Paul Smith, P.E., LEED AP, is the CxA for the project and Rob Nichols, LEED AP is the Lead Cx Technician. All Specifications, Cx Plan and Functional Performance Testing were written by Mr. Smith and he also reviewed both the OPR and BOD. He conducts the bi-weekly Cx meetings and directs all Cx activities. Mr. Nichols produced the Pre-Functional Testing forms performed the field verification and maintains the project Issue Log. Mr. Nichols is also very active in the coordination of Cx activities. Currently both Mr. Smith and Mr. Nichols are participating in the TAB verification process and the Owner Training Verification and both will be present during the Functional Testing process.

The HVAC system is served with chilled water and hot water from the central utility plant and will be metered for energy use. The Commissioning scope of work includes assisting UAH to document the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR), a preliminary design review to confirm that the engineer’s Basis of Design meets the Owner’s project requirements, review of contractor’s submittals for commissionability, verification of the installation for commissionability, Pre-functional checks of the equipment, TAB verification and Functional checks of the control sequences for all of the systems. Additionally, the electrical systems; lighting control panel, motion sensors for set time, sensitivity and coverage, generator and transfer switch and the fire alarm system for voice evacuation and HVAC shutdown will be Commissioned. The fire pump, general fire alarm and trouble alarm will be interfaced with the Johnson Building Automation System to provide a signal to security personnel on campus. The current project status: completing TAB verification, documenting Owner Training and Functional Testing. This Commissioning will qualify UAH for the Enhanced Commissioning Credit (Energy and Atmospheric Credit 3) for LEED certification.

Project References:

Owner’s Project Manager:
Michael S. Finnegan
Assistant Vice President for Facilities & Operations
The University of Alabama Huntsville
256.824.2542

Facility Administrator:
Mark Cowherd
The University of Alabama Huntsville
256.824.6482

• Chilled/hot water blower coils serving the lower locker room areas and corridors
• Trane Company Building Automation System
• Building Pressurization System

The Gadsden State Community College Multi-Purpose Arena is a 69,107 sq. ft. facility with meeting spaces, Chamber of Commerce offices, caterer’s kitchen, locker rooms and arena floor. The building is served with chilled water provided by an air cooled chiller and hot water supplied from dual natural gas fired boilers. Each water system is a variable flow system serving air handlers, VAV terminal units with hot water reheat and blower coil units. There are five constant volume modular air handlers serving the arena, two VAV air handlers serving the meeting spaces and chamber offices and six constant volume blower coils serving the locker and restroom areas around the Arena. The Arena has two energy recovery ventilation units to provide outside air based on room CO2 levels.

The Commissioning process included Field Installation Verification, Pre-functional Testing of the systems, Functional Testing of the systems, verification of Owner training, review of the Operational and Maintenance Manuals and generation of the Final Commissioning Report. The remaining item under the Warranty Phase is the warranty review prior to the one year inspection.

The Commissioning began during the construction phase of the project. Much of the equipment had been installed and the chilled water system had been started to provide some temperature control and dehumidification to the space. The drawings and specifications were reviewed for commissionability and the equipment checkout forms and the Functional testing forms were generated. A preliminary Commissioning Plan was provided to the commissioning team for review. A preliminary Cx schedule and its relation to the general construction schedule was developed.

During the Commissioning of the HVAC system, 217 items were listed on the Issue Log and all but one of them has been corrected. During testing, some items were detected that after correction will result in a substantial cost savings to the facility. For example, during the Test and Balance verification it was noted that the chilled water differential pressure setpoint had been increased to 15 psig. After investigation it was determined that the system would operate properly with a differential pressure set-point of 5 psig. The set-point was changed and will result in considerably less pump horsepower being used in the chilled water system. Also, during the testing of the energy recovery ventilation units, our team discovered that the economizer controls that stopped the rotation of the energy recovery wheel when the outside temperature is between 45 and 65 degrees did not operate correctly. After much discussion with the manufacturer’s design engineers, Mr. Smith changed the program to allow the wheel to stop during these conditions.

