I am working on a project that includes a large existing cold storage facility that will essentially double in size after renovations. Based on the design and layout of the project, it appears that the building qualifies as one-building in LEED terms, so both existing and new portions of the building will be included in the project boundary. My question is whether the existing refrigeration system needs to be commissioned or if we are only required to commission the new systems. My thought would be that because the existing systems will be included in the project, they must be commissioned. However, as we are talking to potential CxA's, one brought up a valid point. Say they do commission the existing systems, who is responsible if issues do arise? We are not installing these systems, so they are outside of our scope of work. Further information, the current Owner was not the Owner when the project was built (10ish years ago), so we do no know if commissioning took place as part of the original project.
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Dustin Norton
Sustainability Program ManagerPrimus Design Services, LLC
40 thumbs up
January 23, 2019 - 2:41 pm
(I'm not looking for an answer to the who's responsible question - that can be figured out with the Owner. I just want to confirm whether or not the existing systems need to be commissioned.)
Dan Forino
Regional DirectorHorizon Engineering Associates
58 thumbs up
January 23, 2019 - 2:49 pm
Dustin - this typically depends on if the systems serve the new equipment (central chiller plant or heating water systems) or if it is completely stand alone (new central systems and all terminal or stand alone RTU's, etc). If they are connected then the base building systems would require commissioning, or validation that they have been commissioned within a given period (but doesn't sound like you have that), so they would required commissioning. Unfortunately as well the timeline threshold is less than 10 years so even if they were commissioned it wouldn't be applicable.
If the new systems are all completely stand alone I would argue there is not the need to commission the old system as part of your LEED requirements, but would encourage someone to take a look at them from an energy perspective.
Below is some guidance for v2009 published by USGBC on what is required to be commissioned for District Energy Systems.
https://www.usgbc.org/resources/des-district-energy-systems-guidance-v22...