State-of-the-Art Review for Commissioning Low Energy Buildings: Existing Cost/Benefit and Persistence Methodologies and Data, State of Development of Automated Tools and Assessment of Needs for Commissioning ZEB.
State-of-the-Art Review for Commissioning Low Energy
Buildings: Existing Cost/Benefit and Persistence
Methodologies and Data, State of Development of
Automated Tools and Assessment of Needs for
Commissioning ZEB.
(2809 K)
Frank, M.; Friedman, H.; Heinemeier, K.; Toole, C.;
Claridge, D.; Castro, N. S.; Haves, P.
NISTIR 7356; 105 p. August 2007.
Sponsor:
Department of Energy, Washington, DC
Keywords:
cost benefit analysis; cost benefit ratios; methodology;
costs; building commissioning; data analysis; building
design; building construction; building management
Abstract:
Building Commissioning is a quality assurance process
for the design construction and
operation of buildings. Although it is recognized as a
valuable means to ensure that
buildings reach their operating potential, the process
is not widely adopted. The principle
barrier to market penetration is the high cost, or the
perception of high cost, of
commissioning. Reducing the cost through automation is
one approach to improving
cost-effectiveness. Documenting the costs and the
benefits, and disseminating that
information is widely seen as critical to increasing the
uptake of commissioning. The
increased use of innovative, interacting, systems in low
or zero energy buildings both
increases the importance of commissioning these
buildings and requires the development
of commissioning methods and procedures for these
systems.
This report documents the findings of a review of the
state of the art in the
commissioning oflow energy buildings. The aims of this
effort were to: 1) identify
existing methodologies for defining the costs and
benefits of commissioning, including
the persistence of these benefits, and 2) to assess
current practices for commissioning low
energy buildings and identify the needs for methods and
tools that go beyond what
conventional commissioning approaches can offer.
The development of standardized methodologies for
cost-benefit of commissioning
the
evaluation of persistence of savings, and automated
tools for commissioning are seen as a
means to break down existing barriers. This literature
review seeks to absorb the lessons
learned in key studies and to distill the information
into a format that can useful in the
development of a plan for future work. The insight
gained from this literature review and
lessons learned fiom international applications will be
used to develop a work plan for
the International Energy Agency's Energy Conservation in
Buildings and Community
Systems' (IEA ECBCS) Annex 47 and will provide input to
the Department of Energy's
(DOE) effort to develop a multi-year plan for research
and development to overcome the
barriers to widespread use of commissioning in
commercial buildings.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899