Commissioning Construction Projects 199

Chapter 11

Commissioning
Construction Projects*

THE PROJECT MANAGER AND

COMMISSIONING

I
n order to insure that construction projects meet the specifica-
tion of the designers, it is critical that the project be commis-
sioned. The project manager should insure that this step has
not been overlooked when completing the project. All buildings
which are LED certified by the U.S. Green Building Council re-
quire “commissioning.” This chapter will highlight commission-
ing strategies that the project manager needs to know.

COMMISSIONING AND RE-COMMISSIONING

What is the difference between commissioning and re-com-
missioning? Commissioning is a process associated with new con-
struction, while re-commissioning is usually reserved for old or
existing facilities. The main goal of commissioning is to ensure
that the owner receives what was specified in the design docu-
ments, while the goal of re-commissioning is to restore the
facility’s performance to its initial design specifications, or to
make the systems work for the first time. In summary, both com-
missioning and re-commissioning are quality assurance programs
for the owner.

*Based on an article by Yousef Abouzelof published in Energy Engineer-

ing, Vol. 98, No. 4, 2001.
199
200 Project Management and Leadership Skills

REASONS FOR RE-COMMISSIONING

There are many reasons that entice owners, managers, and

engineers to consider re-commissioning of their facilities. The fol-
lowing are the most common reasons.

• High energy consumption of the facility. This is usually a

good indication that the facility is not operating very effi-
ciently. The HVAC system is dynamic in nature. The indi-
vidual components get old and impact the operation of the
system. Adding independent, highly technical, and efficient
pieces of equipment over time does not guarantee a state-of-
the-art integrated system for the facility.

• Constant occupant complaints. High numbers of “too hot”

or “too cold” calls from the tenants usually raises the red flag
about the facility, especially when it encompasses an entire
floor or the whole building. It is well documented that up to
70 percent of all tenants’ complaints are about the HVAC
system. High tenant complaints may lead to vacancies and
the loss of revenue. Other issues like poor indoor air quality
may dictate a comprehensive evaluation of the facility.

• Tenant retention. The inability to maintain occupancy in the

building, or to attract new tenants to the facility, may be the
most important reason for the owner to re-commission the
facility.

• Maintenance staff complains. Difficulty in controlling, oper-

ating, and maintaining the equipment by the maintenance
staff is a good reason to re-commission the facility. Remem-
ber that the building engineer has the ultimate control of the
building’s mechanical system. All controls will be operated at
his level of understanding.

• Protection of assets. Owners and facilities managers are in-

terested in extending the life of their equipment and in pro-
tecting their investment in the physical facilities.
Commissioning Construction Projects 201

Re-commissioning is time consuming and expensive. No

manager will allocate resources to re-commission a well-tuned
facility. However, if the facility is experiencing any of the above
challenges, then re-commissioning may be the answer.

INITIATION OF A
RE-COMMISSIONING PROGRAM
Commissioning a new facility is very easy compared to re-
commissioning an old or existing building. For a new facility, the
design specifications are well documented. Mechanical and elec-
trical control points, as well as other as-built plans, are readily
available. The sequence of operation is well defined. To re-com-
mission an older facility you may lack some or most of these re-
sources. For that reason data collection is crucial. The following is
a suggested list of what you may need.

• Utility bills. Collect electric, natural gas, and any other en-
ergy bills. Contact the utilities and request a history of each
account for the past few years. Audit these bills and note any
spikes or gradual increases in consumption. An energy utili-
zation index (EUI) may be needed, especially if you have
similar facilities on the same campus. The EUI will provide
information on the total energy consumption of the facility
per square foot per degree days.

• Upgrade and retrofit records and as-built drawings. Obtain

copies of all the mechanical and electrical upgrades and ret-
rofits. This will help determine what upgrades and retrofits
were undertaken on the initial mechanical system. Partial as
well as complete replacement of an entire system should be
clearly defined. This includes, but is not limited to, chillers,
boilers, heat exchangers, pumps, variable frequency drives,
variable air volume boxes, fan coil units, and cooling towers.

• Out-sourced services contracts. Evaluate all the out-sourced

service contracts. Unfortunately, most service contracts are
202 Project Management and Leadership Skills

signed with the owner expecting the most qualified techni-

cian of the service company to perform the job, while in re-
ality most of the service work for the term of the contract will
be conducted by an apprentice. Note excessive repeat calls.

