Building Performance Knowledge Community

Have any of you had experience with projects that included envelope commissioning? How'd it go??

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Joseph Berchenko AIA, CSI, CCS
Senior Architectural Specification Writer ARCOM
Alexandria, VA
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Joe I have been practicing BECx for almost a decade now.  I am involved in a project right now, four dorm buildings at Amherst College.  I am in the middle of a design review as we speak.  I am also involved in the ASTM standards E2813 and co-chair of E2947.  I am also putting together the curriculum for the BECx education course for NIBS.  I understand from Paul Brosnahan you are working on a specification master for ARCOM.  If you need a reviewer, please include me.  Thanks.

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Wagdy Anis FAIA
Principal Consultant
ANIS BUILDING ENCLOSURE CONSULTING
Waltham MA
617-794-1173
wanis@anisbeconsulting.com
www.anisbeconsulting.com
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-13-2015 12:07
From: Joseph Berchenko
Subject: Envelope Commissioning?

Have any of you had experience with projects that included envelope commissioning? How'd it go??

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Joseph Berchenko AIA, CSI, CCS
Senior Architectural Specification Writer ARCOM
Alexandria, VA
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We often act as the envelope commissioning agent on school and university projects, and on some private commercial projects. The simple answer is, it depends.
Was the commissioning agent involved from the beginning of design or brought in at the beginning (or even during) construction?
Do the construction docs clearly communicate commissioning requirements, testing standards, and responsibilities among the team?
Does the contractor regularly check the work of the subcontractors?
How often does the commissioning agent visit the job site?
What is the follow up for contractor, designer, and OPM?

We often see that envelope commissioning best practices are loosely followed, resulting in a less effective process, which I call "commissioning lite". Notwithstanding, even partial compliance can have a tremendous positive impact on the project. The following is a partial list of superior value-added commissioning activities:

Peer review of design documents,
Preconstruction and field window testing,
Pre-con meetings with subcontractors,
Regular site visits to inspect envelope systems installation,  
Sealant testing,
Below grade waterproofing inspections,
IR roof surveys. 


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David Bliss AIA
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
Waltham MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-13-2015 12:07
From: Joseph Berchenko
Subject: Envelope Commissioning?

Have any of you had experience with projects that included envelope commissioning? How'd it go??

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Joseph Berchenko AIA, CSI, CCS
Senior Architectural Specification Writer ARCOM
Alexandria, VA
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I am regularly involved with projects where we provide the commissioning of the building enclosure.  We work on new Bank of America buildings and US Army Corps of Engineer's building projects.  The tested building usually excessively leak both air and water.   The Cx process is not well understood by most of the design and construction industry yet, but progress is being made. 

I also speak on Commissioning of the Building Envelope for the association of Energy Engineers "Certified Building Commissioning Professional" program.

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[George] [Blackburn] [AIA]
[General Manager]
[Construction Consulting International]
[Carrollton] [Texas]
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-13-2015 12:07
From: Joseph Berchenko
Subject: Envelope Commissioning?

Have any of you had experience with projects that included envelope commissioning? How'd it go??

-------------------------------------------
Joseph Berchenko AIA, CSI, CCS
Senior Architectural Specification Writer ARCOM
Alexandria, VA
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 I would like to hear some experiences from a design architect perspective - we're currently evaluating envelope commissioning for a lab building.

How big an effect did it have on construction sequencing? What sort of benchmarks were you trying to meet? How effective do you feel it was in the big picture?

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Severn Clay-Youman AIA
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Brooklyn NY
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The scopes of the building envelope commissioning (BECx) work today are quite varied from project to project, building owner to owner, and building type to type.  Construction sequencing is effected to some degree, but what is gained in increasing the performance of the building envelope and increased energy efficiency seems to be worth the additional time, effort, and cost.  The current push for commissioning is primarily driven to make buildings use less energy, but additional benefits are gained with improved indoor air quality and occupant comfort, as well as the probable increased longevity of the building.  A laboratory building seems to be an ideal candidate for BECx.  I have done some retro commissioning on laboratory buildings that the owner wanted to improve the energy efficiency.

There is a lot of common QA/QC work on the building envelope that are a standard part of the modern construction process, such as exterior wall mock-up testing and onsite inspections and performance testing.  The new building code requirements for air barriers and continuous insulation are also a part of achieving better performing building enclosures.  Check out what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is requiring for their new building construction projects in the way of BECx.  Air barrier performance is their current main focus.

I believe that the BECx process must start with the Owner's desires, needs, and requirements.  The Architect then must deliver a commission-able building enclosure design, and the contractors must effectively execute the design.  The Cx process is just a method to verify everything works as intended.
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[George] [Blackburn] [AIA]
[General Manager]
[Construction Consulting International]
[Carrollton] [Texas]
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-19-2015 09:41
From: Severn Clay-Youman
Subject: Envelope Commissioning?

 I would like to hear some experiences from a design architect perspective - we're currently evaluating envelope commissioning for a lab building.

How big an effect did it have on construction sequencing? What sort of benchmarks were you trying to meet? How effective do you feel it was in the big picture?

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Severn Clay-Youman AIA
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Brooklyn NY
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