Building System Commissioning

The Owego Apalachin Central School District in Tioga County, New York, chose to integrate building-system commissioning (Cx) services into the new Owego Elementary School to ensure that the building would meet occupants’ needs and that it would perform as designed. The elementary school is a two-story building that is approximately 120,000 square feet. It has kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms, an auditorium, music rooms, a gymnasium, locker rooms, a cafeteria, an art room, a library, a computer room, administrative offices, a faculty break room, mechanical and electrical rooms, and several other support rooms. 

The school district pursued LEED certification using the 2009 New Construction rating system, and ultimately achieved LEED Gold certification. The LEED certification process required that the building be commissioned under the guidelines of the Energy and Atmosphere Prerequisite 1 (EApr1)—Fundamental Commissioning of Building Energy Systems. 

To further enhance the benefits of Cx, Energy and Atmosphere Credit 3 (Cr3)—Enhanced Commissioning was also performed. Besides handling a rigorous Cx process, Erdman Anthony verified the installation of energy-saving measures to support NYSERDA’s energy incentives under the New Construction Program.

Following the LEED protocol for Cx, Erdman Anthony provided Cx services on all HVAC, plumbing, and electricity-consuming systems and equipment. More specifically, these systems included gas-fired hot-water boilers and pumping systems, geothermal heat pumps and associated pumping systems, rooftop air-handling units, radiant heating and cooling systems, terminal HVAC units with hot-water reheat, four-pipe fan-coil units, ventilation and exhaust fans, domestic hot water, and a building-management DDC-control system.

Throughout the design phase, Erdman Anthony communicated with the owner and the design team, provided design reviews, and prepared a commissioning specification and a draft Cx plan. During the construction phase, Erdman Anthony performed product-submittal reviews, conducted a Cx kickoff meeting, distributed installation checklists, documented installation progress via site observations, witnessed field tests and manufacturers’ startups, and reviewed the testing, adjusting, and balancing report.