• Review the PM program. If the facility has a preventive

maintenance (PM) program, then the program should be
evaluated. Maintenance staff is the best source on the effec-
tiveness of the program. If more time is spent on reactive
than preventive maintenance, then total evaluation of the PM
program is needed. If the facility does not have a PM pro-
gram, then the commissioner should help with the initiation
of a new program.

• Review the sequence of operation. Every facility should

have a written, well defined sequence of operation. If there is
no documented sequence, the commissioner should meet
with the building staff to determine if there is an agreed-
upon sequence. The commissioner should test this sequence,
and if any changes are discovered during the testing, these
changes, along with the established sequence, should be
documented.

• Tour the facility. Visit all the mechanical and electrical rooms
and note their condition. Special attention should be paid to
air handler rooms. Note the condition of the air filters, drip
pans, dampers, valves, and coils, as well as the mechanical
room itself. Note any override of equipment. Holding the
outside air dampers open with a 2 × 4 or by a wire hanger is
not considered the best indoor air quality control measure.

• Check the Motor Control Center panels. While visiting the

electrical rooms, note the status of mechanical equipment on
the MCC panels. Remember, if a piece of equipment is in the
“HAND” position, then it is overridden and it will stay on
continuously, thereby consuming energy and increasing the
wear and tear on the equipment.
Commissioning Construction Projects 203

• Note the operating status of equipment. During the tour of

the mechanical rooms, note if the chillers are partially loaded,
if a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) is running at 60 Hz, or
if the boilers are on when the outside air temperature is in the
upper 80s or 90s. Remember, the more the commissioner uses
the word “WHY,” the more puzzled looks he will experience.

RE-COMMISSIONING CASE STUDIES

As an owner-developer-operator, Zions Securities Corpora-
tion established the re-commissioning program as a result of its
successful commissioning program. The intention of the program
was to look at every piece of equipment as a part of a total inte-
grated system. For example, re-commissioning the heating system
would involve all the equipment associated with that system:
boilers, circulating pumps, heat exchanger, variable frequency
drives, expansion tanks, condensate tanks, de-aerator tanks, do-
mestic hot water tanks, make-up water, induction units, steam
traps, water treatment, fan coil units, and the main heating coils in
the air handler. Of course, some of the buildings may have all
these components while others may have a selected few.

Case #1. Re-commissioning of

139 East South Temple Office Building
This 68,000 sq/ft 6-story office building was constructed in
the late 1920s. Over the years, the building went through many
space utilization changes; one example is from a movie theater on
some floors to office space. The windows were retrofitted with
new sealed frames, limiting the amount of fresh air being intro-
duced to the building through the windows, frames, and cracks.
Over time, around 70 heat pumps were installed in all tenant
spaces, each with its own manual controls. The heat pumps oper-
ated 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. The heat pumps’ water loop
temperature was set at 72°F all year round. A small furnace pro-
vided the required heating for the water loop. A cooling tower and
204 Project Management and Leadership Skills

a heat exchanger provided the required cooling.

The main reasons for re-commissioning this facility were the
high maintenance costs of the heat pumps and the desire to reduce
their run time. Tenant thermal comfort as well as retention were
the other influential factors. Re-commissioning was able to un-
cover the following deficiencies and correct them.

• System pumps status. The water loop serving the heat

pumps had two circulating pumps. According to the building
engineer, both pumps were required to be on all the time. The
reason stated was, “it has always been done this way.” One
of the circulating pumps was turned off and for the last four
years the system has been operating “on one pump” without
problems. These pumps are being alternated at the start of
every month.

• Furnace problems. The hot water supply was set at 90°F,

which was too low a setting for the boiler. The boiler coils
were plugged and the modulating valve that controls the
mixing of the building heat pumps’ loop and the boiler hot
water was not working properly. The boiler hot water supply
temperature was raised to 130°F and the modulating valve
was repaired. The boiler has been working very well ever
since.

• Heat pump maintenance. The maintenance of the heat

pumps was out-sourced to a service company. After review-
ing the maintenance records, it was clear that many of the
service calls were repeat calls of “low” or “high” Freon
charge. Frequently, these calls were on the same heat pump.
The service company was replaced and service calls were
drastically decreased.

