Drake Integrations

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Commissioning

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One of the most underappreciated and cost-effective ways to achieve peak efficiency in buildings is effective Commissioning (Cx) and its many variants. As a certified Commissioning Provider and Commissioning Authority (CxA) by the AABC Commissioning Group (ACG) and Certified Building Enclosure Commissioning Process Provider (BECxP) from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Drake Integrations offers the following commissioning services:

  • Commissioning (Cx)
  • CALGreen Commissioning
  • USGBC LEED Fundamental & Enhanced Commissioning
  • Ongoing or Re-Commissioning
  • Retro-Commissioning (RCx)
  • Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx)
  • Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx)

Commissioning activities differ depending on the certifying or regulatory agencies, which can include:

  • USGBC LEED v5 (and LEED v4/v4.1 projects)
  • California Energy Code (Title 24, Part 6)
  • CALGreen (Title 24, Part 11)
  • Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)
  • The WELL Building Standard
  • International Green Construction Code (IgCC)

CALGreen Commissioning

California's Energy Code (Title 24, Part 6, Section 120.8) requires commissioning of newly constructed nonresidential buildings: design review applies to all of them, and buildings with 10,000 square feet or more of conditioned nonresidential space require the full commissioning process. CALGreen (Title 24, Part 11, Section 5.410.2) also requires commissioning of new buildings 10,000 square feet and over, with testing and adjusting required for smaller new buildings. Closely related to the Title 24 Acceptance Test requirements, commissioning involves functional testing during construction, but also includes activities during design that will ensure the building systems and associated controls will meet the owner's energy and operating efficiency goals.

Under the current 2025 Energy Code (effective for permit applications submitted on or after January 1, 2026), commissioning compliance is documented on a single certificate of compliance, NRCC-CXR-E (Nonresidential Building Commissioning), covering the design review kickoff, Owner's Project Requirements, Basis of Design, design review, commissioning plan, functional performance testing, documentation and training, and the commissioning report.

In addition to the compliance form, the following documents support the commissioning process:

  • Owner's Project Requirements (OPR)
  • Basis of Design (BOD)
  • Commissioning Specifications in the Construction Documents
  • Commissioning Plan
  • Functional Performance Tests
  • Operation and Maintenance Training Documents
  • Commissioning Report

LEED Fundamental & Enhanced Commissioning

USGBC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) v5 rating system for Building Design and Construction (BD+C) requires Fundamental Commissioning (EAp3) on all projects. It builds on the commissioning requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1 for building systems, controls and the building envelope, and requires the owner to designate a commissioning provider (CxP) by the end of design development. The CxP helps develop the Owner's Project Requirements, reviews the Basis of Design, attends design meetings focused on MEP systems and the envelope, reviews submittals, attends milestone meetings at 50% and 100% construction completion, samples contractor documentation, and develops an ongoing commissioning plan.

Enhanced Commissioning (EAc5) is worth up to 4 points for New Construction (3 for Core and Shell). It can be earned through enhanced MEP commissioning in accordance with ASHRAE Standard 202, building enclosure commissioning in accordance with ASTM E2947, and/or monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) with a commitment of at least three years. LEED v4 and v4.1 remain open for registration through June 30, 2027, and their commissioning requirements continue to apply to those projects.

Ongoing Commissioning or Re-Commissioning

USGBC LEED v5 Operations and Maintenance (O+M) for existing buildings offers up to 2 points under its Commissioning credit (EAc7) for retro-commissioning completed within the previous three years or for monitoring-based commissioning. The Ongoing Commissioning process includes planning, point monitoring, system testing, performance verification, corrective action response, ongoing measurement, and documentation to proactively address operating problems in the systems being commissioned.

Outside of LEED requirements, "re-commissioning" of an existing building takes place if the building systems had previously been commissioned when construction was completed. Re-commissioning is known to provide significant benefits as operating conditions and practices can change over time. Often, this is simply due to changeover in operating staff, though it also could be that staff has taken it upon itself to make adjustments, for expediency or otherwise, that are not in best interests of optimal overall operation.

Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx)

Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx) is a comprehensive program to monitor, trend, and analyze your building's energy and performance data to create actionable and quantifiable energy conservation measures. Using energy management trending and diagnostic tools and building modeling software, Building Engineers will better understand the building's day-to-day performance and be given feedback on deficiencies in the system. Issues can be addressed as they occur or be included in a longer-term plan for capital improvements. MBCx provides a highly cost-effective way to achieve significant energy savings compared to a one-time or occasional commissioning project.

Retro-Commissioning (RCx)

Commissioning in an existing building is "retro-commissioning" if the building had never been commissioned before. This form of commissioning provides similar benefits as Re-Commissioning, but often finds fundamental design and/or installation issues.

Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx)

Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) has become increasingly popular and is one of the paths to the LEED v5 Enhanced Commissioning credit, following ASTM E2947. The design and construction of building enclosures has become a focus to ensure the envelope is coordinated with other energy performance systems to increase the overall energy efficiency of the building. The building thermal envelope entails all wall assemblies separating a building's conditioned spaces from outdoor ambient conditions, including: roof assemblies, vapor barriers, diffusion retarders, air barrier systems, rain-screen layers, flashings, cladding and siding, windows, curtain-wall assemblies, doors, thermal bridges, and utility penetrations, such as piping, electrical conduit, duct-banks, and other entry-points made for routing of HVAC system components.

Commissioning Tools (CxAlloy®)

Drake Integrations utilizes CxAlloy to maximize efficiency in the commissioning process for the Owner, General Contractor, Subcontractors, and Testing Technicians. From design issues, equipment checklists, construction issues log, site observations, functional performance testing procedures with audit logs, to system manual documentation and more, this tool allows our team to communicate and monitor in real time the status of our commissioning projects with the Owner and entire design and construction team. Our clients can log in anytime to view the latest updates on the project dashboard, see number of days left before project completion, view number of outstanding issues by trade, make comments to subcontractors, upload documentation or send secure messages.

CxAlloy has enhanced our ability to keep subcontractors on task and prevent discrepancies in progress meetings on any project delays. Our clients have found this to save time and money and optimize everyone's experience in the commissioning process.