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| Corbett Legge & Associates, PLLC Mechanical & Electrical Engineers |
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Commissioning: Providing New Options for Facility Owners and Managers to Keep Energy
Costs in Check
Joseph D. (Joe) Legge, P.E., Principal - Electrical Engineer with Corbett Legge & Associates, PLLC in Tupelo, served
as a presenter at The 2001 National Convention on Building Commissioning in New Jersey.
Commissioning is a rapidly emerging area in the field of design and engineering. It involves many aspects but one of
keen interest to facility owners and managers is energy usage, which can result in substantial savings for the building
owner.
“The process involves bringing in a commissioning agent, typically a mechanical or electrical engineer, to evaluate
the design of a facility. This evaluation will ensure that all systems work together and that each system is working to
provide maximum efficiency for the building,” states Legge. The commissioning of a building is not an event that
happens just before the building is turned over to the owner. If done correctly, it is a process that starts while the
project is being designed and ends approximately a year after the owner moves into the building. The scope of
building commissioning should include the following activities:
• Peer review of construction documents (Plans and Specifications) – This is done to make sure that the
designer of the project has not designed “problems or flaws” into the project that will prevent the systems from
working properly. Problems that are found during this process typically fall into four categories: “Fatal Flaws”,
“Quality Control”, “Installation Critical Design and Alternate Considerations”. Typical examples of flaws would be
mechanical rooms to small for equipment to be serviced properly, code related issues not addressed properly or the
mis-application of mechanical or electrical equipment.
• Value Engineering of the project – This is the process of evaluating the design to determine if there are
opportunities to reduce the construction or operating cost.
• Submittal review – Once a contractor is on-board on a project, he will send the designer catalog cut-sheets on
the particular pieces equipment that will be used on the project. The commissioning agent will review this equipment
to insure that it does not introduce new flaws into the building.
• Job site observations during construction – These are done to insure that equipment is being installed per
recommendations of the equipment manufacturer and to confirm that the proper equipment is being installed.
• Prefunctional tests – These are tests written by the commissioning agent for each major piece of mechanical /
electrical equipment on the project. The purpose is to insure that the components of the equipment are installed
operating properly and working.
• Functional tests – These are tests written by the commissioning agent for each major mechanical or electrical
system. The purpose of these tests is to insure that all the components are operating at their maximum efficiency
and are performing the task as designed.
• Training – The commissioning agent will work with the installation representative to insure that the training
offered to the owner clearly outlines the complete operation of the system and maintenance required for the system.
• Operation and Maintenance manual review – This is the review of all documentation that will be turned over to
the owner to insure that information turned over to the owner clearly reflect equipment used on the project.
• Seasonal equipment review – This is the process of review the major mechanical and electrical equipment
during the opposite season as functional testing was originally performed. An example would be, if original functional
testing were performed during the cooling season, the commissioning agent would come back and review equipment
during the heating season.
Because building commissioning is such a new design / construction consulting service, the scope for this service
should be clearly defined. The owner of a building could choose to have the commissioning agent provide some or
all of the building commissioning services mentioned above.
“Some typical areas of evaluation include energy prospective (improving the costs of operating the facility through
energy conservation measures), sustainability (life of the building), value engineering (how the owners can reduce
construction and operating costs) and evaluating fatal flaws in design (do key systems work for the building itself and
for the people utilizing the building),” shares Legge. Buildings have become much more sophisticated over the past
10 – 20 years. This sophistication has allowed the owner to have much more control over the building systems. This
control has increased the building complexity and need for system integration. “Commissioning of a new building or
retro-commissioning of an existing building is one of the best ways to insure that the systems are installed properly
and are operating at their maximum efficiency” Legge states. Buildings that are operating at their maximum efficiency
can typically save the owner between 10% and 30% on utility costs.
Mr. Legge has also been a technical reviewer for problem avoidance (peer) reviews of facilities. In addition, he has
been the designated commissioning agent on numerous commercial facilities.
Mr. Legge is a graduate of Tennessee State University with a BSEE in Electrical Engineering and is a licensed
professional electrical engineer. His experience involves in-depth design and construction projects in lighting, power,
low voltage, security, energy conservation, communications and commissioning.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corbett Legge & Associates PLLC, located in Tupelo at 431 West Main Street, Suite #101, phone 662.844.7114, is
well known throughout the area for their professional engineering services. They have designed many different
buildings and provided engineering services to clients for a variety of projects including educational, commercial,
industrial, health care and religious facilities.
Their services include reports and studies, plans and specifications, cost and system evaluations, construction phase
services and building commissioning services. Corbett Legge & Associates’ experience in mechanical systems and
their leadership in the application of optimum efficiency to these systems will benefit any project you are planning.
Some of the mechanical engineering services they offer include Life Safety and code review, heating, ventilating and
air conditioning system design, plumbing system design, industrial piping and ventilation system design, heat
recovery, energy management system design, indoor air quality investigations, energy audits and utility studies.
Their electrical engineering department provides years of experience in the areas of lighting design, electrical
distribution and special electrical system design as well as interior and exterior lighting design, power system design,
fire and security system design and communication system design.
It’s easy to see why so many architectural, commercial, industrial and municipal clients look to Corbett Legge &
Associates for mechanical and electrical engineering and design. Call Creig Corbett or Joe Legge at 662.844.7114
for a consultation or email them at ccorbett@corbettlegge.com or jlegge@corbettlegge.com.
