If you’ve set your sights on sustainable development, building commissioning is a necessary step. “Commissioning typically helps to ensure good indoor environmental quality, reduce energy and water consumption, and improves how well the building is operated, all of which are the intent of [the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System™],” says Jay Enck, a member of the building commissioning technical committee of the Atlanta-based American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
ASHRAE has just released a new guideline, Guideline 0-2005. Titled The Commissioning Process, this guideline describes how to verify that a facility and its systems meet the owner’s project requirements. This guideline will be used by the National Institute for Building Sciences (NIBS) as its Total Building Commissioning Process Guideline, and serves as the foundation for a series of commissioning guidelines dealing with specific disciplines (HVAC, envelope, lighting, and fire protection) to be issued by ASHRAE and NIBS.
The price of Guideline 0-2005 is $59 ($49 for ASHRAE members). To order, contact ASHRAE customer service by calling (800) 527-4723 or (404) 636-8400; faxing (404) 321-5478; mailing 1791 Tullie Circle NE, Atlanta, GA, 30329; or visiting the bookstore at (www.ashrae.org).