Trends were generated verifying the control function of the system. During the initial commissioning evaluation of the systems controls, substantial variation of the boiler discharge temperature occurred. The Cx team, boiler technical representative and Trane control technician worked to smooth out the response and minimize the temperature variation. The preliminary review of the system trends allowed adjustment to parameters and control loops to provide more accurate response to system variables.

Project References:

Owner’s Representative:
Chris Robinson, Business Service Analyst
Gadsden State Community College
256.439.6831

Engineer:
Doug Rawson, P.E.
Whitaker & Rawson, Inc.
205.870.0801

Project Management:
Hoar Construction
Sandy Jack Brown, Project Superintendent
205.803.2121

The performing arts building is a new two story 51,849 square foot facility on the Campus of Wallace State Community College containing classrooms, musical performance areas, common spaces, auditoriums, mechanical spaces, and offices. Environmental Systems Corporation (ESC) was hired by Wallace State during the Construction Phase. Even though our team was brought on well into the construction, we completed all of the work associated with the Construction Phase to properly verify and document the work before starting the Acceptance Phase. With all Functional Testing and trending complete, we are working through the Warranty Phases. The Final Commissioning Report was presented in June 2010.

The building systems are comprised of a chilled water/hot water variable speed pumping system which serve four variable speed air handlers and one constant volume air handler. Terminal units are variable volume with hot water reheat. Multiple interlocked relief fans maintain building pressurization. Supplemental heat is provided by hot water unit heaters in mechanical spaces and electric wall heaters in stairwells.

Project References:

Owner’s Project:
Manager: Phillip Studdard, Wallace State Community College, 256.352.8060

Mechanical Engineer:
Dan Blackman, P.E., Edmonds Engineering, 205.988.2069

The HVAC system is a zoned water source heat pump system with natural gas boiler for the heat addition and an evaporative cooler for the heat rejection. Outside ventilation air is introduced into the building in accordance with ASHRAE 62 via a roof mounted dedicated outside air unit to maintain constant dew-point air at neutral temperatures. A total energy recovery wheel transferring sensible and latent energy from the exhaust air to the incoming ventilation air achieves heat recovery.

Paul Smith, P.E. served as the commissioning supervisor and wrote the field investigation verification (FIV) forms, operational performance testing (OPT) forms and the functional performance testing (FPT) forms. During the construction of the building Mr. Smith conducted the field investigation with assistance from Rob Nichols. As the equipment became operational, both Mr. Smith and Mr. Nichols verified and recorded the operational parameters and noted any issues that occurred. Once the building automation system came on line, Mr. Smith verified the sequence of operation with the control technicians. Trends were generated to verify the performance as well as establish a base line for the system performance. At the completion of the project, Mr. Smith reviewed the O&M manuals and verified the training of the building operator. The final commissioning report was presented to the Owner in May 2006.

Owner:

Samples Properties
305 Church Street
Huntsville, AL 35801
256.533.0003

The mechanical system is a chilled water primary secondary system serving 3 large VAV air handlers. The air handlers have the capability of a full economizer mode and are matched with variable volume relief fans to maintain the building pressurization. The air handlers serve a mix of variable volume and fan powered variable volume boxes both with electric reheat. The auditorium is supplied by package rooftop units and the stairwell and electrical rooms are supplied by split heat pumps.

Mr. Nichols has served as Cx Authority completing the design review for commissionability, Commissioning specifications for incorporation into the contract documents, development of the Commissioning Plan and conducted all of the weekly commissioning meetings. The Cx Team has completed all installation verifications, Pre-functional and Functional testing. ESC’s is completing our trending process for verifications of system operation and coordinating the sequence tuning with Johnson Controls for system corrections. We are conducting the off-season testing and Warranty Phase activities for completion of the Final Commissioning Report.

