New guideline aims to improve building commissioning

The American Society for Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning (ASHRAE) has published new guidance on the commissioning process for buildings. ASHRAE Guideline 1.1, HVAC&R Technical Requirements for the Commissioning Process, describes the technical requirements for the application of the commissioning process described in ASHRAE Guideline 0-2005.
Walter Grondzik, secretary of the committee that wrote the guideline, says: “One problem with the current practice is that 100 per cent checking is performed during the construction phase of the project delivery process, and this checking usually focuses on limited or targeted systems. Quality-based sampling is not used, and so the current approach has limited quality-based random inspection procedures.”
Grondzik said the process outlined in the guideline is oriented to improving the quality and cost effectiveness of commissioning compared to how it is currently practised.
The guideline contains more than 100 pages of annexes, providing concrete examples of forms and documents and 25 sample checklists, covering pre-design, design and construction.
See www.ashrae.org/bookstore.