• Heat pumps’ controls. An audit was conducted on the heat

pumps to identify their locations and conditions. A new
building automation system (BAS) was installed that con-
Commissioning Construction Projects 205

trolled the heat pumps. An occupancy schedule was imple-

mented that reflected normal business hours. The heat
pumps were turned off during evenings, weekends, and holi-
days. An after-hours charge program for tenant use was ini-
tiated and tenants were billed monthly for this service.

The BAS graphics simplified the monitoring and trouble-

shooting of the beat pumps.

• Zoning problems. For many years, one of the first-floor ten-

ants who was located above a ramp to a loading dock com-
plained about cold space temperature. During winter months
cold air infiltrated this office and the large windows did not
help. All cracks were sealed and an electric baseboard heater
was installed under the windows. The start/stop operation of
the baseboard heater was controlled by the BAS. The tenant
complaints stopped.

• Indoor air quality test. An indoor air quality test was con-
ducted on all floors. All the readings were good.

Re-commissioning Results of 139 East

The re-commissioning of this facility resulted in lower energy
and maintenance costs, reduced run time on the heat pumps, as
well as a new revenue source to the owner. The re-commissioning
program was started in the 1997, for that reason all the kW and
kWh comparisons were based on the year before the re-commis-
sioning started. Table 1 shows the electrical power saved by the re-
commissioning program.
Total kWh saved since 1996 was 226,569. Total kW saved
since 1996 was 1,222. Cost savings at 2.50 per kWh and $7.60 per
kW (current energy costs charged by Utah Power) are $14,951.43.
Other savings and revenue sources gained by the re-commis-
sioning process were:

• New revenue source. Additional revenue was created by

billing the tenants for their after hours usage of the HVAC.
206 Project Management and Leadership Skills

Table 1. Electric Power for 139 East

————————————————————————————————
Year kW kWh
————————————————————————————————
1996 5,551 1,162,546
1997 5,322 1,148,147
1998 5,120 1,054,548
1999 4,989 1,058,374
————————————————————————————————

• Reducing the run time on the heat pumps. By reducing the

run time, the wear and tear on the heat pumps was lowered
and the life expectancy was increased.

Please note that other systems were commissioned but not

included in this report, such as CCTV and fire systems. These
systems are beyond the scoop of this chapter.

Case #2. Re-commissioning of the

Temple View Center Office Building
This 48,284 sq/ft 8-story office building was constructed in
the late 1930s. During the early 1980s the entire building went
through a major renovation. New energy-efficient windows were
installed. Variable Air Volume (VAV) boxes were installed with
Direct Digital Controllers (DDC) controllers; however, these con-
trollers were stand-alone, and every service call required a ladder
to connect to the DDC card at the side of the VAV box. Heating
was provided by a district heating service in the form of steam to
the building’s heat exchanger. Two hot water pumps circulated
the heated water to the heating coils of the VAV boxes. Each floor
was served by one cooling-only air handler controlled by a time
clock. A chiller with three separate compressors (80 tons) provided
cooling for the air handlers. Two full floors were vacant for many
years.
The main reason for commissioning was due to complaints
regarding tenants’ thermal comfort. When the building was fully
Commissioning Construction Projects 207

occupied, tenant calls increased drastically. Complaints of “too

hot” as well as “too cold” were frequent. Re-commissioning un-
covered the following deficiencies and corrected them.

• Hot water pumps tripping off. Every morning at 10:30 a.m.

the Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) that controlled the heat-
ing pumps tripped off. A power analyzer indicated a voltage
spike at the same time every day. Further investigating re-
vealed that the power company changed substations at that
time. A new transformer was installed on the VFD that cor-
rected the problem. This took care of most of the “too cold”
complaints.

• Air handlers service. An audit of the air handlers revealed

that many of the cooling coils were dirty and plugged. All
were pressured cleaned. One air handler experienced low
chilled water flow through its coils. The inside of the coils
was chemically flushed to restore flow to its original design
specification. Damper service was conducted on all air han-
dler and a few damper operators were replaced.

• Cooling needs. The first week after the final two floors were
occupied, the “too hot” calls started coming when the outside
air temperature reached 90°F. The chiller was checked and
serviced and the cooling tower was cleaned. However, the
chilled water temperature was climbing even though the
chiller was running at 100 percent load. Conducting a load
test for the building reveled that another 20 tons of cooling
was needed to satisfy the cooling demand. A new chiller was
installed and the problem was corrected.

