Additional Commissioning Resources  

Introduction

The purpose of this section is to provide access to current and continuously updated resources for further information related to commissioning as a profession, a business, and a process.

Organizations with Significant Cx Focus

• ACG AABC Commissioning Group
• APPA Leadership in Educational Facilities (formerly Association of Physical Plant Administrators)
• ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers
• ASTM American Society for Testing Materials
• BCxA Building Commissioning Association
• CIBSE Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
• EERE U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings Initiative
• Energy Systems Laboratory Texas A&M University Continuous Commissioning®
• IES Illuminating Engineering Society
• NEBB National Environmental Balancing Bureau
• NFPA National Fire Protection Association
• SMACNA Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association
• USGBC U.S. Green Building Council

Relevant Codes, Standards, and Guidelines

American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)

• Green Guide: The Design, Construction, and Operation of Sustainable Buildings
• Guideline 0–2019, The Commissioning Process
• Guideline 0.2–2015, Commissioning Process for Existing Systems and Assemblies
• Guideline 1.1–2007, HVAC&R Technical Requirements for The Commissioning Process
• Guideline 1.2–2019, Technical Requirements for the Commissioning Process for Existing HVAC&R Systems and Assemblies
• Guideline 1.3–2018, Building Operations and Maintenance Training for HVAC&R Commissioning Process
• Guideline 1.4–2019, Preparing Systems Manuals for Facilities
• Guideline 1.5–2017, The Commissioning Process for Smoke Control Systems
• Guideline 4–2019, Preparation of Operations and Maintenance Documentation for HVAC&R Systems
• Standard 189.1–2020, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings
• Standard 202–2018, Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems
• Standard 90.1–2019, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings

ASTM International

• E1186–17 Standard Practices for Air Leakage Site Detection in Building Envelopes and Air Barrier Systems
• E2813 Standard Practice for Building Enclosure Commissioning
• E2947 Standard Guide for Building Enclosure Commissioning

Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)

• Commissioning for Federal Buildings 

International Code Council (ICC) Codes

• ICC G4 Guideline for Commissioning, 2018
• International Building Code, 2021
• International Energy Conservation Code, 2021
• International Existing Building Code, 2021
• International Fire Code, 2021
• International Green Construction Code, 2021
• International Mechanical Code, 2021
• International Plumbing Code, 2021
• Performance Code for Buildings and Facilities, 2021 (book)
• State-by-State Codes, 2021

ICC/MBI Standards for Modular Construction

• ICC/MBI 1200–2021 Standard for Off-Site Construction: Planning, Design, Fabrication and Assembly
• ICC/MBI 1205–2021 Standard for Off-Site Construction: Inspection and Regulatory Compliance
• ICC/MBI 1210 — (Expected 2022) MEP system elements, energy efficiency and water conservation in off-site construction projects

Leading State Codes

• Policies and Incentives NC Clean Energy Technology Center, by State
• Nonresidential Building Commissioning Guide, California Energy Code 2022

Commissioning Process/Procedural Guides

• ACG Commissioning Guideline  by the AABC Commissioning Group. ISBN 0-910289-04-2, 2005.
• Building Commissioning Handbook, 3rd Edition by Stum, Bjornskov. APPA & Building Commissioning Association, ISBN 1-890956-96-1, 2017.
• Commissioning for Federal Buildings by the U.S. Department of Energy. 2014.
• Commissioning Guide  by the U.S. General Services Administration. 2020.
• Commissioning Stakeholders' Guide by J. Kettler. ASHRAE & Building Commissioning Association, ISBN 9781947192058, 2018.
• NRCan by the Natural Resources Canada
• Technical Retro-commissioning of Existing Buildings by the National Environmental Balance Bureau
• Whole Building Systems Technical Commissioning by the National Environmental Balance Bureau
• Total Building Commissioning Procedures  by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2017.

General Resource Documents

• "Annex 40" Commissioning of Building HVAC Systems for Improving Energy Performance 
• "Annex 47" Cost Effective Commissioning of Existing and Low Energy Buildings 
• "Annex 62" Ventilative Cooling 

Building Enclosure Commissioning

• ASTM International (ASTM)
• Building Envelope Design Guide by the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). updated 2016.
• California Application Guide: Nonresidential Envelope and Solar Ready

Professional Development/Training Resources

• AEE—Association of Energy Engineers Certified Building Commissioning Professional (CBCP®) Programs
• ASHRAE Learning Institute—Ongoing commissioning workshops
• BCxA Annual Conference—International conference and workshops on commissioning practices, technologies and applications
• BCxA University—Building Commissioning Association training programs, workshops and webinars
• Cx Energy—AABC Commissioning Group/ACG Annual conference workshops and webinars
• Commissioning for Existing Federal Buildings—FEMP course on the WBDG
• IIBEC—International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory—Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx) Energy Management Information Systems (EMIS) Crash Course and Webinar
• University of Wisconsin-Madison—Department of Engineering Professional Development

Commissioning Provider Certification and Credentials

ANSI-accredited and DOE/Better Buildings® recognized

• AABC-ACG
  Certified Commissioning Authority (CxA)
• AEE
  Certified Building Commissioning Professional (CBCP)
• ASHRAE
  Building Commissioning Professional (BCxP)
• Building Commissioning Certification Board
  Associate Commissioning Professional (ACP)
  Certified Commissioning Professional (CCP)
  Certified Commissioning Firm (CCF)

Commissioning Tools, Samples, and Templates (Free)

Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory

Their mission is to discover, develop, deliver, and sustain technologies and processes that provide high-quality facilities to the Army, DoD, and the Nation. These resources are intended to assist facilities management staff with effective in-house and contracted recommissioning or retro-commissioning (RCx) tasks to help optimize existing buildings systems.

• Army RCx Deliverables Examples 
• Army RCx SOW and Field Templates
• Army RCx Technical Guide—A Phased Approach for In-House or Contracting Existing Building Commissioning 

Building Commissioning Association

• Commissioning Application Samples and Templates
• Existing Building Commissioning Best Practices
• New Construction Building Commissioning Best Practices
• Ongoing Building Commissioning Best Practices

Institute for Market Transformation

• Building Performance Standards: A Powerful New Tool in the Fight Against Climate Change. This two-page fact sheet lays out the basics of building performance standards, new mandatory policies that require building owners to meet performance targets by actively improving the energy performance of their buildings over time.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

• Best Practice Guidelines and Resources
• "Building Commissioning: A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse-gas Emissions"  by Mills. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2009.
• "Building Commissioning Costs and Savings Across Three Decades and 1,500 North American Buildings" by Crowe, Mills, Poeling, Curtin, Bjornskov, Fischer, Granderson. 2020.
• Building Performance Publications and Presentations
• MBCx Plan Template, Monitoring Action Plan

U.S. DOE—Better Buildings

• Better Buildings EMIS resources
• The Energy Information Handbook—Track Performance Indicators

Building Rating Systems

• BREEAM and BREEAM USA, New Construction and Existing Building International Rating and Certification System
• Green Globes Building Certification, Green Building Initiative
• Fitwel Project and Portfolio Certification
• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®), U.S. Green Building Council
• Living Building Challenge (LBC), The International Living Future Institute
• WELL Building Standard, International Well Building Institute
• Zero Energy Certification, The International Living Future Institute