Commissioning & Quality Assurance
A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse-gas Emissions
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The map is not the territory. Building performance routinely strays from the intent at the time of design, resulting in pervasive problems. Deficiencies such as design flaws, construction defects, and malfunctioning equipment have a host of ramifications, ranging from equipment failure, to compromised indoor air quality and comfort, to unnecessarily elevated energy use or under-performance of energy-efficiency strategies. Fortunately, an emerging form of quality assurance—known as building commissioning—can detect and remedy most deficiencies.
LBNL maintains the world's largest database of actual commissioning project costs and energy savings. The assessments begin with compilation of case-study data on costs, energy savings, the patterns of deficiencies and corrective measures, and non-energy benefits. The resulting analyses include cost-effectiveness, savings persistence, and greenhouse-gas abatement.
What is Commissioning?*
What is Commissioning?*
The term commissioning comes from shipbuilding. A commissioned ship is one deemed ready for service. Before being awarded this title, however, a ship must pass several milestones. Equipment is installed and tested, problems are identified and corrected, and the prospective crew is extensively trained. A commissioned ship is one whose materials, systems, and staff have successfully completed a thorough quality assurance process.
Building commissioning takes the same approach to new buildings. When a building is initially commissioned it undergoes an intensive quality assurance process that begins during design and continues through construction, occupancy, and operations. Commissioning ensures that the new building operates initially as the owner intended and that building staff are prepared to operate and maintain its systems and equipment.
Retrocommissioning is the application of the commissioning process to existing buildings. Retrocommissioning is a process that seeks to improve how building equipment and systems function together. Depending on the age of the building, retrocommissioning can often resolve problems that occurred during design or construction, or address problems that have developed throughout the building's life. In all, retrocommissioning improves a building's operations and maintenance (O&M) procedures to enhance overall building performance.
Recommissioning is another type of commissioning that occurs when a building that has already been commissioned undergoes another commissioning process. The decision to recommission may be triggered by a change in building use or ownership, the onset of operational problems, or some other need. Ideally, a plan for recommissioning is established as part of a new building's original commissioning process or an existing building's retrocommissioning process.
* Haasl, T., and K. Heinemeier. 2006. "California Commissioning Guide: New Buildings" and "California Commissioning Guide: Existing Buildings". California Commissioning Collaborative.
Research products
Research products
Presentations
Making the Business Case for Building Commissioning [PDF]
Action-Oriented Energy Benchmarking - ACG 6th Annual Conference on Total Building Commissioning, Las Vegas, NV, April 16, 2010 [PDF]
Costs and Benefits of Commissioning New and Existing Commercial Buildings - National Conference on Building Commissioning, New York, NY May 2005 [PDF]
2018 Commissioning Cost/Benefit Study Findings - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory [PDF]
The Cost-Effectiveness of Commissioning New and Existing Commercial Buildings: Lessons from 224 Buildings - 2006 National Conference on Building Commissioning, New York, NY
Building Commissioning: A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse-gas Emissions
The Business Case for Commissioning New and Existing Buildings, Presentation for Pacific Energy Center Workshop, December 6, 2005 [PDF]
Costs and Benefits of Commissioning New and Existing Commercial Buildings, Conference on Building a Sustainable Campus Community (UCSC), June 21, 2005 [PDF]
Media
Media
The following press items describe our work on commissioning.
American Council of Engineering Companies - Industry News Briefs - "Huge Opportunities in Making Building Stock Energy Efficient," [Online version][PDF]
E Bulletin - "Study Confirms Building Commissioning Cost-effectiveness," E Source, October 1.
San Francisco Chronicle - "Fine-tuning Buildings' Energy Systems Urged", September 6, p A-10 [Online version][PDF] Reprinted in World News, September 6 [Online version]; Sustainability 2030[Online version]; Building Energy Performance Info [Online version]
The HVAC&R Industry - "Study Examines Costs and Benefits of Commissioning", Vol 8, No. 36, ASHRAE, September 3, 2009. [Online version][PDF]
CBS Interactive / Smart Planet- "The Fastest, Cheapest Way to Save The Earth," August 14, 2009 [Online version][PDF]
Building Design+Construction - "Is Building Commissioning Worth the Cost?" August 13, 2009 [Online version]
Mother Jones - "Cooling the Planet for Free," August 12, 2009 [Online version] [PDF]
ClimateProgress - "Building Commissioning: The Stealth Energy Efficiency Strategy," August 12, 2009 [Online version]
Consulting-Specifying Engineering - "New Report Quantifies Costs & Benefits of Commissioning," July 23, 2009 [Online version] [PDF]
HPAC Engineering - "Cost-Benefit Analysis of Monitoring-Based Commissioning," July 22, 2009 [Online version][PDF]
Better Bricks - "Meticulous Study Makes Case for Cost-Effective Commercial-Building Commissioning" [PDF]
Buildings.com - "What Owners Need to Know About Commissioning Buildings" [PDF]
National Conference on Building Commissioning (NCBC) - "The Cost-Effectiveness of Commissioning New and Existing Commercial Buildings: Lessons from 224 Buildings" [PDF]
Heating, Piping, and Air Conditioning (HPAC) - "The Cost-effectiveness of Commissioning" [PDF]
Energy Design Resources - "Building Commissioning: How Cost-Effective Is It?" [PDF]
Architectural Engineering Institute: Methods, Means, & Trends - "The Cost-Effectiveness of Commissioning New and Existing Commercial Buildings: Lessons from 224 Buildings" [PDF]
Building Operating Management - "Roadmap to Better Performance: Retrocommissioning Lays Out Opportunities for Improvement" [PDF]
Hall of Shame
Hall of Shame
The following photos of energy-wasting problems discovered in real buildings are drawn from the commissioning literature.
Sponsors: California Energy Commission (CEC), California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
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