Monitor-Based Commissioning

Hi David,

You can see the intent of Enhanced Commissioning in LEED guide page 390, that explains “Enhanced commissioning is a natural extension of the fundamental commissioning (Cx) process. It provides owners, via the commissioning authority (CxA), further oversight and verification that the building will meet their expectations and requirements beyond the first day of occupancy.”

And, LEED explains the goals of monitoring-based commissioning as “Monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) gives the building owner, operators, and the CxA a continual stream of information that helps them identify operational issues as they occur, thereby saving time, money, and energy consumption over the lifetime of the building.”

While, the fundamental commissioning only to verify that the owner’s goals and objectives are met and the building systems perform as intended, the enhanced commissioning provides verification beyond the first day of occupancy and monitoring is inside the enhanced commissioning activities.

Thanks and regards.

Hi David,

Great question. We're working with our comissioning agent this week on the scope, specs, and Cx plan for a project pursuing both Enhanced Cx and MBCx.

I think it might actually be harder to get effective monitoring systems if you aren't doing Enhanced Cx as well.

MBCx can add another system to integrate, another layer of complexity, so the third party review of construction docs and submittals can provide more QA/QC, especially if the commissioning agent can offer input on the monitoring systems. The owner or building staff may be managing the monitoring system, and would benefit the most from knowing how they work, so having good training, documentation, an operating manual, on-going Cx plan, and the 10 month review can be even more important. 

Sounds like one of those synergies we often talk about!