The LEED V4 book has the comment:
"DATA CENTERS ONLY
For small projects with computer room peak cooling loads less than 2,000,000 Btu/h (600 kW) or a total computer
room peak cooling load less than 600,000 Btu/h (175 kW), the CxA may be a qualified employee of the design or
construction team."
I am curious if someone can explain this comment to me because the wording is a little odd. My company is designing a project that is above 600 kW. However, I did not design it. Can I be the CxA? the wording describes what happens below 600 kW (CxA can be member of design/construction TEAM), but not above 600 kW. Do they need someone independent of the team or independant of the company?
Paul Swierc
Senior Commissioning Agent20 thumbs up
February 15, 2017 - 10:19 am
Peter,
A couple of things should be clarified before getting to an answer. I'll assume the project in question is just the data center and that the 600 kW system is dedicated to that data center. Given that, is the project pursuing the Enhanced Commissioning credit or just the prerequisite?
If Enhanced, then v4 is clear in that the CxA cannot be an employee nor a subcontractor of the design or construction firms.
If Fundamental, then a qualified individual employed by the project's design or construction firms may be considered to lead the commissioning process if that project is below the 600 kW or 175 kW thresholds stipulated by v4. Since the project in question exceeds 600 kW capacity, a CxA for this project cannot be an individual employed by the design or construction firms.
One additional point: Even if the project is below the outlined thresholds and only pursuing the Fundamental prerequisite, v4 clearly states that in these cases, the CxA should be a QUALIFIED employee of the design or construction firms. That means that the employee designated as CxA shall have experience on at least two projects with similar scope (space use, systems, operations, size...) and that that experience extends from the projects' early design phases through occupancy.
So the short answer here is that you cannot act as the CxA for the project you described, based on not meeting the defined threshold. Your company should hire a qualified, third-party commissioning agent in order to bring the greatest value to the project.
Scott Bowman
LEED FellowIntegrated Design + Energy Advisors, LLC
LEEDuser Expert
519 thumbs up
February 17, 2017 - 1:13 pm
Agree with Paul. This language is very typical of standards and codes in describing an exception to the requirement so will only state the condition upon which the exception can be applied. Data Centers and complexity is not based solely on SF but on density, hence the different metric used.
Peter Dishno
Commissioning Engineer24 thumbs up
February 17, 2017 - 2:27 pm
Ok... I mostly agree ;)
Let's say they only want fundamental commissioning.
The one thing that sticks out to me is the specific words they use in this section and the table listed in the LEED book pg 328. They distinguish along the lines of an individual who is part of the firm & design team vs an individual who is part of the firm but not part of the design team.
Then when you look at the data center note (and you read it in a literal interpretation), it is talking about the design team... not the company.
In your response you substituted the word 'firm' for 'team' which changed the meaning.
Scott Bowman
LEED FellowIntegrated Design + Energy Advisors, LLC
LEEDuser Expert
519 thumbs up
February 19, 2017 - 5:24 pm
Peter, I went back to the guide based on your question related to fundamental only and I agree that for that service only, the CxA can be an "employee of the design or construction firm who is not part of the project's design or construction team..." The on-line guide is a little clearer as it states this for all fundamental services, then goes on to list the exceptions when the design team member can also be the CxA. Enhanced in v4 immediately means independent.