™ rating – you have to commission the building. It’s a prerequisite. You can get an extra point for some additional commissioning work, but if you don’t go through a commissioning process you can’t get a LEED™ rating.

One of the first steps is to try to understand the intent of the owner in constructing a building – what matters to him and to document that. Part of the problem is that there’s no documentation. Then you want to make sure that the systems designed can actually be commissioned. In other words, are there dampers where you need them? Are the monitoring points there to make the systems run right? Can you get to everything? Are the requirements and tests that you’re going to have to do clearly stated in the specifications?

You need to make sure the documents reflect the commissioning requirements. Part of that is reviewing other people's work, and inserting language that says “in addition to the other things you’re doing Mr. Contractor, we’re going to do these tests and you’re going to need to assist us with those tests.” Then you actually need to test the system and inspect the systems – make sure they really are going in according to the plans and specs. It’s very holistic.

Q- What is the job of the commissioning agent?

Quality control. Some people would say that we’re already using good designers, but I think a lot of people believe things are happening that maybe aren’t happening as effectively as they could. Again because it’s sort of insidious – the systems sitting there, the space feels perfectly comfortable, but instead of it doing it at a lower flow-rate without reheat, it might be doing it at a real high flow-rate and wasting energy. So it’s a quality control process that tries to document what is going on and then add a layer of overall functionality to it.

Commissioning agents, they’re building a building and everything has to work as an integrated whole: the envelope, the safety systems, all the HVAC, all the lighting control, the doors the windows, because if the envelope isn’t good the HVAC system can’t do what it’s supposed to do. If the lighting controls aren’t set up right then people become frustrated with them and just avoid them. If the fire alarm doesn’t interface right with the HVAC, there are nuisance trips and air conditioning problems. It all has to function together.

Q- Is commissioning unique to LEED™?

No, it existed before LEED™. We adopted it as a tool to help make LEED™ happen, as opposed to it resulting from LEED™. PECI got involved in it because they did some basic research in the 80’s that sort of said if we could just make buildings work the way they were supposed to, it would be like finding an oil field. And other people were saying that at the same time, and out of that the whole commissioning industry has grown. Now we have a building/commissioning conference every year. We typically get around 350 people. The first year was only 50 people, the second year it was one hundred.

Q- What are the current major issues?

Right now one of the things going on at the conferences is, “how do you certify a commissioner?” Currently there isn’t certification, although the commissioner could certainly be held liable. The commissioner is just making sure the systems do what the designers said it should do. A lot of times the system won’t perform because of a design error, and my perspective on that is, "Let’s fix it. Sure there are gonna be bugs, but what matters is that we find them and fix them."

On the Cover: Whitehead Building at Emory University With 11,000 students, 20,000 employees and thousands of daily visitors, Emory exists as a virtual island on about 600 acres, ringed by neighborhoods and essentially land-locked from major arteries and public rail transportation. Outstandingly, Emory has hundreds of millions of dollars in construction underway while being recognized for developing an environmentally sustainable campus. Emory received the 2002 Argon Award for Success in Sustainability. The award acknowledged the university’s state-of-the-art clean transportation system, preservation of the campus ecosystem and commitment to LEED™ in campus construction. Instrumental in implementing sustainable practices was Emory President Bill Chace. Also influential were Robert Hascall, senior associate vice president for facilities management and Erick Gaither, senior associate vice president for business management who heads the alternative transportation program. More than 3,000 individuals and organizations contributed to the goal of creating a walking campus, building green and establishing an innovative alternative transportation program. Emory reached out to campus environmentalists, and they worked together to resolve growth and development issues. This approach led to the ambitious goal of constructing at least three LEED™-certified buildings, one of which is the Whitehead Building (see Cover of this issue of the Southface Journal). In the area of alternative transportation, Emory made heavy investments in vehicles that are alternatively fueled , comprehensive car/vanpool and MARTA subsidy programs. Through the Clifton Corridor Transportation Management Association, Emory obtained funding for electric shuttles and for expanded commuter option programs. Progress and success to date has been due to the collaborative efforts and innovative partnerships formed within the campus community, and with local business, political and community leaders.