ASHRAE has published a new standard on the commissioning process, which the association says will help ensure a fully functional, fine-tuned facility.

ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 202, Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems, identifies the minimum acceptable commissioning process for buildings and systems as described in ASHRAE’s Guideline 0-2005, The Commissioning Process. Standard 202 is ASHRAE’s first standard focused on the commissioning process. The commissioning process as detailed in Standard 202 applies to all construction projects and systems and is an industry consensus document.

“Given the integration and interdependency of facility systems, a performance deficiency in one system can result in less than optimal performance by other systems,” said Gerald Kettler, P.E., chair of the committee that wrote the standard. “Implementing the Commissioning Process is intended to reduce the project capital cost through the warranty period and also reduce the life-cycle cost of the facility. Using this integrated process results in a fully functional, fine-tuned facility, with complete documentation of its systems and assemblies and trained operations and maintenance personnel.”

The commissioning process assumes that owners, programmers, designers, contractors, and operations and maintenance entities are fully accountable for the quality of their work. The process begins at project inception and continues for the life of a facility.

The process includes specific tasks to be conducted to verify that design, construction, verification, testing, documentation, and training meet the owner’s project requirements, according to Kettler. The standard defines the commissioning process through 13 functional steps, each of which contains deliverables.

Other commissioning guidance from ASHRAE includes Guideline 0-2005, The Commissioning Process; Guideline 1.1-2007, HVAC&R Technical Requirements for the Commissioning Process; and Guideline 1.5-2012, The Commissioning Process for Smoke Control Systems.

For more information on the standard, visit www.ashrae.org/bookstore.