CalGreen Commissioning for San Diego

CalGreen Commissioning for San Diego

CalGreen commissioning for San Diego is required on all new nonresidential construction projects over 10,000 square feet. The requirement is noted in the California Green Building Standards Code (aka “CalGreen).

In addition, the California Energy Code also requires commissioning for all nonresidential projects over 10,000 square feet.

Since the California Energy Commission is the controlling organization for both the CalGreen and Energy Codes, the commissioning effort is intended to be handled as a single process. Two separate commissioning efforts are not required, even though both codes contain similar requirements. 

The City of San Diego Building Department has adopted the CalGreen Code (and the Energy Code) as part of the adoption California Building Codes as published by the California Building Standards Commission.

Section 5.410.2 of the CalGreen Code outlines the specific requirements for commissioning.

The Guide to the California Green Building Standards Code – Nonresidential, provides additional guidance on compliance. It is in this guide that it is noted that the Owner’s Project Requirements, the Basis of Design, and the Commissioning Plan are required to be submitted at the time of permit application. Technically, the process should begin much sooner, but the process is not well understood in the industry. 

(Note – a copy of the Guide to the California Green Building Standards Code – Nonresidential can be purchased from the ICC Bookstore.)

Section 120.8 of the California Energy Code has additional commissioning requirements not covered in the CalGreen Code. These include commissioning of windows, doors, and building insulation.

The California Energy Commission requires a design review be completed by a “licensed professional”. The design review is not part of the commissioning coordinator’s responsibility. This is the responsibility of the A&E team and needs to occur during the design phase of the project. The design reviewer needs to fill out the NRCC-CXR-E Title 24 form and include this in the MEP plan set.

CalGreen Code Commissioning Defined

Commissioning is the process of planning, documenting, scheduling, testing, adjusting, verifying, and training, to provide a facility that operates as a fully functional system per the owner’s requirements and in accordance with the design.

The commissioning coordinator provides over-sight of both the design and construction teams related to the specific systems that are to be commissioned.

While a project’s design professionals and installing contractors are ultimately responsible for the quality of the installation, commissioning coordinators provide a second set of eyes to catch any deficiencies and resolving issues prior to building occupancy. 

In essence, the commissioning coordinator represents the building owner’s interests by helping to ensure the construction is in compliance with the contract documents.

What is most important to note is that the commissioning required by CalGreen code is not as extensive as some industry commissioning standards.

The Commissioning Process

The CalGreen commissioning process is divided into a number of steps that are specifically outlined in the CalGreen Code section 5.410.2. These are:

• Owner’s Project Requirements document
• Basis of Design document
• Commissioning Plan
• Submittal Review
• Functional Performance Testing
• Documentation and Training
• Final Commissioning Report

The first step is the creation of the commissioning documents required for the building permit submission. These are the Owner’s Project Requirements, the Basis of Design, and the Commissioning Plan documents.

Unfortunately, too many projects are submitted for permit without the required commissioning documents. The reasons are fairly consistent.

The first is that it is not clear in either of the codes that the three documents need to be submitted with the permit plans.

Further, most building departments do not make it clear on their website, or their permit submittal documentation, that they are required. Instead, it gets left up to the permit technician to note the requirement as a permit review comment. 

Although it is not the intent of the code, many of our projects actually begin at this stage. The architect was unaware of the required commissioning documents for permit and now they are in a panic to get this completed. We can usually get the permit documents turned around in three or four business days.

Commissioning During Construction

The CalGreen commissioning construction process includes a commissioning kickoff meeting, submittal reviews, authoring the functional performance tests, reviewing the completed test reports, reviewing the air balance reports, owner training, systems manual, and authoring the Final Commissioning Report.

Kick Off Meeting: The Kick Off meeting is lead by the commissioning coordinator. They will explain the over-all commissioning process to the construction team. Individual responsibilities are clarified and any questions or concerns are resolved.

Submittals: The general contractor or the architect will forward the submittals on the relevant systems to the commissioning coordinator. The coordinator will review these submittals for compliance with the Title 24 report and the design documents. It is important to note that the commissioning coordinator does not approve or reject submittals. This is the sole purview of the A&E design team. The coordinator we’ll simply notify the design team of any possible discrepancies. It will be up to the design team to act on any such comments, if necessary.

Functional Performance Tests: The commissioning coordinator will author the Functional Performance Tests for the systems that are to be commissioned. These tests document the condition of the systems at a startup and verify that key metrics are met.

Owner Training and Systems Manual: Owner training will explain the installed systems and how they are to be operated. A Systems Manual will be compiled to document the equipment and the details of their operation and maintenance procedures. In some cases, the owner may not have the personnel capable of managing the installed equipment. In this case, the operation and maintenance will be provided by outside vendors.

Final Commissioning Report: The Final Commissioning Report is required by the building inspection department to close out the commissioning process. The report summarizes the overall commissioning effort and provides a “lessons learned” document for the owner. In addition, it contains all the key documents created during the design and construction. Lastly, it includes a statement that the project was completed in accordance with the construction documents.

Summary

Key Takeaways from this article:

• Commissioning is required on all new nonresidential projects over 10,000 square feet. It is not required on remodel projects or residential projects (unless the residential project includes a nonresidential occupancy over 10,000 square feet.)
• Commissioning is intended to begin at the start of the project’s design phase, and not at permit application.
• Owner’s Project Requirements, the Basis of Design, and the Commissioning Plan are required to be submitted with the permit documents.
• The “design review” required by the California Energy Commission is the responsibility of the A&E team and needs to occur during the design phase of the project.

If your San Diego project requires commissioning, please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. Even if you don’t hire me for the work, I am happy to share my forty years of experience on the subject.

Gary Welch

Email: gary@calgreenenergyservices.com

Phone: 707-328-5299

 

Architects Contracting for CalGreen Commissioning