Services > Compliance > Commissioning Services

IPS is a full services third party commissioning organization. The following is a brief description of commissioning services that IPS provides to our clients.

Whole Building Commissioning
Starting with the design, our commissioning professionals review all design and specifications for functional capabilities, performance and monitoring capabilities, and the ability of the systems to meet the Design Intent (DI). Our team manages the entire commissioning process in order to allow our clients to focus on their internal needs in support of the operations for the building/facility in question. Our team prepares the commissioning plans and schedules, prepares the commissioning documents, manages and coordinates the field tests by vendors and installers, executes certain field tests where our in-house expertise supplements for the vendors and installers, manages the resolution of any discrepancies, manages and benchmarks the training of operators and prepares the final commissioning reports. IPS’ in house teams are comprised of professional engineers and experienced field personnel. Our design reviews are performed by licensed design P.E.’s to ensure that the reviews are done at a professional and practical level. This provides the owner with a core independent team who can perform and understand all phases of design review, field testing and design theory along with the professional capability to identify problems and provide solutions without delay. Our team performs on going inspections with hands on verification and conduct monthly commissioning review meetings. IPS is capable of providing continuing multidiscipline expertise to oversee or perform the mechanical, electrical, control, hydronic, building pressurization and life safety system performance testing. Our hands-on approach provides the owner's and the owner’s operations personnel an independently tested and fully commissioned quality facility that will work efficiently for many years. 

LEED Commissioning
Within the LEED® rating system, Commissioning is divided into two levels: 1.) Fundamental Building Systems Commissioning, and 2.) Additional Commissioning. Fundamental Building Systems Commissioning is a mandatory prerequisite for LEED® certification and verifies and ensures that fundamental building elements and systems are designed, installed and calibrated to operate as intended. Additional Commissioning is one of the 69 optional credits than can be applied to help reach LEED® certification. Its goal is to provide the owner with even greater value by accomplishing additional tasks that help reduce design and construction rework. It also assists operation's staff in maintaining the building's peak performance over the long term.

Retro and Re-Commissioning
Regardless of a building’s design and construction, its performance degrades over time. Retro-Commissioning is the process of systematically evaluating existing building system operations and can help building systems function at optimum levels with Retro-Commissioning. IPS can help reverse the normal degradation of systems and offer solutions to get your facility back to peak performance. The goal for Retro-Commissioning is two-fold. First, the process seeks ways to bring the building systems into conformance with the current operational needs and design requirements, and secondly, to optimize how the building systems function together. Our Retro-Commissioning team is comprised of engineers, researchers, and technicians. This wide range of skill sets is required due to the complex nature of buildings that go beyond HVAC systems to include the envelope, management structure, ergonomics, facility layout and lighting. IPS’ team has the hands-on experience with troubleshooting, operating and maintaining buildings. That combined with experience in optimizing existing building systems, means proven solutions for building owners. These solutions produce healthy and energy efficient buildings that meet the functional needs of the owner

Energy Studies
Operating and maintaining facilities is a major expense for owners. With a thorough investigation of operating procedures and system evaluations, often those costs can be significantly reduced. IPS provides comprehensive analysis of an owner’s operation and maintenance practices, current energy use, documentation and training. IPS develops energy conservation measures, documentation and training to reduce energy and operating expenses. IPS approaches each system with a goal of minimizing the life cycle costs of the facility. This is accomplished through a clearly defined process of current documentation review, system capability evaluation and application of appropriate technology to bridge any gaps.

Design and Construction reviews
The review of construction documents is a required part of commissioning according to the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Guideline 1-1996. IPS’ staff includes registered professional engineers with decades of design experience who add value to every design. The commissioning design review checks for interferences, maintenance access, contradiction, unclear instructions and incomplete operations, maintenance and training information in the design. Beyond the commissioning review, the IPS peer review looks deeper into the design and confirms correct system selection, equipment sizing and pump and fan curve selection. 

Start-up Support with Technical Assistance
Although commissioning is best started during planning or design, it adds value at any point in the design/construction process. Modern HVAC and lighting equipment must be started up according to the manufacturer's instructions and the engineer's design for the owner to enjoy the extended, reliable and low-maintenance operation they paid for. Boilers, chillers, variable frequency drives and their associated controllers have a host of parameters that must be understood, adjusted and documented at start-up. At one time, traditional Test, Adjust and Balance (TAB) procedures were sufficient to ensure correct building operation. Modern building HVAC and lighting systems use microprocessors; digital communications equipment, automatic actuators, sensors and programming that require skills far beyond TAB capabilities. IPS commissioning engineers and technicians are adept at interpreting the most complex systems for quick turnaround in critical construction environments. Our staff skills cut across traditional contractor/engineer lines to combine systems logic with hands-on testing in the "as-installed" condition.

Maintenance and Reliability Programs
When properly managed, efficient facilities management enhances the performance and results of the entire organization. This is where maintenance and reliability programs come into play. In most cases the percentage of time a maintenance worker spends on value added activities is 30% or less. This is the result of poor processes, improper training, or ineffective management tools. Many consultants provide technology based solutions to these problems such as CMMS and ERP, but leave the data collection and integration to the end user. Our approach is to provide completely turnkey solutions and training that allows the client’s team to understand the systems and how to utilize them to achieve continuous facility performance improvement. An improvement in the utilization and effectiveness of facilities goes straight to your company’s bottom line and generates returns immediately. Our clients enjoy the benefits of having facilities experts on staff without having to maintain the cost and overhead of full time staff members.

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