Guide to Best Practices in Commissioning Released

The Building Commissioning Association (BCA), an international membership group for commissioning professionals, has begun promoting a new resource. “Best Practices in Commissioning Existing Buildings” attempts to define best practices and create a benchmark for quality commissioning. Approved in June 2008 by the BCA board, the guide focuses on ensuring “persistence of good performance” in existing buildings, according to Mark Miller, director of client services at Strategic Building Solutions in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and chair of the committee that wrote the guide.

Miller introduced the guide to the organization's membership at the October 2008 BCA convention in New York, arguing that the guide should help commissioning professionals meet environmental imperatives, including supporting building owners in making innovative green technologies work properly. The guide draws on numerous resources including the California Commissioning Collaborative guide for existing buildings, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Guideline 0-2005, and input from the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA). The guide is available on the BCA website at www.bcxa.org.