Design Guidelines: Commissioning Guidelines
Building commissioning can ensure that a new building begins its life cycle at optimal productivity, and improves the likelihood that the building will maintain this level of performance. The Building Commissioning Guidelines are divided into two sections: Part 1: Introduction to Commissioning This section presents building owners with the definition, benefits, costs and savings of building commissioning, as well as three real-life case studies...

Design Briefs: Building Commissioning
In projects all over the country, building-industry professionals are finding that commissioned buildings are more energy efficient, more comfortable, and easier to maintain. Summary: Commissioning is a quality-assurance process that increases the likelihood that a new building will meet the client's expectations...

Design Briefs: Field Review
To assure a project’s success, the design team needs to be involved in the construction process. Summary: Developing well-detailed construction documents is an important first step in achieving energy and resource efficient projects. However, projects are not successfully completed until the building and its systems are constructed, commissioned, and fully operational according to the design intent...

Design Briefs: Design Review
Through design review, owners can maximize a building’s energy efficiency and save both capitaland operating costs. Summary: Energy-efficient design can be improved by design review. A process of review both enhances design and fosters communication between designers, owners, and builders...

Design Briefs: Energy Management Systems
On average, energy management systems save about 10 percent of overall annual building energy consumption. Summary: An energy management system (EMS) is a computer that controls the operation of all major building systems, in order to run the building efficiently and effectively...

Design Briefs: Smart Buildings
Integrating smart-building design features into a new construction project can significantly increase the energy efficiency of the building while also providing enhanced occupant comfort. Summary: Smart buildings take advantage of information exchange to provide a flexible, productive, and cost-effective environment for building occupants...

e-News for Designers: e-News #48: Building Commissioning: How Cost Effective Is It?
The commissioning of new and existing commercial buildings is increasingly common, yet it's still not standard practice. A new study by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory on the cost effectiveness of building commissioning may go a long way toward convincing skeptical decision makers that commissioning is key to significant ongoing savings...

e-News for Designers: e-News #15: Design Quality Assurance Into Your Project With Building Commissioning.
Building commissioning helps ensure that building systems operate efficiently, meet the needs of the end user, function as designed, and maintain occupant comfort. The initial costs of commissioning are recovered many times over through increased operating savings, improved staff performance, and avoidance of costly construction problems...

e-News for Designers: e-News #25: Want to Maximize the Efficiency of a Less Complex Project? Performance Assurance May Be the Answer.
Despite significant advances in building technology and tighter building standards, the Department of Energy estimates that buildings still consume one third of all U.S. energy, at a cost of $200 billion per year, with $85 billion used in commercial buildings...

e-News for Designers: e-News #34: Designing a Small Commercial Building? Make Sure All Your Ducts are in Order.
Annually, California commercial buildings use roughly 35 percent of the electricity and 16 percent of the gas consumed in the state. Space conditioning in these buildings accounts for about 18 percent of their electricity consumption and 34 percent of their natural gas consumption...