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Commissioning
Commissioning is essential for maximizing efficiency during new construction
Why waste an opportunity to improve efficiency and comfort?
In the past few decades, we’ve gotten very good at designing safe, comfortable, and aesthetically beautiful buildings. Today’s hospitals, schools, offices, and other commercial facilities are leaps and bounds ahead of similar structures built just years before.
New construction offers a unique opportunity to design and implement energy-efficient systems from the ground up, ensuring optimal performance and long-term savings. Commissioning plays a critical role in this process, ensuring all systems are installed and working as intended, maximizing energy efficiency, and minimizing waste.
A new commercial space is a serious investment—so, let’s make the most of it. Our team is prepared to help you design and install energy-efficient systems to make your new workspace sustainable for years to come.
What is Commissioning?
Building commissioning (Cx) is a process to ensure building components and systems meet the owner’s intent. We achieve this by partnering with owners, contractors, and designers to execute and document reviews, inspections, and performance tests throughout the life of the project, from pre-design through warranty.
The goal is to ensure the performance of your new building systems exceed your expectations, with the added benefit of preventing problems before they happen and finding solutions for potential issues that could arise.
Chances are, you’ve seen multiple types of commissioning services and you’re wondering—what’s the difference? Well, the key here is timing. Other types of commissioning, such as retro-commissioning or re-commissioning, are performed on existing structures, whereas monitoring-based commissioning can apply to new or existing facilities.
Each type has specific applications and benefits, but commissioning is particularly valuable, as it offers us a blank slate to work with.
When is Commissioning for New Construction or Retrofit Projects Required?
Even if you’re not seeking LEED or other green building certifications commissioning is often required in order to meet building codes.
Since 2012, the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) has widely been adopted as the authority on regulations for new commercial construction. The IECC requires mechanical system commissioning for projects where new or retrofit cooling loads exceed 480,000 Btu/h (40 tons) or heating/service water heating loads exceed 600,000 Btu/hr.
This generally applies to buildings 10,000 sq. ft. or more, and virtually all buildings 20,000 sq. ft. or more. As a professional energy services company, the IECC and similar compliance standards are our bread and butter. We’re here to help you navigate energy regulations, and our team is qualified to perform commissioning services that meet IECC requirements.
Our Approach to Commissioning
Our commissioning process begins with understanding your intent. Our engineering team will analyze your building plans, and recommend necessary changes before construction begins to ensure our design meets that intent. We aim to operate proactively, so we’ll work closely with you and your builder to define robust project objectives and an installation plan that checks all of your boxes.
Once construction begins, our team will monitor progress to ensure systems are being designed and programmed correctly. By monitoring the entire process, we can make sure you’ll end up with a low-maintenance, high-performance building that’s comfortable, reliable, and efficient.
Typically, we’ll commission:
Power Distribution Systems
Plumbing Systems
Other Building Systems
If requested
The end result is a win-win—systems are designed and installed to perform optimally as individual components and in conjunction with one another to ensure long-lasting sustainability.
Why is Commissioning Important?
As we mentioned, commissioning allows you to stay ahead of the curve. And the benefits of commissioning go beyond lower maintenance/energy costs, improved comfort, and efficiency. Modern energy regulations are only getting stricter, and commercial businesses will feel the effects first. Failing to keep up will likely lead to higher energy costs, and potentially, fines for non-compliance.
Right here in our home state of Colorado, innovative new policies such as the Energize Denver campaign are calling for clean energy use sooner rather than later. Plus, commissioning allows us to lay the groundwork for green-building certifications such as LEED.
If you’re looking to double down on systems performance, efficiency, environmental stewardship, and ultimately, lower-cost building operations, our team can perform LEED-enhanced commissioning. New construction provides an ideal opportunity to gain a LEED certification.
Key Benefits of Commissioning with Iconergy
The bottom line is, commissioning pays dividends in the long term. Your new building is an investment—so, why not invest in its most important systems? Let’s review a few key benefits of a commissioning project with Iconergy:
Energy
Savings
One of the primary benefits of commissioning is energy savings. Identifying and resolving inefficiencies in a building's energy systems allows us to reduce energy consumption and energy costs.
