ATLANTA - Commissioning can help ensure that the sustainable development principles contained in building rating systems, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), perform as intended. A new commissioning guideline from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has been developed to assist in that process.

"Commissioning typically helps to ensure good indoor environmental quality, reduce energy and water consumption, and improves how well the building is operated, all of which are the intent of LEED," stated Jay Enck, a member of ASHRAE's technical committee on building commissioning.

ASHRAE Guideline 0-2005, "The Commissioning Process," describes how to verify that a facility and its systems meet the owner's project requirements.

Those requirements also define sustainable development goals and how the building will function before designers begin the design process. To keep costs at a minimum, says ASHRAE, the design team must understand what they are tasked with accomplishing, which is provided by the requirements.

"Attaining LEED certification can be easy or nearly impossible depending on when the goals are identified and the level of experience of the team," Enck said.

The guideline will be used by the National Institute for Building Sciences (NIBS) as its Total Building Commissioning Process Guideline. It is the foundation for a series of commissioning guidelines dealing with specific disciplines (HVACR, envelope, lighting, and fire protection) to be issued by ASHRAE and NIBS.

The cost of ASHRAE Guideline 0-2005, "The Commissioning Process," is $59 ($49 for ASHRAE members).

To order, contact ASHRAE Customer Service at 800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or 404-636-8400 (worldwide), fax 404-321-5478, by mail at 1791 Tullie Circle NE, Atlanta, GA 30329, or visit the ASHRAE online bookstore at www.ashrae.org.

Publication date: 05/30/2005