• Building controls. The chiller as well as the air handlers were

controlled by time clocks. The VAV boxes had DDC controls
but were stand alone. A BAS was installed to monitor and
control the air handlers and the VAV boxes. The settings on
all of the VAV boxes were set the same.
208 Project Management and Leadership Skills

Re-commissioning Results of
Temple View Center Office Building
By uncovering and correcting the deficiencies, the goal of
improving tenant thermal comfort was achieved and in addition,
one significant lease agreement was extended. Other systems, like
the fire system, were re-commissioned but not included in this
chapter.

Case #3. Re-commissioning of

Gateway Tower East
This 289,475 sq/ft 19-story office building was constructed in
the mid 1960s and is currently being remodeled. The three-pipe
system, one for heating, another for cooling, and the third for the
common return, is being replaced. Separation of the heating and
cooling system is being done in stages. The leaky induction units
around the perimeter of the building are being removed one floor
at a time. A new BAS has been installed in the building, replacing
the old pneumatic controls with DDC. The boiler plant has three
new boilers. New air handlers are being installed, with each air
handler supplying air to 2 floors. As soon as a floor becomes
vacant, the upgrade work begins.
The main reason for the current re-commissioning of this
building is to determine the proper installation, programming,
and performance of the newly installed systems. The following are
the current deficiencies uncovered and the steps taken to correct
them.

• Boiler plant sequence of operation. The design specification

called for the two big boilers to turn off during summer time.
A small boiler was supposed to satisfy the domestic hot
water demand of the building. Re-commissioning of the
boiler plant indicated that the entire boiler plant stayed on all
year long because the water flow through the small boiler
was too high. A new small circulating pump and a control
valve were installed at the boiler and the water flow problem
was corrected.
Commissioning Construction Projects 209

• Boilers cycling on and off. The boilers were cycling on and

off all the time. The “low fire” was set manually on the boil-
ers’ control panel. All switches were turned to the correct
settings.

• Domestic hot water shortage. The building has two domestic

hot water (DHW) tanks, one supplying floors 1-10 while the
second tank supplies floors 11-18. The tenants on the lower
floors complained that the DHW supply was out every day
by 10:00 a.m. The DHW tank had a 4-ft 2-cycle bundle, while
the design documents called for 6-ft 4-cycle bundle. The
bundle was replaced and the DHW supply problem was cor-
rected.

• Induction units and chillers protection. This building has a

3-pipe system, one for chilled water, another for hot water,
and a third for the common return. Since the induction units
use heating and cooling water, most of the mixing between
the chilled and hot water took place at the induction units.
The main induction unit’s modulating valve was leaking
through, causing more hot water to go to the chillers. In 1998,
the rupture disk on the chillers was ruptured twice due to
high water temperature in the evaporator. The cost to fix the
last rupture disk and add Freon to the chiller was nearly
$14,000. The modulating valve for the induction units was
replaced. A high-temperature alarm was programmed to the
BAS to alarm the building staff of the evaporative high water
temperature.

• VFD running at 60 Hz. The VFD controller on the 6th floor

air handler, which was updated two years earlier, was run-
ning at full speed (60 Hz) all the time without being able to
satisfy the tenants. This particular air handler supplied air to
the 5th and the 6th floors. The air balance report indicated
high static pressure at the elbow of the duct work separating
the two floors. The duct work was corrected, which resulted
210 Project Management and Leadership Skills

in increased air flow to the tenants on both floors. The VFD

speed is currently controlling at 35 to 40 Hz during the day.

• Air handlers’ piping. The chilled water supply line was

piped backward to the cooling coils on three air handlers,
thus affecting six floors. The piping was corrected.

• Chilled water flow. The chilled water flow was too low to
the air handlers. The VFD that controlled the chilled water
circulating pumps was set too low. The chilled water flow
had been set low due to the vacancies caused by the HVAC
remodeling, Upon the completion of the remodeling and new
tenants, nobody remembered to increase the water flow. The
water flow was corrected.

• Cooling towers fill and equalizing lines. Four original cool-

ing towers shared the same fill valve as well as an equalizing
line and worked in sequence. When a fifth tower was added,
the fill line was extended to the other towers but the equal-
izing line was not connected. Thus, every time the old towers
activated the fill valve, the fifth tower flooded over. A new
line was installed to equalize all the cooling towers. The
flooding problem was corrected.

