1. B E S L Brooks Energy & Sustainability Lab Kristin Heinemeier, Ph.D., P.E. Technical Director Brooks Energy & Sustainability Lab with Balaji Santhanakrishnan, Anita Ledbetter, Michael Martin, Dean Schneider, Jim Shoop, Wes Harvey, Joseph Martin, Frank Thomas 12 th National Conference on Building Commissioning May 18, 2004 Metrics for Reporting Benefits of Commissioning in New School Facilities

2. Benefits of Commissioning Reduce Operating Costs Energy O&M Better Building Thermal comfort Indoor air quality Better Process for Providing Building On time Within budget

3. There is an urgent need for solid (non-anecdotal) data on the benefits of commissioning.

4. Case Study into Benefits for Texas Schools Funded by State Energy Conservation Office Investigate the Feasibility of Commissioning in New School Facilities Emphasize Benefits Develop a Guide for other Texas Schools

5. Possible Methodologies Large Sample Size Statistically significant sample Expensive! What metrics to collect? Carefully Controlled Side-by-Side Hard to find good comparisons A lot of variables to control How generalizable are results Still need metrics for comparison

6. Methodology We Used Exploratory, Not-So-Controlled Side-by-Side Study Mixture of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods Quantify, Estimate, Identify Very detailed data collection

7. Commissioned School Northside ISD – San Antonio Dean Krueger Elementary School 100,800 sqft 800 students ~$11,000,000 construction cost (est) Design started 2003 Expected Occupancy August 2005 MEP Commissioned by TSI

8. Baseline School Patricia Blattman Elementary School 80,000 sqft (a little smaller) 660 students (a little fewer) ~$10,400,000 construction cost (est) (a little less) Design started 2001 Occupancy August 2003 Same architect, different contractors

9. Baseline School: Blattman Elementary School source: www.nisd.net

10. Baseline School: Blattman Elementary School source: www.nisd.net

11. Baseline School From an uncommissioned school we expected: Chaos Upon First Occupancy source: www.nisd.net

12. Baseline School But it’s a very good school. source: www.nisd.net

13. Data Collection Methods Interviews School District Staff (engineering, construction, energy management, O&M) Architect, ME, GC, Subcontractors Construction Documents Building Plans and Specs, Change Orders, Requests for Information, Meeting Minutes Work Order Data Utility Data, Interval Energy Data Occupant Surveys and Interviews Building Walkthru, Observations

14. Analysis Methods Define Narrative of Design and Construction Processes Modeling Without Deficiencies With Deficiencies With Deficiencies Without Deficiencies Baseline Building Calibrated Simulation Adjusted Simulation Identify Deficiencies Identify Deficiencies Commissioned Building

15. Analysis Methods, cont.: Define and Tabulate Metrics Numeric Clearly Defined, Unambiguous Easily Collected using Simple Data Collection Methods Normalized for Different Size Schools (sqft or construction costs) and Other Factors Capture Benefits from Commissioning

16. Request for Information Formal Communication from Contractor to Design Team ask for clarification comment on items that may not work as designed suggest alternative design Are they good or bad? design was unclear or incorrect healthy communication between contractor and designers Metrics Number of MEP-related RFIs/10,000 sqft

17. RFIs at Baseline School 92 RFIs submitted 22 related to MEP – 2.6/10,000 sqft For MEP-related RFIs 0-32 days in review, 9 average Several resulted in Change Orders Several could have been addressed in Design Stage

18. Change Orders Work required by contractor differs from what was assumed during the bidding process unforseen circumstances change in requirements by designer or owner response to RFI More expensive to do work as a change order Metrics Number of MEP-related Cost / 10,000 sqft Cost (as % of construction costs)

19. MEP-Related Change Orders at Baseline School

20. Ex: Adding Ventilation as CO 41% of price Prepare Opening in SR CeilingSheet Metal Labor: Reassignment of Manpower Touch up Painted Ceiling Sheet Metal Labor: Concurrent Operations Material Handling Sheet Metal Labor: Beneficial Occupancy Clean UpSheet Metal Labor: Site Access PM Coordination Time Coordination Estimating TimeDrafting/As-Built Drawings Field Clerk Testing As-built & Shop Drawings Administrative fee

21. Punch List Result of Inspection near end of construction All items must be addressed as part of Substantial completion Want this List as Short as Possible EVERYBODY wants to finish project, so items may be ignored Metrics number of MEP-related items on punchlist/room

22. MEP-Related Punch List at Baseline School

23. Schedule Cx helps anticipate and eliminate schedule conflicts Addressing issues earlier rather than later, in design and construction Define Milestones: Beginning of Design End of Design/Beginning of Construction (est/actual) End of Construction (est/actual) Metrics % Slippage (actual duration/expected duration)

24. Schedule at Baseline School

25. Cost Cost of Designing and Building the Facility Can be Reduced Design Costs Construction Costs (including all contingencies and change orders) Metric $/sqft percent overrun: bid / expected (how well design met cost expectations) actual / bid (cost overruns during construction)

26. Cost at Baseline School Difference between Expected and Actual Design Cost -4% Difference between Expected and Bid Construction Cost -5% Difference between Bid and Actual Cost 1%

27. Work Orders Cx should Reduce Number of Service Calls and Cost of Service Calls Especially during early occupancy: problems have already been addressed More maintainable building Metrics Number and Cost of MEP-related Service Calls in first year / 10,000 sqft

28. Work Orders at Baseline School

29. Occupant Identified Problems Occupants are a good judge of significance of problems Surveys, interviews of principal, teachers, custodian, other staff, students Should be fewer occupant-reported problems, especially in early occupancy Metrics Number of Significant MEP-related Problems reported in first year Judgement: what is significant?

30. Occupant Identified Problems at Baseline School 5 Significant Problems Reported: AC in Gymnasium didn’t work Problems with Plumbing Window and Door Leaks Premature Ballast Failures Dusty Rooms

31. Energy Use Energy Use should be lower than Non-Commissioned School Metric Site Btu/sqft for first year - % below benchmark (CBECS regional) Other normalization: Weather Computer labs, AC in Gym, pools

32. Energy Use Monthly Energy Use (first 6 months) 5.1 kBtu/sqft 30% Above District Average 10% Below CBECS South

33. Summary of Metrics Others to consider: callbacks, major deficiencies thermal comfort, IAQ,

34. Future Work Needed How reliable are the metrics? How much natural variation is there? What is the best normalization? What is the appropriate scope (eg, MEP)? How well do they really capture performance? How much effort does it take to collect them? Who can collect them? How much are they affected by judgement required?

35. Application of Metrics Include these types of metrics in case- study protocols eg, California Commissioning Collaborative Large statistically-significant data collection efforts (combined efforts? BCA?) Compared to what? Need research on current practices in building construction and metrics for performance of conventional buildings

36. Thank you! Questions? source: www.nisd.net