CCC Case Study Protocol 1.0
Existing Building Commissioning

Prepared for the

California Commissioning Collaborative

Submitted by

Portland Energy Conservation, Inc.

1400 SW 5th Avenue

Suite 700

Portland, OR 97201

503.248.4636

December 31, 2002

Table of Contents

1.0Overview of the CCC Case Study Protocol

1.1How do I use the case study protocol?

1.2What is the purpose of the case study protocol?

1.3Who funded this protocol?

1.4Why should I participate?

1.5What is included in the case study protocol?

2.0Commissioning Project Criteria

2.1Existing Buildings

3.0Case Study Submittal Process

4.0Existing Building Commissioning Input Sheets

Section 1Project Overview

Section 2Project Details

Section 3Commissioning Costs and Scope

Section 4Commissioning Findings and Benefits

Section 5Owner Interview

Section 6Contact Information

5.0Existing Building Commissioning Example Input Sheets

Section 3Commissioning Costs and Scope

Section 4Commissioning Findings and Benefits

6.0Definitions

6.1 Commissioning Definitions

6.2 Project Description Definitions

6.3 Project Description Definitions

6.4 Acronyms

7.0Marketing Case Study

7.1Checklist of Marketing Case Study Features:

7.2Example Marketing Case Study Template

8.0Acknowledgements

1

CCC Case Study Protocol 1.0

1.0Overview of the CCC Case Study Protocol

This document presents the first version of the California Commissioning Collaborative’s Case Study Protocol, completed in December 2002. This version should be used in paper-based or electronic form until the web-based version is implemented (expected Spring 2003).

1.1How do I use the case study protocol?

In its current paper-based form, the case study protocol consists of input forms for existing building commissioning. Forms for new construction commissioning are located in a separate document. Each protocol indicates minimum required inputs and optional inputs. While each protocol is about 15 pages long, the minimum required inputs are generally checklists that should not take a great deal of time to fill out. The optional inputs will allow more detailed case studies to be completed.

Steps for Using the Protocol

  1. To determine if your project fits the database criteria, see 2.0 Commissioning Project Criteria on page 5.
  2. Select the appropriate forms – either for new construction or existing building commissioning. See 6.0 Definitions on page 27 for definitions of terms used in this protocol.
  3. Fill out the forms in hard copy or electronically, completing all minimum requirements and optional inputs when possible. The name of the building, the owner, and the commissioning provider can be kept confidential at the owner’s request. Questions about the forms should be directed to:

Hannah Friedman, PECI Project Engineer

(503) 595-4492

  1. Email, fax, or mail the completed forms to:

PECI, Attn: CCC Case Study

1400 SW 5th Ave., Suite 700

Portland, OR 97201

Fax: (503) 295-0820

  1. PECI will follow up with a phone call.

1.2What is the purpose of the case study protocol?

The purpose of the commissioning case studies is to document and promote commissioning in California. The protocol standardizes the inputs necessary for the case studies, which will be used in creating an on-line database. The inputs will allow the California Commissioning Collaborative (CCC) to collect standardized information about commissioning projects, and the database will make it easy for providers and owners to submit the information. The CCC will use the information to produce marketing case studies to demonstrate commissioning’s value to owners, and summary statistics to validate commissioning’s cost-effectiveness and help convince the CPUC to allow utilities to fund commissioning as an energy saving measure.

1.3Who funded this protocol?

The protocol has been jointly funded by the California Energy Commission and Pacific Gas & Electric, and has been undertaken at the request of the California Commissioning Collaborative.

1.4Why should I participate?

A well-populated database will benefit both building owners and commissioning providers. The data will offer owners a more thorough understanding of the costs and benefits of many aspects of commissioning - including specific findings during commissioning, design phase versus construction phase commissioning, and the involvement of different parties in the process. The data will also give owners and providers the ability to estimate the potential benefits of a project by examining case studies of comparable buildings. Providers will be able to use the data to convince owners of commissioning’s value and to learn from their peers, thus raising the overall quality of commissioning services in California. Finally, if the data can demonstrate the cost effectiveness of commissioning as an energy saving measure to the CPUC, utilities may be able to fund commissioning projects, thus providing financial assistance to owners and further expanding the market for commissioning services.

