Commissionability review, services and maintainability report (S&M), commissioning-focused design review – whatever you want to call it, it's one of the most critical stages in setting a project up for commissioning success. It's the opportunity to put the building services design under the microscope before construction begins, checking whether systems can be commissioned, operated and maintained as intended [...]
Buildings don’t always perform as intended once they’re occupied. Occupants may complain about being too hot or cold, energy use might be higher than expected and systems could operate differently to the originally anticipated usage patterns. Facilities teams then spend time and effort reacting to these issues without clear performance data or direction. Over time, incremental changes such as setpoint adjustments [...]
Many buildings are commissioned one system at a time – heating, ventilation, cooling, controls, lighting, audio visual and fire safety are all tested against their design intent, witnessed and documented. But, buildings never operate this way. They rely on multiple systems working together as an integrated network. Most commercial buildings rely on a full-function fire test (FFFT) to confirm life-safety systems i [...]
When a building relies on 24-hour cooling for critical rooms and equipment, even a small oversight can lead to a major failure. On a recent commercial office project commissioned by our team, a design error created exactly that scenario. The cooling towers – essential to the building’s heat-rejection system – were designed with automatic water-level control but no independent level alarms. Although the BMS provid [...]
Why commissioning? Commissioning is something I fell into right out of high school. I wasn’t seeking it out but it found me. I quickly took to it and found it very rewarding. I have a passion for understanding how things work and how they can be improved. In my late 20s, I went into carpentry and woodworking for a number of years. It was something I did in high school and I found it rewarding, especially working [...]
Matthew is a Commissioning Manager and General Manager of Engineering Commissioning Services. With industry experience in the residential, commercial and mission critical sectors, he has extensive experience in the commissioning of mechanical, hydraulic and fire protection systems and a sound working knowledge for the commissioning of all building services systems. Matthew, previously to joining ECS, specialised [...]
When it comes time to hand over the keys to a building, how can you be sure that the systems will operate as intended? Sean McGowan opens a door onto the vital work of commissioning. Commissioning is vital in ensuring a building’s HVAC services operate as designed and intended at the completion of an installation. We asked three experts about the challenges of this process: Mark Jacobson M.AIRAH, commissioning an [...]