Project References:

Owner’s Project Manager:
Michael S. Finnegan
Assistant Vice President for Facilities & Operations
The University of Alabama Huntsville
256.824.2542

Facility Administrator:
Mark Cowherd
The University of Alabama Huntsville
256.824.6482

The commissioning services for the project are provided as collaboration between ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION and GEORGE BUTLER ASSOCIATES, INC. The Science and Engineering Complex Phase 3 is a new 196,815 sf building addition to the existing Shelby Science and Engineering Complex located at the University of Alabama. The facility will include engineering research and instructional labs focusing on mechanical, aerospace and structural lab facilities as well as classrooms and offices. One of the main features of this facility is the 12,000 combustion lab designed for testing gasoline and large diesel engines.

ESC/GBA provided design services for the project. Paul Smith, P.E. of ESC is the Cx Authority and Pat Prendergast, P.E.; CxA of GBA took the lead during the design phase providing: specifications, a preliminary Cx plan and sample testing forms. The activities were coordinated by ESC with a joint ESC/GBA design review. ESC is providing the commissioning services for the construction, acceptance and warranty phase for the project. The systems being commissioned are the HVAC, plumbing, electrical, lighting controls, fires suppression systems and well as all life safety interfaces between the individual systems. The projected completion is expected in August, 2011.

Project References:

Paula Marques, Mechanical Engineer & Facilities Planning
205.348.5989
Ben Henson, Hoar Project Manager
205.348.6831

Paul Smith, P.E., LEED AP is the CxA for the project, Randy Barton, P.E., is performing the electrical portion of the Commissioning testing, with both Rob Nichols, LEED AP serving as the Lead Mechanical Technician and Harvey Yoder serving as the Lead Electrical Technician. As CxA, Mr. Smith performed the design review and wrote the Commissioning specifications and Cx Plan for the project. Mr. Nichols prepared the Pre-Functional Mechanical forms and Mr. Barton has prepared the forms for the electrical testing. Mr. Smith conducts the regular Cx meetings and handles the daily flow of commissioning scheduling and information. Mr. Smith, Mr. Barton and Mr. Nichols have all been on site to verify the Pre-Functional information noting items for the Issue Log. During one of our site visits the team used ESC’s Flir Infrared Camera to verify the connections to the electrical panels. Mr. Smith has written all Functional Performance Testing based on the Engineer of Record’s Sequence of Operation. Mr. Barton has been on site to witness equipment start-up and both Mr. Smith and Mr. Nichols will be on-site for the upcoming TAB verification and Functional Testing.

The systems to be commissioned are: Mechanical: Air cooled chiller, Chilled water system, Gas fired boilers, Hot water system, Modular chilled water VAV air handlers, VAV terminal units with hot water reheat, Hot and chilled water distribution piping, Energy Recovery Ventilation Units, Building Pressurization and Direct digital control system. Plumbing Systems: Domestic water heating system. Electrical: Electrical distribution system, Electrical switchboard, Electrical switchgear, Emergency power system, Lighting Control, Fault current protection system, TVSS system, Specialty Equipment and/or Systems: Life safety systems (fire and smoke alarm), Fire protection system and Lightning protection system.

The remaining scope of our Commissioning work includes: Continued Cx plan revisions; On-going Cx meetings; Maintaining the project Issue Log; Witnessing and verification of TAB; Performance of the Functional Testing; Direct and document the integrated systems testing as relating to the mechanical, electrical and fire/life safety systems; Owner Training verification and documentation; Verifying Issue Log resolution for each item; O & M Manual review; Warranty Phase activities; Generation of the Final Commissioning Report

Project References:

Owner’s Representative

James Adams, Hoar Project Manager 205.348.8155
Hoar Project Manager Paula Marques 205.348.5989

Mechanical Engineer & Facilities Planning

The University of Alabama Mechanical Engineer Dan Whitaker, P.E., Whitaker & Rawson, Inc. 205.949.5126