Mandatory Commissioning for All Buildings Proposed for Green-Building Standard

A proposal mandating commissioning for all buildings designed and built under ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1-2011, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, will be open for public review until Nov. 18.

Scott Arnold

Nov. 1, 2012

A proposal mandating commissioning for all buildings designed and built under ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1-2011, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, will be open for public review until Nov. 18.

Currently, the standard requires a reduced level of commissioning effort, referred to as acceptance testing, for building areas of less than 5,000 sq ft, the assumption being their building systems are simple, Jeff Ross-Bain, a member of the Standard 189.1 committee, explained. Proposed Addendum p would remove the acceptance-testing provision for small buildings and mandate building commissioning per Section 10.3.1.2.

To review and comment on Addendum p, click here.

About the Author

Scott Arnold

Executive Editor

Described by a colleague as "a cyborg ... requir(ing) virtually no sleep, no time off, and bland nourishment that can be consumed while at his desk" who was sent "back from the future not to terminate anyone, but with the prime directive 'to edit dry technical copy' in order to save the world at a later date," Scott Arnold joined the editorial staff of HPAC Engineering in 1999. Prior to that, he worked as an editor for daily newspapers and a specialty-publications company. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Kent State University.