Commissioning Re-Defined: Optimissioning^SM

Today's HVAC systems are more complex than ever. Yet in our rush to apply technology in the name of energy efficiency we inevitably cause more harm than good because of mis-application of the technologies or mis-understanding of the real issues. An optimized HVAC system, by definition, is as energy efficient as possible without any sacrifice of temperature and humidity control.

There are inherent cause and effect relationships between mechanical equipment, connected loads, air and water distribution design and control strategy. The key to HVAC system optimization is an intuitive understanding of these relationships; not merely applying time honored prevailing wisdom to generally distinctive situations. It is impossible to optimize a system, from both an energy and comfort perspective, without total comprehension of the very complicated inner workings of these systems.

Energy-Environment-Economics staff of professionals resolutely believes that the only way to optimize a system is for the system to operate as originally intended - assuming a competent design and installation, which could be a large leap of faith - and with a complete absence of performance deficiencies. Only then can technologies be applied to ensure that the HVAC system performs as efficiently as possible.

Optimissioning^SM is a prescriptive methodology that combines "commissioning" with "optimization" to achieve a work product far superior to that produced by traditional commissioning-only processes. The Optimissioning^SM of the HVAC system involves developing sequences of operations, testing, and evaluating the system’s response under as many conditions as possible. It is an iterative and time-consuming process we use to optimize critical setpoints, implement reset schedules, and identify just how far we can push the operational “envelope”. This is when and only when the goal of maximum efficiency with no sacrifice in comfort can be achieved.

Optimal Performance Integration - OPI

Perhaps the most significant failing of the "commissioning" genre of "assuring" compliance with design documents and intent may be the notion of functional performance testing (FPT). Current protocols prescribe methodologies for testing individual items of a given system to be commissioned, with grossly insufficient emphasis placed on commissioning the complete system for optimal performance, hence the term optimissioning^SM.

A system will be optimized when the design, installation, equipment, controls and test & balance components are integrated from a holistic perspective. Functional performance testing, as it is widely defined and utilized in the commissioning processes of today, lacks the essential protocols to ensure optimized performance of the HVAC system.

While determining the functionality of the associated pieces constituting a given system is requisite, and serves the dual purpose of early identification of deficiencies - whether design, installation, application or manufacturing - it is inadequate from an operating system perspective. It is vital that the cause and effect relationships of all aspects of the system be understood in order to truly optimize the performance of the system.

It is from this perspective that led Energy-Environment-Economics to develop OPI protocols for optimizing an HVAC system's unique operating characteristics. These protocols utilize FPT's as the beginning, not the end, of the Optimissioning^SM process. Our optimal performance integration techniques produce far greater results than do traditional commissioning methods, and do so without regard to pre or post construction timelines.