BCA Blog – President Pitts’ Report
Wood Harbinger’s own Bruce Pitts, CPMP, CSBA, LEED AP, is President of the Building Commissioning Association (BCA) International Board of Directors. Check out his latest “Letter from the President,” recapping some recent publications in which he and BCA have been involved this year. Read the full letter below or on the BCA’s website here.
Standard 202
As BCxA president, I am now the BCxA representative to the ASHRAE Standard 202 committee—SSPC 300, previously known as SSPC 202. This is the continuous maintenance committee for Standard 202. Within its subcommittee structure, there is oversight on all ASHRAE standards and guidelines that include commissioning.
Since Standard 202 is under continuous maintenance, the standards committees have been working on updating and revising the complete standard. The committees met at the Summer ASHRAE Conference in Long Beach, CA, this past June 23rd-28th. The Standard 202 subcommittee completed our reviews and amendments and voted that they be released for public review. You should be able to find them soon on ASHRAE’s website.
Most notably, the committee voted to approve the long-anticipated amendment to the official designation for “one who provides commissioning services,” from Commissioning Authority to Commissioning Provider. This change was adopted by BCxA two years ago and is used in our Best Practices.
Guideline 0
Guideline 0 subcommittee is in the processes of determining the future of Guideline 0 and how to modify it with updates to current policies and practices. They voted to make Guideline 0 a continuous maintenance document. The committee is working on updates to Guideline 0 to make the language consistent with Standard 202.
Guideline 1.1
Guideline 1.1 focuses on new HVAC&R systems while addressing total building commissioning processes. The subcommittee is currently reviewing this guideline to determine what modifications are needed to align with Standard 202 and Guideline 0.
Guideline 1.2
Guideline 1.2 focuses on commissioning for existing HVAC&R systems. The subcommittee targeted a review period in March for updates to this guideline, though it appears there have been delays to this schedule, as the review period hasn’t yet started.
Guidelines 1.1, 1.4, and 1.5
At the June meeting, the committee voted to designate in “continuous maintenance,” which means that they can be updated as it becomes necessary and published immediately, rather than being bound by ASHRAE’s republishing cycle. This is helpful because we need to update all the Standards and Guidelines with the new Commissioning Provider terminology. With these guidelines in “continuous maintenance” status, we can make the terminology updates and get the new versions out.
ASHRAE/BCxA Joint Publication – Stakeholders Guide
Jerry Kettler, with Diana Bjornskov and Karl Stum, have been working together on a new publication, preliminarily titled “Commissioning Stakeholder’s Guide.” This guide is slated to be published in the Fall of 2017. The Stakeholder’s Guide is aimed to provide an overview of the “why” and “how” of commissioning for non-commissioning professionals who are involved in the commissioning process, e.g., building owners, architects, facility end-users, facility managers, LEED rating consultants, code officials and others. It’s not intended to be a commissioning how-to, but rather a background primer for the stakeholders in the process who are not commissioning providers. It’s aptly named! The Commissioning Stakeholder’s Guide, which also includes useful templates especially designed for each stakeholder type, will be co-published by ASHRAE and BCxA.
APPA/BCA Handbook Updates
At long last, the APPA/BCA Handbook rewrite is complete and is in the publishing process. This is the culmination of a lengthy process to completely replace the previous “second edition,” which has been in print for nearly a decade. This third edition is updated to reflect the practical application of commissioning in the university/higher education campus plant environment, and is equally applicable to many owners’ portfolios. Significant changes in terminology, standards and practices for new construction and existing buildings, along with the addtion of building enclosure and ongoing commissioning, are captured in this detailed and practical handbook. Many BCxA and APPA personnel contributed to this process which was led by Diana Bjornskov and Karl Stum of BCxA. Give them your gratitude!
Annual National Conference
We’re only a couple months away from NCBC 2017! This year is the 25th anniversary of NCBC, and will be held in October this year. Educational tracks are set, the call for presentations solicited and answered, and the conference calendar has been finalized. See the agenda here: http://www.bcxa.org/ncbc-2017/agenda/. The BCxA Leadership Conference will be held in conjunction with NCBC this year. And don’t forget the not-to-be-missed Annual Michael R. Chelednik Memorial Golf Tournament in support of the BCxA Scholarship Foundation. This will be the BCxA/ commissioning event of the year! Get registered if you have not already, and I look forward to seeing you there