Hello,
Our NC building will be approximately 15,000 sq ft, and at the low end of commissioning costs using 1per sq foot, we will need to spend 16K. This is too much for our project to outlay. Since it is a small building, (mixed use, 3 commercial spaces and 9 small condos) could we hire a second set of, HVAC/plumber and electricians to verify our systems? If we did this, the systems could be verified in a minimum of a day and even at 1K a day per expert, you can see the cost savings. The experience on 2 or more projects is a given, since we would select providers who regularly work with theses systems and are not only installers, but maintenance subcontractors, whose responsibility is to ensure systems are working properly. Otherwise I am afraid that EAP1 may preclude us from trying to get certified. Incidentally, although these agents may not be engineers, I would think that their skill levels would be better, especially in the HVAC setting if they have expertise in the same brand as installed, ie. Carrier, HP, etc. As a final note, there are some google results that indicate commissioning is not required on buildings fewer than 15000 sq ft. Is this true?
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Lannie Farmer, LEED AP BD&C; QCxP
Vice PresidentAdvanced Commissioning Services & Solutions, Inc.
38 thumbs up
January 14, 2011 - 9:06 am
You could work with the installing contractors to perform the prefunctional checklist/inspections (See EAp1; STEP 8, the first bullet) in the 2009 Reference Guide. However, there is no reference to projects 15,000 sf or less being exempt.
Scott Bowman
LEED FellowIntegrated Design + Energy Advisors, LLC
LEEDuser Expert
519 thumbs up
January 14, 2011 - 10:24 am
I have also never heard of any project, no matter the size, being exempt. This is a problem for smaller projects, there are many tasks in Cx that are not related to size...you could have 1 hour of performance testing, and yet you have to develop a plan, develop specifications, matain a log, and make the LEED submittal.
I would be surprised if you would need $15k for Cx. We have done similar projects and been below $10k. Note that for this size of project, someone on the design team can do the Cx if they have the required qualifications as required by USGBC (ie at least 2 projects as Cx).
I would recommend that you see if the mechanical designer has the required experiance, then work on a plan that would allow them to direct the process. The testing should be fairly straight forward based on your description.