1.5What is included in the case study protocol?

  • Criteria for entering a project into the database: Every project must meet certain criteria to ensure that all projects in the database are truly commissioning projects.
  • Process for entering a project into the database: A step-by-step process from data entry to case study completion has been developed. The process will be implemented when the on-line case study database is operational. This process is outlined in 3.0 Case Study Submittal Process on page 6.
  • Forms for existing building commissioning projects: These forms indicate required and optional fields. If required fields are not complete, the project is not eligible for a case study.
  • Example input sheets for existing buildings projects: Examples have been provided for select sections.
  • Definitions: This list of definitions is referenced throughout the input sheets.

2.0Commissioning Project Criteria

All existing building commissioning projects that choose to participate, meet the criteria below, and complete the required inputs will become a part of the CCC Case Study database. The projects that qualify for individual written case studies will be determined based on project outcomes. Projects that do not qualify for written case studies are an essential part of the database, since these projects add robustness to the summary statistics that will be derived from the full database.

2.1Existing Buildings

  • For retrofit commissioning projects to qualify for the case study database, the retrofit must be major relative to the building type. The commissioning must go beyond start-up and pre-functional tests to include integration of the retrofit equipment within the overall system.
  • For retro-commissioning to qualify for the case study database, the process must take a systems approach. For example, tuning up a chiller does not qualify, but investigating and testing how the chilled water system and air handling system components operate and interact does qualify.

3.0Case Study Submittal Process

Step 1: Sign up a New Project

Step 2: Submit Findings

Step 3: Conclude Project Record

Step 4:

3rd Party Analysis

Step 5: Generate Case Study

4.0Existing Building Commissioning Input Sheets

1

CCC Case Study Protocol 1.0

CCC Commissioning Case Study Protocol for Existing Buildings

Section 1Project Overview

Entries in Section 1 are minimum requirements.

1.Project Basics

Project Location (city, state):
Electric Utility:
Natural Gas Utility:
Photo of facility included? (optional, but recommended) /  Yes  No

2. Project Type (check all that apply)

Project description
(see 8.2 Project Description Definitions) /  Major capital improvement
 O & M improvement  Other (list) ______
Was the facility commissioned in the past? /  Yes  No
 Commissioned as new building  Retro-commissioned
Implemetation details: /  In-house labor Bid/Spec  Performance contract
 Other (list) ______

3. Facility Type

Facility type:
(check all that apply) /  Office Retail Laboratory Hospital  Apartment
 Grocery K-12 School College or University  Manufacturing  Other (list) ______
Is the facility part of a campus of buildings, in which more than one building was commissioned?
 Yes  No

4. Building Data

 Single story Multistory (list # of stories ______)
Total building floor area: / ______sq. ft.
Is there a parking garage included in the total floor area?  Yes  No
If so, how large is the garage? ______sq. ft.
Total floor area served by commissioned systems / ______sq. ft.

5. Management Structure

Owner description: /  Owner-occupied  Leased building  Other (list) ______
Maintenance staff description: /  On-site staff, employed by owner/property management  On-site staff, employed by a 3rd party service contractor  Remote staff, employed by a 3rd party service contractor  Remote staff, employed by owner/property manager  Other (list) ______

Section 2Project Details

Entries in Section 2 are minimum requirements unless indicated optional.
1.What was commissioned? (check all that apply)
Chilled water: ____ tons
Constant Flow
Variable Flow, primary
Variable Flow, secondary
Packaged or split system DX:
___ total tons, ___ units
Central Hot Water: ____Mbtu
Constant Flow
Variable Flow
Air distribution system: ___terminal units / Air Handler: ___ units
Economizer
Constant Flow
Variable Flow
EMCS/BAS/EMS: # of points: ____
Central system only
Zone level controls
Lighting Controls
Local controls (daylighting, occupancy sensors)
Central control system / Electrical
Plumbing
Envelope
Fire/Life Safety
Emergency Power Systems
Refrigeration: ___ tons
Telecommunications
Thermal Energy Storage
Other: ______
2.What were the goals and purposes in undertaking commissioning?
(indicate each purpose with 1=very important, 2=important, 3=somewhat important)
Ensure System Performance / To qualify for electric utility rebate, financing, or services (see additional question below)
Energy Savings / Smoother Process and Turnover
Ensure Thermal Comfort / To comply with LEED or other sustainability rating system
Increase Occupant Productivity / Liability Avoidance
Ensure Client Satisfaction / Research
Ensure Adequate IAQ / Other: ______
If you listed “to qualify for electric utility rebate . . .” above, would commissioning have occurred without utility funding?
Yes No  Don’t know

