Data-Centers-NC-v4.1 EAc1: Enhanced Commissioning

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Intent

To further support the design, construction, and eventual operation of a project that meets the owner’s project requirements for energy, water, indoor environmental quality, and durability.

Requirements

Implement, or have in place a contract to implement, the following commissioning process activities in addition to those required under EA Prerequisite Fundamental Commissioning and Verification. Commissioning Authority Qualifications:

• The CxA must have documented commissioning process experience on at least two building projects with a similar scope of work. The experience must extend from early design phase through at least 10 months of occupancy;
• The CxA may be a qualified employee of the owner, an independent consultant, an employee of the design or construction firm who is not part of the project’s design or construction team, or a disinterested subcontractor of the design or construction team.

Option 1. Enhanced Systems Commissioning (3-4 points)

Path 1: Enhanced Commissioning (3 points)

• Review contractor submittals.
• Verify inclusion of systems manual requirements in construction documents.
• Verify inclusion of operator and occupant training requirements in construction documents.
• Verify systems manual updates and delivery.
• Verify operator and occupant training delivery and effectiveness.
• Verify seasonal testing.
• Review building operations 10 months after substantial completion.
• Develop an on-going commissioning plan.

Path 2: Enhanced and Monitoring-Based Commissioning (4 points)

• roles and responsibilities;
• measurement requirements (meters, points, metering systems, data access);
• the points to be tracked, with frequency and duration for trend monitoring;
• the limits of acceptable values for tracked points and metered values (where appropriate, predictive algorithms may be used to compare ideal values with actual values);
• the elements used to evaluate performance, including conflict between systems, out-of-sequence operation of systems components, and energy and water usage profiles;
• an action plan for identifying and correcting operational errors and deficiencies;
• training to prevent errors;
• planning for repairs needed to maintain performance; and
• the frequency of analyses in the first year of occupancy (at least quarterly).

Option 2. Building Enclosure Commissioning (2 points)

• Review contractor submittals.
• Verify inclusion of systems manual requirements in construction documents for enclosure systems.
• For specialty enclosure systems with controls and automation:
  • Verify inclusion of operator and occupant training requirements in construction documents.
  • Verify systems manual updates and delivery.
  • Verify operator and occupant training delivery and effectiveness.
  • Verify seasonal testing.
  • Review building operations 10 months after substantial completion.
• Develop an on-going enclosure commissioning plan for maintenance, renewal and revitalization cycles.

• conduct at least one commissioning verification review of the owner’s project requirements, basis of design, and design documents before mid-construction documents development;
• back-check the review comments in all subsequent design submissions; and
• conduct an additional full verification review at 95% completion of the design documents and basis of design.

• one verification review of design documents before the start of design development;
• one verification review of design documents before midconstruction documents; and
• one final verification review of 100% complete design documents, verifying achievement of the owner’s project requirements and adjudication of previous review comments.

Frequently asked questions

What does it cost?

Cost estimates for this credit

On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.

Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.

This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.

Checklists

Addenda