Building Commissioning

Commissioning is a systematic process of verifying that all building support systems have been installed and are performing in accordance with the approved construction documents. Commissioning also ensures that all of the building installed equipment meet the owner’s intended operational, maintenance, and energy efficiency needs.

Building commissioning benefits include: enhanced building performance, lower operating costs, and greater occupant comfort. Building owners and managers, from government facilities to private owners are incorporating commissioning into their new building or retrofit projects in order to minimize their energy usage and operational costs. In essence, commissioning helps building owners ensure that:

Their building has been constructed and is operating as intended.
Proper project closure has been attained for all construction activities.
Post-construction operation and maintenance costs have been minimized.
Building occupant complaints have been reduced to minimal.
Building tenant turnover has been reduced.

The goal of building commissioning is to attain a fully functional and fine-tuned building with systems operating as the owner intended and the O&M staff trained in the daily operation of the building. Experience indicates that operating costs of a commissioned facility range from 8% to 20% less than those of a non-commissioned facility. The savings are basically generated from reduced building energy consumption, lower facility maintenance costs, and increased life expectancy of the installed support systems. In reality commissioning optimizes building operations by:

Identifying the needs and requirements of the owner and capturing these needs in an integrated building operations solutions.
Verifying equipment operation and performance through functional performance testing.
Ensuring proper O&M training and close-out documentation at project completion.

Global Engineering can act as your commissioning authority throughout planning, design and construction of your facility ensuring that all effort is taken to maximize the quality and performance of the building equipment. We serve as owner’s representative to inspect, review, test and accept all of the building support systems at each stage of construction. Our unique commissioning approach ensures that your building meets the design intent and operates as was designed and specified in the construction documents. We have in-house registered professional engineers experienced in commissioning the following systems:

Mechanical Systems

Air Handlers, Blowers, Exhaust Fans, etc.
Multi-zone, VAV, Constant Volume, Dual Duct Systems
Chillers, Cooling Towers and Pumps
Electronic and Pneumatic Control Systems
Vacuum, Air, and Lab Gas Systems
Plumbing, Lab Waste, Domestic Water, etc.
Air and Water Distribution Systems

Electrical Systems

Emergency Generators
Cogeneration Systems
Power Distribution Panels and Breakers
Automatic Transfer Switches
Load Analysis, Phase Balancing and Circuit Tracing
Electrical Coordination Studies

Life Safety Systems

Sprinkler System Evaluation
Smoke and Fire Detection System Testing
Smoke Purge & Evacuation Testing

Building Control Systems

Control Point-List Verification
Control Communications Protocols
Relays and Actuators
Software Setup and Training
Control Operations Training