3. Who requested commissioning on this project?

Owner/Property Manager
Facility Manager
Facility Operator /  Utility Representative
Tenant
Other: ______

4. Who was the lead commissioning provider? (check one)

Independent Third-party
Design Firm
Mechanical Contractor
Electrical Contractor
In-house Staff / TAB Contractor
Utility
Other: ______
5. Who selected the commissioning provider? (optional)
(check one)
Owner/Property Manager
Facility Manager
Facility Operator
 Team of parties: ______/  Utility Representative
Tenant
Other: ______/ Owner/ Property manager
Designer
Contractor
Construction manager
Team of parties: List:______/ Tenant
Utility
Other: ______

6. What were the main criteria used to select the commissioning provider? (optional)

7. Project Timeline

Date (month/year)

Commissioning process start (optional)______

Commissioning process complete (required)______

8. If the building was originally commissioned, how would you describe the commissioning specificiations or commissioning plan?

Rigorous
Average
Minimal
Don’t know

Section 3Commissioning Costs and Scope

Entries in Section 3 are minimum requirements unless indicated optional.

  1. If the project was a major retrofit, what were the estimated Construction Costs?

Recommended:Optional (as applicable):

$______/ Total Construction Cost / $______/ Design Cost
(see 8.3 Cost Definitions) / $______
$ ______
$ ______/ Mechanical Cost, not including BAS
Controls Cost
Lighting Cost
$ ______
$ ______/ Project Management Cost
Other

2. What was the commissioning provider’s total fee, broken out by phase?

Planning andInvestigation phases$______

Implementation phase$ ______

Total fee$ ______

3. Indicate all tasks included in the cx provider’s scope.

The scope of work will be used to provide context for the commissioning provider’s fees indicated above.

The commissioning provider’s fee was incurred under the following scope of work. Check all that apply.

Planning phase
Develop project objectives
Choose cx team
Review building documentation (design intent, utility history)
Document the current design and operational intent
Develop commissioning plan and hold scoping meeting
Other: ______
Investigation phase
Perform site assessment
Document master list of findings and potential improvements
Develop diagnostic monitoring and test plans
Implement the diagnostic monitoring and testing plans
Select the most cost effective opportunities for implementation
Produce a findings and recommendations report
Update the design intent documentation
Update system documentation
Other: ______
Implementation phase
Direct implementation of O&M improvements
Direct implementation of capital improvements (major retrofit)
Retest and remonitor
Develop O&M and systems manuals
Produce a final retro-commissioning report
Other: ______

4. Commissioning Costs to Other Parties

This section documents commissioning costs incurred during planning, investigation, and implementation phases for all parties other than the commissioning provider. Costs to include are defined as follows (See 8.3 Cost Definitions):

  • Include fixed costs that would have been incurred no matter what issues were encountered. Some examples of fixed costs include writing and performing verification checks and functional tests.
  • Include costs to resolve issues within the scope of work of the commissioning effort (resolution costs).
  • Do not include capital improvement costs, even if the improvements were recommended by the commissioning provider. These costs are considered project costs.

Who incurred costs?
(include costs as defined above) / What Commissioning Activities? / Cost (optional)
Indicate estimated or actual cost / Estimated / Actual
Owner’s Operations and Maintenance Staff / Activities:
Do you consider the staff’s participation mostly an additional cost of commissioning or mostly a part of training (a benefit)?
Mostly a cost of commissioning
Mostly a benefit of commissioning / $ /  / 
Mechanical Engineer / Activities: / $ /  / 
Mechanical Contractor / Activities / $ /  / 
Electrical Contractor / Activities: / $ /  / 
Controls Contractor / Activities: / $ /  / 
Other: ______/ Activities: / $ /  / 

Section 4Commissioning Findings and Benefits

1. Findings documentation

Most significant findings are defined as meeting one or both of the following requirements:

  • Directly related to the owner's goals for undertaking the commissioning process, such as IAQ, energy efficiency, good documentation, and retrofit identification.
  • If the issue had not been found, it would have impacted the ability to achieve the owner’s goals and/or design intent.