Improved Occupant Comfort
Commissioning helps improve occupant comfort by optimizing a building's HVAC systems. By ensuring that heating, cooling, and ventilation systems are working correctly, commissioning ensures a comfortable indoor environment, and appropriate indoor air quality. This leads to higher tenant satisfaction and improved productivity.
Increased Equipment Lifespan
Another benefit of commissioning is the potential to increase the lifespan of your building’s equipment. By ensuring that equipment is operating efficiently and that maintenance tasks are being performed correctly, commissioning can prevent premature equipment failure.
Regulatory
Compliance
Commissioning can help you comply with local, state, and federal regulations related to energy consumption and indoor environmental quality. With every project, we make local, state, and federal energy compliance a priority, to help you avoid costly taxes and fees.
Maximize Your Building’s Performance with Commissioning Services with Iconergy
Construction projects move quickly, and it’s vital for our team to get started early to ensure your building’s energy systems are designed and installed for optimal performance. So, don’t wait until it’s too late.
Our team of experienced consultants and engineers is here to help, every step of the way. We’ll take the guesswork out of the commissioning process, walk you through our strategy, and explain how it can help you meet your project objectives. We’re here to make your facilities efficient and cost-effective, for the long term, and there’s no better time to get started.
Contact us now to learn more about commissioning services with Iconergy. Looking for similar services in your existing building? See our retro-commissioning and monitoring-based commissioning pages for more information.
Iconergy Commissioning Case Studies
Iconergy is composed of experienced energy engineering and design-build experts who have come together through their shared commitment to one principle: How customers are served is just as important as correctly calculating BTU’s and delivering projects on time and on budget.
DEER TRAIL, COLORADO
Deer Trail 26J School District, Deer Trail PK-12 School
Iconergy provided energy modeling, sustainability facilitation, and commissioning to meet the requirements for the CHPS rating system for the newly constructed 75,000 square foot PK-12 school. Our engineering team performed integrated project delivery, early and ongoing participation in the development of the owner and project requirements and energy analysis to provide advice for the design team to select durable, low-maintenance energy efficient and resource efficient equipment and strategies for the ultimate design concept.
Services: Commissioning
Certification: CHPS
DENVER, COLORADO
Ralph Carr Judicial Center
LEED Fundamental and Enhanced Commissioning, measurement and verification, and thermal comfort verification services were performed for the 694,859 square foot state courthouse. Additionally, our team performed monitoring-based commissioning using SkySpark. The justice center encompasses the Colorado Supreme Court, the Colorado Court of Appeals, and numerous judicial and legal agencies.
Services: Commissioning, Monitoring Based Commissioning (MBCx)
Certification: LEED BD+C: New Construction v3 – LEED 2009 Gold
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO
Colorado State University, Biology Building
Fundamental and Enhanced Commissioning services were performed for this 134,480 square foot, newly constructed teaching and research laboratory facility.
Services: Commissioning
Certification: LEED BD+C: New Construction v3 LEED 2009 Gold Certified
DENVER, COLORADO
Miller Global Properties
Iconergy was contracted by Miller Global Properties to perform commissioning services for the seven-story, 216,811 square foot Dry Creek Center. This Class A office project was initially only a core and shell building; however, the tenant also then contracted with Iconergy to provide core and interior commissioning as well during the tenant fit out.
Services: Commissioning
Certification: LEED BD+C: Core and Shell (v3) Silver
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO
City of Fort Collins, Utilities Administration Building
Commissioning services were performed for this 37,000 square foot, publicly funded facility, which was the first LEED v4 Platinum certified building in Colorado, and fourth in the entire world. Unique features included incorporation of an automated battery storage unit (aka microgrid) to reduce the building’s peak electric demand.
Services: Commissioning, Monitoring Based Commissioning (MBCx), Energy Storage
Certification: LEED v4 Platinum
DENVER, COLORADO
Mapleton Public Schools, Adventure Elementary School
Commissioning services were performed for the newly constructed 60,000 square foot elementary school. This project earned CHPS certification.
Services: Commissioning
Certification: CHPS