Commissioning: Providing New Options for Facility Owners and Managers to Keep Energy
Costs in Check
Joseph D. (Joe) Legge, P.E., Principal - Electrical Engineer with Corbett Legge & Associates, PLLC in Tupelo, served
as a presenter at The 2001 National Convention on Building Commissioning in New Jersey.
Commissioning is a rapidly emerging area in the field of design and engineering. It involves many aspects but one of
keen interest to facility owners and managers is energy usage, which can result in substantial savings for the building
owner.
“The process involves bringing in a commissioning agent, typically a mechanical or electrical engineer, to evaluate
the design of a facility. This evaluation will ensure that all systems work together and that each system is working to
provide maximum efficiency for the building,” states Legge. The commissioning of a building is not an event that
happens just before the building is turned over to the owner. If done correctly, it is a process that starts while the
project is being designed and ends approximately a year after the owner moves into the building. The scope of
building commissioning should include the following activities:
• Peer review of construction documents (Plans and Specifications) – This is done to make sure that the
designer of the project has not designed “problems or flaws” into the project that will prevent the systems from
working properly. Problems that are found during this process typically fall into four categories: “Fatal Flaws”,
“Quality Control”, “Installation Critical Design and Alternate Considerations”. Typical examples of flaws would be
mechanical rooms to small for equipment to be serviced properly, code related issues not addressed properly or the
mis-application of mechanical or electrical equipment.
• Value Engineering of the project – This is the process of evaluating the design to determine if there are
opportunities to reduce the construction or operating cost.
• Submittal review – Once a contractor is on-board on a project, he will send the designer catalog cut-sheets on
the particular pieces equipment that will be used on the project. The commissioning agent will review this equipment
to insure that it does not introduce new flaws into the building.
• Job site observations during construction – These are done to insure that equipment is being installed per
recommendations of the equipment manufacturer and to confirm that the proper equipment is being installed.
• Prefunctional tests – These are tests written by the commissioning agent for each major piece of mechanical /
electrical equipment on the project. The purpose is to insure that the components of the equipment are installed
operating properly and working.
• Functional tests – These are tests written by the commissioning agent for each major mechanical or electrical
system. The purpose of these tests is to insure that all the components are operating at their maximum efficiency
and are performing the task as designed.
• Training – The commissioning agent will work with the installation representative to insure that the training
offered to the owner clearly outlines the complete operation of the system and maintenance required for the system.
• Operation and Maintenance manual review – This is the review of all documentation that will be turned over to
the owner to insure that information turned over to the owner clearly reflect equipment used on the project.
• Seasonal equipment review – This is the process of review the major mechanical and electrical equipment
during the opposite season as functional testing was originally performed. An example would be, if original functional
testing were performed during the cooling season, the commissioning agent would come back and review equipment
during the heating season.
Because building commissioning is such a new design / construction consulting service, the scope for this service
should be clearly defined. The owner of a building could choose to have the commissioning agent provide some or
all of the building commissioning services mentioned above.
“Some typical areas of evaluation include energy prospective (improving the costs of operating the facility through
energy conservation measures), sustainability (life of the building), value engineering (how the owners can reduce
construction and operating costs) and evaluating fatal flaws in design (do key systems work for the building itself and
for the people utilizing the building),” shares Legge. Buildings have become much more sophisticated over the past
10 – 20 years. This sophistication has allowed the owner to have much more control over the building systems. This
control has increased the building complexity and need for system integration. “Commissioning of a new building or
retro-commissioning of an existing building is one of the best ways to insure that the systems are installed properly
and are operating at their maximum efficiency” Legge states. Buildings that are operating at their maximum efficiency
can typically save the owner between 10% and 30% on utility costs.
Mr. Legge has also been a technical reviewer for problem avoidance (peer) reviews of facilities. In addition, he has
been the designated commissioning agent on numerous commercial facilities.
Mr. Legge is a graduate of Tennessee State University with a BSEE in Electrical Engineering and is a licensed
professional electrical engineer. His experience involves in-depth design and construction projects in lighting, power,
low voltage, security, energy conservation, communications and commissioning.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corbett Legge & Associates PLLC, located in Tupelo at 431 West Main Street, Suite #101, phone 662.844.7114, is
well known throughout the area for their professional engineering services. They have designed many different
buildings and provided engineering services to clients for a variety of projects including educational, commercial,
industrial, health care and religious facilities.
Their services include reports and studies, plans and specifications, cost and system evaluations, construction phase
services and building commissioning services. Corbett Legge & Associates’ experience in mechanical systems and
their leadership in the application of optimum efficiency to these systems will benefit any project you are planning.
Some of the mechanical engineering services they offer include Life Safety and code review, heating, ventilating and
air conditioning system design, plumbing system design, industrial piping and ventilation system design, heat
recovery, energy management system design, indoor air quality investigations, energy audits and utility studies.
Their electrical engineering department provides years of experience in the areas of lighting design, electrical
distribution and special electrical system design as well as interior and exterior lighting design, power system design,
fire and security system design and communication system design.
It’s easy to see why so many architectural, commercial, industrial and municipal clients look to Corbett Legge &
Associates for mechanical and electrical engineering and design. Call Creig Corbett or Joe Legge at 662.844.7114
for a consultation or email them at ccorbett@corbettlegge.com or jlegge@corbettlegge.com.