Minimum requirement: Documentation of 3 significant findings required. Findings must have been resolved.
No maximum limit on number of findings reported. Include separate sheets for each finding.
System(s) Involved
Describe. (E.g., variable flow chiller plant, dual duct air handler, lighting controls, VAV boxes)
Issue Type / Energy
IAQ
Operational
Maintenance
Comfort
Other: ______
Significance/severity of Finding / Impact on system operation, comfort, IAQ, and life-safety is:
Critical
Noticeable
Minimal
Description of Finding
For energy saving measures,include appropriate data for cost savings calculations (performing the calculation is not required).
Data may include:
Size of equipment (tons, hp), scheduled hours of operation, operating characteristics, and any relevant performance metrics not met (design flow, efficiency) / Describe the finding, including the as-found condition:
How was the issue solved?
Describe the as-repaired condition:
Who recommended the solution? / Commissioning Provider
In-house Staff
Design Firm
Mechanical Contractor / Electrical Contractor
 TAB Contractor
 Other: ______
Who implemented the solution? / Commissioning Provider
In-house Staff
Design Firm
Mechanical Contractor / Electrical Contractor
 TAB Contractor
 Other: ______
Optional Inputs: Only findings with all of the items below completed will be included in detailed cost-benefit analysis
Likely Impact of Finding
What would have likely happened had the issue not been identified given the use, organizational structure, and type of building?
Description of Benefits
Describe the energy and non-energy benefits related to this measure. (In Section 3. Overview of Non-Energy Benefits, you will be asked to describe the non-energy benefits for the overall project in general.)
Estimated Persistence of Benefits
Some resolutions can be expected persist longer than others because the resolution includes equipment modifications or it is difficult to change. Other resolutions may not be expected to persist because they can easily be changed (e.g., schedules, setpoints) / How long do you expect the resolution of this finding to persist based on the type of finding? ______years
What facility operations or maintenance practices do you believe need to occur for the benefits from this finding to persist?
Avoided Cost(see 8.3Cost Definitions)
Estimate the cost to the owner if the project was not commissioned. Include all assumptions.
Cost categories may include:
  • Avoided cost of reduced complaints and reduced operator time responding to complaints: if applicable, include assumptions for occupant salary, cost of lost productivity, and cost of maintenance time in responding to complaints.
  • Avoided O&M costs
  • Avoided change order (design-phase cx for major retrofits)
  • Reduced system or facility downtime and the cost implications of estimated downtime.
  • Avoided cost of premature equipment failure

2.Energy Bills

Minimum requirement: Authorization for the CCC to obtain one pre-commissioning year and one post-commissioning year of monthly energy bills is required.

The year of pre-commissioning energy bills should end when commissioning was started. The year of post-commissioning bills should begin when commissioning is substantially complete. If non-utility sources are used (e.g., central steam, on-site renewables), monthly consumption and cost information must be provided by the facility.

Energy bills should include all energy sources that serve the total building floor area, as floor area is indicated in Question 4 of the Project Overview. Energy sources may include:

  • Electricity
  • Natural gas
  • Fuel oil
  • Central steam and/or chilled water
  • Other (on-site electricity generation, propane, fuel oil, renewables, etc.)

Optional: Authorization for five years of utility bills is optional. The CCC would like to track the energy performance of the case study buildings over time to better understand the persistence of performance.

Follow these instructions to provide the CCC with authorization to access your utility bills.

  • Use the appropriate authorization forms for your utility company/companies. Include all meters for both natural gas and electric utilities (as applicable).
  • Send a copy of the form to the CCC and a copy to the utility.

In the year before commissioning to the point of completion of commissioning, has building occupancy changed?