Commissioning of Smaller Green Buildings: Expectations vs. Reality

Eric Baxter, David Sellers, and Marti Frank Tsypin, Portland Energy Conservation, Inc.

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Abstract

The United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED^TM) certification process, which establishes design parameters and guides the construction cycle for sustainable or “green” projects, is fast gaining popularity among building owners. Building commissioning, the process of verifying and ensuring that fundamental building elements and systems are designed, installed and calibrated to operate as intended, is a prerequisite for all LEED^TM projects and performing enhanced commissioning tasks can be used to obtain an additional LEED^TMcredit. For projects using the LEED system, there has been much confusion about commissioning’s goals, costs, and scope.

The paper reviews the authors’ research on the costs, scope, and problems associated with commissioning LEED^TM buildings under 60,000 square feet. The authors examine the most common conflicts and their causes. Topics discussed include the perceived and higher costs of commissioning small LEED^TM buildings and the role of the commissioning agent in the LEED^TM process. The paper also discusses various strategies for commissioning smaller LEED^TM projects.