• Impact of the cooling towers on other systems. The cooling

towers serve two purposes: provide condenser water to the
chillers and provide free cooling through a heat exchanger to
the air handlers whenever the outside air temperature is be-
low 38°F. The constant flooding of the towers resulted in
diluted and ineffective water treatment. The lack of good
water treatment caused the towers to start plugging, which in
turn plugged the condenser side of the chillers as well as the
heat exchanger. All these systems had to be opened and
cleaned in order to remove the scales.

• Eddy current test on the chillers’ tubes. Since the scaling on

the condenser tubes of the chillers were difficult to remove
Commissioning Construction Projects 211

with regular cleaning brushes, more aggressive treatment

was used. The tubes were chemically cleaned which in turn
raised a concern about their integrity. An eddy current test
was conducted, and the tubes were fine.

• Free cooling heat exchanger. The flooding of the cooling

tower and the lack of proper water treatment caused the heat
exchanger to scale and to lose its efficiency. The heat ex-
changer was opened and all the plates were cleaned. While
the heat exchanger was opened, more plates were added to
restore and increase cooling capacity.

• Chiller plant controls. The building engineer manually oper-

ated and sequenced the chillers at the chiller plant. The delay
in switching between free cooling and mechanical cooling
during fall and spring was a constant source of complaints. A
new control system was installed on the chiller plant and
connected to the main BAS. In addition to controlling the
chillers, heat exchanger, and cooling towers, the new chiller
plant controls simplified the tenant after-hours cooling. With
a switch of a key, the tenants are able to start their floor air
handler and at the same time start the chiller if needed. The
tenants are now billed for all their after-hours usage.

• BAS software maintenance. Re-commissioning uncovered a

serious problem with the software maintenance of the BAS.
Since the entire HVAC system is being upgraded one floor at
a time, quite a few pieces of equipment are being added,
replaced, or eliminated. Consequently, many control points
are either inactive or not connected to any equipment. How-
ever, these points were still programmed and were showing
status and temperatures on the front end computer since they
were never deleted from the controls system. The operation
staff was not sure which points were real and which were
not. A software maintenance audit was conducted on the BAS
and all deleted equipment were removed from the program.
212 Project Management and Leadership Skills

This audit will continue until all renovations in this building

are completed.

Re-commissioning Results of Gateway Tower East

The re-commissioning of this facility resulted in the correc-
tion of many design, installation, and programming errors. In
addition, the power savings by properly controlling and cleaning
the chillers, the heat exchanger, and the cooling towers is very
apparent. In spite of the addition of three new air handlers, re-
commissioning still resulted in lowering chiller run time and en-
ergy consumption. Table 2 shows the electrical power saved by
the re-commissioning program when comparing 1997, the base
year, to 1998 and 1999.

Table 2. Electric Power for Gateway Tower East

————————————————————————————————
Year kW kWh
————————————————————————————————
1997 20,335 7,727,000
1998 19,112 7,099,000
1999 19,511 7,335,000
————————————————————————————————

Total kWh saved since 1997 is 1,020,000 and total kW saved

is 2,047. Cost savings at 2.50 per kWh and $7.60 per kW (current
energy costs charged by Utah Power) is $41,057.20.
Additional savings are expected since re-commissioning is
currently underway for this building. At this time, other savings
and revenue sources gained are:

• Reducing the run time of the chillers. Before re-commission-

ing, chillers were turned on when the outside air temperature
was below 40°F. Presently no chillers are needed until the
outside air temperature is above 55°F.

• Reducing the run time on the boilers. Before re-commission-

ing, the entire boiler plant was running all year long. Pres-
Commissioning Construction Projects 213

ently, a small boiler is on, June through September, thus re-

ducing the wear and tear on the boilers.

• New revenue source. Additional revenue was created by

billing the tenants for their after hours usage of the HVAC.

CONCLUSION

Re-commissioning should be used as an project management

tool to optimize performance, improve efficiency, and lower en-
ergy consumption. As demonstrated in the above case studies,
designing, upgrading, and installing management equipment
does not by itself guarantee performance or energy savings. Re-
commissioning allows energy managers, as well other profession-
als, to go back and verify that their designs, upgrades,
installations, and operations are working as intended.