Page 166 - The Engineering Guide to LEED-New Construction Sustainable Construction for Engineers

144 Cha pte r F o u r

Owners are encouraged to consider including water-using systems, building envelope
systems, and other systems in the scope of the commissioning plan as appropriate. The
building envelope is an important component of a facility which impacts energy consumption,
occupant comfort and indoor air quality. While it is not required to be commissioned by
LEED, an owner can receive significant financial savings and reduced risk of poor indoor air
quality by including building envelope commissioning.
The LEED-NC 2.2 and 2009 Reference Guides provide guidance on the rigor expected for
this prerequisite for the following:
• Owner’s project requirements
• Basis of design
• Commissioning plan
• Performance verification documentation
• Commissioning report

Calculations and Considerations
There are no referenced standards for this prerequisite, but the narrative given by the USGBC
is very detailed as to the expectations. Previously in LEED-NC 2.1, this prerequisite also
included some systems other than energy systems, such as water systems. These other systems
are no longer in the prerequisite, but many are included in EAc3: Enhanced Commissioning.
This prerequisite has a detailed list of overall project-related documentation that must be
provided and gives a detailed overview of the project as previously listed in the bulleted list.
There are two main steps early on in this commissioning process:

• A commissioning authority (CxA) is designated.
• The two documents called the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) and the
Basis of Design (BOD) are developed, and then reviewed by the CxA. (Usually
these documents are developed by the owner and the design team with the aid
of the commissioning authority.)
The LEED 2009 Reference Guide provides good summaries of many of the items which
should be included in the OPR and the BOD, such as:
Owner and user requirements (OPR)
Environmental and sustainability goals (OPR)
Energy efficiency goals (OPR)
Indoor environmental quality requirements (OPR)
Equipment and systems expectations (OPR)
Building occupant and operating and maintenance (O&M) personnel requirements
(OPR)
Primary design assumptions (BOD)
Standards, codes, regulations (BOD)
Narrative descriptions of performance criteria (BOD)

As the design phase of the project proceeds, in addition to periodically updating the
noted documents, the following two steps are performed:
• A commissioning plan is developed and implemented.
• Commissioning requirements are incorporated into the construction documents.