NCBC Session Highlight: Industry Drivers of Commissioning – Programs and Legislation

Introduction: Darren Draper, P.E., LEED AP, Epsten Group, Inc., SERBCA Treasurer

Retro-commissioning, or Existing Building Commissioning (EBCx), works. This is a simple conclusion for us to come to based not only on the experience of people like myself in the commissioning business, but also by the investment in retro-commissioning programs being undertaken around the United States by utilities and municipalities. One of many examples of this commitment to energy use reduction in existing buildings will be presented at the NCBC conference this May. This post is a brief introduction to what ComEd in particular is doing to improve existing buildings through energy efficiency, what it took to get the program started, and how validation of savings is being implemented.

Guest Blogger & 2012 NCBC Speaker: George Malek, PE, LEED AP, ComEd

ComEd currently has one of the largest (if not the largest) utility-based retro-commissioning program in North America. But it didn’t start out that way.

In 2007, we filed our first Energy Efficiency plan with the Illinois Commerce Commission.  Prior to that, I had worked with my team of energy engineers on several commissioning and retro-commissioning projects in ComEd’s service territory that were not related to any mandate.  I was a believer in the process and had been very aware of its benefits.  I was also convinced that commissioning should be part of “business as usual”. As such, I was very vocal about including retro-commissioning in our plan.  I knew that it was the right thing to do but I also knew that it would be a challenge to validate and verify savings.

We included a conceptual design in the plan. However, after the plan was approved and an implementer was hired, we invested plenty of time and brain power to design a program that can deliver benefits to our customers and had the measures in place to prove it.  Tight control over the service providers and a quality process helped ensure and verify savings.  We are now enjoying our fourth year of program operations.

Those attending our session will learn about the program details and also about the results thus far. The discussion will also touch on some healthy tension between the implementation team and the evaluator.

Learn more about this session and others at the NCBC 2012 website! We look forward to seeing you at the conference in Nashville!

PE or Non-PE: Is that the Question? A Review of Current Info and BCA’s Position on the Issue to be Shared at Nat’l Conf on Bldg Cx (NCBC), May 15-16, 2012 – Nashville, TN

Authored By:
Mark F. Miller, P.E. CCP
President
Building Commissioning Association

There has been much debate, discussion and discord in our association and industry around the question “Should a Commissioning Authority (CxA) be a licensed PE?” While this question is being asked, I’m not sure this is the real question that the commissioning industry should be addressing. Rather, I suggest that the real question we, as an industry, are trying to answer is: what does it take to be a qualified CxA? The BCA and the Building Commissioning Certification Board have outlined through the Certified Commissioning Professional (CCP) process a provider has the following:

Experience: Recommendations from the owners’ where they have completed successful projects.
Education/Knowledge: This is confirmed by completing the exam.

I believe we need to get to the next level of specificity. What are the knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), and core competencies that a CxA must possess to be successful and the job task analysis.

We need to be in agreement with our membership and other industry stakeholders of the job tasks performed by the CxA. BCA recently engaged in two separate processes to determine the job tasks, knowledge, skills, abilities and core competences of a CxA. The first is through the partnership with PECI, California Energy Commission, NYSERDA, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and others to create a national training for commissioning authorities and energy auditors. The second is through an initiative by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) to determine job tasks and skills as they relate to commissioning as a profession. The results from the PECI work are now complete and training is slated for launch in the fall of 2012. NREL’s results are out for public review and the BCA has provided comment.

No doubt, there is a lot of information to review. While some are quick to position themselves on either side of the PE debate, getting agreement with all the industry stakeholders CxA qualifications will take time.

Once there is industry agreement on the job task analysis with the knowledge, skills, abilities and core competencies of the commissioning profession, the requirement of professional licensure can more readily be determined. State licensure boards will have more information to base decisions and ultimately our industry will move in a more productive direction. A review of current information and position of the BCA will be presented and discussed at the National Conference on Building Commissioning (NCBC) on May 15-16, 2012 in Nashville, TN in the panel session titled
“ATTRIBUTES OF A CXA.” I hope you will join us there to discuss this important issue.

Mark F. Miller, P.E. CCP

Why I’m in the Building Commissioning Business

This is the first official blog posting leading up to the National Conference on Building Commissioning. The 20^th NCBC is taking place this May in Nashville and this blog will accomplish three main objectives:

1. Introduce the topics that will be presented by experts in the commissioning industry
2. Provide personal perspectives on NCBC and the commissioning industry
3. Highlight the great events planned in conjunction with the conference

We will be keeping you posted regularly from now until the conference kick-off in May, but with our first post I want to tell  how I personally got into the building commissioning business and share why I think the NCBC presents a great opportunity for building industry professionals to network and exchange ideas.

I have been in commissioning for six years, and am currently the Commissioning Department Manager for Epsten Group, Inc., a sustainable design and consulting firm in Atlanta, Georgia; however, I ended up in this field almost entirely by accident.  I say almost and not completely because I have been involved in the building services industry since high school, when I lugged tools around for technicians at my father’s HVAC company in Georgia.  Though it could be unpleasant during those hot Georgia summers, I gained a lot of knowledge from observing those technicians hard at work.

I continued to work for my father every summer break, taking on more responsibility and learning from the experienced people around me. I often heard in the office or riding in the work trucks that engineers where disconnected—they did not understand what it takes to install, service, and maintain equipment. How could they really?  Most design engineers have not been in the position of installing or maintaining building systems.  Hearing these complaints led me to the decision that combining an engineering degree with my practical field experience would make me a great designer.  And so I went to college, got a mechanical engineering degree, and lined up an opportunity with a respected design firm.  But, when I went in for my interview and with my HVAC background on my resume they said, “We want you to join our commissioning department.”   I had no idea what commissioning meant at the time, but I thought I would try it for a while and then segue into design work.   It did not take long for me to realize that I was best suited for and really enjoyed building commissioning, and so I never quite made it to the design team.

Over the years, I have learned a lot from my co-workers and their wealth of commissioning knowledge.  I have always been interested in learning more from other people in the commissioning field.  Whether their specialty was data centers, laboratories, or green buildings I wanted to learn how I could get better at what I do. In the commissioning business we don’t often get an opportunity to share our experiences with other commissioning experts.  Largely due to the fact that we are off on multiple projects usually in multiple states.  The NCBC is a great forum to get together with other industry experts to learn about their successes and lessons learned, which is the reason I attend.

Another reason I look forward to the NCBC is that the conference is an educational event for commissioning professionals, building owners, architects, and engineers alike.  It’s about how building commissioning improves the building industry.  Participation by facility managers, architects, engineers, and contractors provides us commissioning professionals with an appropriate perspective which can only help us improve and vice versa.  The conference gives us a chance to exchange ideas, share thoughts on the future of commissioning, and to network with each other.  As a young professional in this business, my involvement with the Building Commissioning Association and NCBC will allow me to continue learning from other experts and shape the future of commissioning and the building industry.

With the launch of our NCBC Blog, you will learn more in future posts about what the NCBC offers and how you can take advantage of the opportunity.  Please keep checking in for helpful NCBC information (like the best places to eat in Nashville), the events surrounding NCBC, and even some ideas for how to get started on a commissioning career path.

Darren Draper, PE, LEED AP BD+C

Commissioning Department Manager

ddraper@epstengroup.com