A Day in the Life of a Commissioning Engineer

A Day in the Life of a Commissioning Engineer

Commissioning is “a quality-focused process for enhancing the delivery of a project. The process focuses upon verifying and documenting that all of the commissioned systems and assemblies are planned, designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained to meet the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR)” according to ASHRAE Guideline-0. But how is the commissioning process achieved on a daily basis? What is the commissioning provider doing while not making site visits, conducting coordination meetings, functionally testing, or helping to coordinate correction of issues?

I dread the question “What do you do?”. Strangers assume I sit in an office running advanced math for some unknown purpose. Design engineers guess that I test mechanical systems all day. Friends are convinced I fix window AC units. Others simply have a blank expression when I tell them I am a commissioning engineer. The truth is that there are so many facets to being a commissioning provider that there may not be one succinct answer.

Instead of handing you a dry list of tasks, I asked our team what they are working on this week to give you a real snapshot of what a regular week looks like for a commissioning engineer or manager.

Matthew Kitchen – Commissioning Engineer

“I am uploading testing deficiencies to our Commissioning Portal from Functional Performance Testing last week at Spaziano Middle School in Providence, Rhode Island. Later this week I am performing Functional Performance Testing at Capital Region Mental Health Center in Hartford, Connecticut and conducting several commissioning-focused submittal reviews across a wide range of projects.”

• Insight: Our Commissioning Portal is where we log everything we find during the commissioning process so the construction team knows exactly what needs fixing and future building operators can see what came up along the way. Logging issues can require a little extra research; balancing manufacturer recommended installation procedures, design documents, and building operator needs is not always an “in the field” decision. It also might mean digging through project documents to see whether a system is supposed to reset (a linear, dynamic control strategy) or hold a static setpoint, calculating heat transfer through a cooling coil based on readings taken in the field, or comparing manufacturer recommended installation to what the design called for.

Ryan Sleeper – Commissioning Engineer

“This week I am on site all week to functionally test equipment and verify balancing of an apartment building in Meriden, Connecticut. Testing of rooftop Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs) has required extensive controls troubleshooting. Being able to adapt on the fly has been useful today, letting me adjust so I can still witness sequences of operation even in imperfect conditions.”

• Insight: Functional testing is one of the best known and most important steps in the commissioning process. Working alongside controls, mechanical, and testing and balancing (TAB) contractors on site, we run the building system through the different modes it was designed for – testing sequences such as occupied and unoccupied, heating and cooling, free-cooling, morning warm-up and cool-down, fire alarm and power failure, and more, verifying the system performs the way it is supposed to under each situation. Construction schedules are always tight, so taking the collaborative approach, like Ryan coordinating directly with the controls contractor on site, results in timely resolution of issues discovered during the commissioning process and ultimately, healthy, comfortable, and efficient buildings.

Jacob Lyga – Retro Commissioning (RCx) Engineer

“Leading a design review coordination meeting to integrate comments into final construction drawings before the drawings are sent to the general contractor, performing a walkthrough at a school with the client and contractor to determine the implementation process for identified retro-commissioning energy conservation measures, and conducting a building walkthrough with the engineer to kick off the functional testing phase of a new project. I will also be highlighting mechanical drawings and counting equipment included in the commissioning scope for a project.”

• Insight: Energy conservation measures, or ECMs, are the upgrades, sequence changes, or fixes that are discovered through retro-commissioning with real energy (and cost!) savings behind them. Since most of these changes happen while a building is still occupied, the contractor needs a clear understanding of what work needs to be done and how to do it with minimal disruption to building operations and occupants. Effective communication between facilities staff and contractors is usually the difference between a smooth upgrade and a school losing air conditioning in the middle of the school day.

Joe Tuxbury – Commissioning Project Manager

“Having a weekly coordination and staffing support meeting with other PMs, performing a mechanical and building enclosure design review for a new project, functionally testing a fire alarm system alongside the local AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction, a.k.a., Fire Marshal), and attending a weekly project trades meeting to coordinate commissioning activities. It’s shaping up to be a nice balance of internal coordination and collaborative tasks, paired with hands-on technical and field work.”

• Insight: Catching a problem during design is always less expensive than catching it during construction where it turns into a change order and a schedule delay. The design team balances code compliance, cost-effective construction, and efficient design, whereas the commissioning provider’s focus during a design review is to confirm the Owner’s Project Requirements are met; everything from accessible air filters to graphics requirements in the building automation system. Using PDF editing software to perform a thorough review of the drawings and project manual, and organizing comments in a spreadsheet, is one of the most cost-effective tasks a commissioning provider contributes to the project.

Will Belke – Commissioning Project Manager

I am performing a site visit to review the installation of solar panels and battery storage in Colorado, attending the ASHRAE regional conference, leading a kickoff meeting for a multifamily building in Somerville, Massachusetts, and drafting this article for the website. A heavier travel week than normal, but I am not going to complain about checking out the mountains.

• Insight: There is nothing worse than reaching the end of a project and discovering the wrong pump was installed, which now means paying to uninstall and reinstall it, and possibly shutting the whole system down to swap it out (this really does happen!) Site visits catch problems early since the commissioning provider is on site to review the installation as it happens. Site visits are also where we build relationships that make a project run smoothly, since contractors performing installations are an integral part of a successful commissioning process.

On any given day I might be running calculations in the office, troubleshooting an HVAC system with a contractor, helping an owner chase down an energy efficiency goal, reviewing a design engineer’s drawings against the Owner’s Project Requirements, or flying out to Denver to be on site while a solar PV system installation nears completion. Bringing a project to fruition that is planned, designed, installed, tested, and that facility staff are trained on proper systems operation, and maintenance with the owner’s best interest in mind takes every one of those tasks plus a team that wants to see it through.

So, what do I do? Depends on the day.