USGBC does not require any certifications at this time. The commissioning agent must demonstrate experience on two prior projects.

For fundamental commissioning and project area less than 50,000 ft2, the commissioning agent can be an employee of the design or construction firm. For enhanced commissioning and projects larger than 50,000 ft2, CxA must be independent of both teams. The CxA must be appointed by the Owner.

ASHRAE Guideline 0 and 1 provides information about the use of sampling in such a case to balance commissioning rigor with cost-effectiveness. Past experience of the CxA should also factor in related to issues seen in similar systems or units.

Maybe. Consult Treatment of District of Campus Thermal Energy in LEED V2 and LEED 2009. Depending on the characteristics of your project, commissioning of upstream DES equipment may be required. Commissioning is required only for DES equipment utilized by the LEED project. For example, a project that utilizes district steam but not chilled water is only required to commission DES steam equipment. Commissioning of DES equipment can be performed by the owner of the DES equipment or by an independent third party.

Yes. Consultants who provide non-design services, such as LEED services or energy modeling, can also be the CxA for the project. However, if those firms have affected the design of the building, they should not be selected as the CxA. 

Generally, the CxA for Enhanced Commissioning must not have any connection to the design or construction of the building.  The CxA can be a subcontractor to the design team or construction manager, but the preferred option is for CxA to be directly contracted by the owner. For more details on who can be the CxA, see the Design Development section of the Checklists tab.

For office buildings, if the vacant space is greater than 10% of the building area use the following guidance as indicated in the USGBC Reduced Occupancy Guidance document. For all other space types, no other changes are required for this credit.

The number of monitors in the building does not impact the number of computers entered into Portfolio Manager. The value for computers should reflect the total number of personal computers and servers in the office space. For example, if the office space includes 10 PCs, 5 laptops, and 25 monitors, the input for Portfolio Manager is 15 PCs.

For EAc6, the performance period should fall within 30 days of the latest performance period end date for all other credits and prerequisites. It should not follow the period of the Energy Star label associated with the streamlined path for EAp2.

When applicable variables change during the performance period, these changes must be recorded on Portfolio Manager to ensure accurate benchmarking of the building. When making updates to the space characteristics on Portfolio Manager, make sure to select “update” rather than “correct” and note the date when the updated space characteristic was first true. By selecting “update” the change in the building characteristic is only counted for the appropriate portion of the performance period rather than the whole thing.