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Gretchen Coleman Commissioning Group, LLC – Building Potential…realized
Potential: existing in possibility, capable of development into actuality.
When an owner or developer first decides they want or need a new building, there is nothing but potential. Potential to be the most purposeful, beautiful, energy efficient building yet to be built. The potential to be exactly what is envisioned.
Commissioning, along with traditional project Quality Assurance/Quality Control practices gives a building its best chance to take that potential from possibility to actuality. GCCG is committed to bringing our considerable industry experience to your project process. Our goal is your Building Potential…realized.
How do we do this?
Start with a strong Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR), one that addresses both the touchy-feely and the practical. State the purpose of the building in the first paragraph - why is it being built? What will the occupants do in the building? If the building is part of a campus or an addition, how will it support the overall purpose of the complex? What is the overall purpose of the complex? Knowing the purpose sets the course for turning possibility into actuality. Each design and construction decision should support the building purpose.
Once we have a strong OPR, the design team responds with their Basis of Design Document (BOD). This is how they are going to achieve their part of the project requirements. We help the design team with reviews of this document against the OPR.
GCCG develops the Commissioning Plan during this phase of the project. This is the process we are going to follow during design and construction that will bring the OPR into reality. The design team and owner help us by reviewing that document.
Will the design accomplish the stated purpose of the building? This is the question we ask ourselves as we conduct design reviews. The design supports the purpose when it is operable and maintainable by the owner over the life of the building. Many times first cost rules a project, but a project based on building purpose includes operating it throughout its lifetime. Our design reviews also focus on this aspect.
During construction, one of our first focuses is to foster a partnership with the construction team. With the owner, designers, contractors, end users and commissioning provider working as a team and embracing the commissioning process, this is as close to a guarantee that the building will reach its potential as one can get in the building industry.
Fostering a relationship with the contracting team begins at the Commissioning Kickoff Meeting. This meeting is held when all the subcontractors that have commissioning responsibilities are on board. The meeting goes through the roles and responsibilities, the sequence of commissioning activities throughout construction, and the project schedule.
Activities by the Commissioning Authority during the period prior to functional performance testing include submittal review, documentation production (construction checklists and functional test procedures), installation observation, equipment startup witnessing, control point to point review and test and balance review. These activities, done with diligence and to the best of everyone’s abilities, leads to successful functional performance testing and integrated systems testing. This, followed by meaningful operations and maintenance training, leads to …building potential realized!
But just to make sure…
We return to the building during the warranty period to check out the MEP systems after they have operated under occupancy. We interview facility staff to obtain feedback on building problems and concerns, we review building operation through available trends, perform any remaining seasonal testing, document outstanding issues impacting the operation of the building as originally intended and assist facility staff in reporting, documenting, and requesting services to remedy the outstanding problems.
When an owner or developer first decides they want or need a new building, there is nothing but potential. Potential to be the most purposeful, beautiful, energy efficient building yet to be built. The potential to be exactly what is envisioned.
Commissioning, along with traditional project Quality Assurance/Quality Control practices gives a building its best chance to take that potential from possibility to actuality. GCCG is committed to bringing our considerable industry experience to your project process. Our goal is your Building Potential…realized.
How do we do this?
Start with a strong Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR), one that addresses both the touchy-feely and the practical. State the purpose of the building in the first paragraph - why is it being built? What will the occupants do in the building? If the building is part of a campus or an addition, how will it support the overall purpose of the complex? What is the overall purpose of the complex? Knowing the purpose sets the course for turning possibility into actuality. Each design and construction decision should support the building purpose.
Once we have a strong OPR, the design team responds with their Basis of Design Document (BOD). This is how they are going to achieve their part of the project requirements. We help the design team with reviews of this document against the OPR.
GCCG develops the Commissioning Plan during this phase of the project. This is the process we are going to follow during design and construction that will bring the OPR into reality. The design team and owner help us by reviewing that document.
Will the design accomplish the stated purpose of the building? This is the question we ask ourselves as we conduct design reviews. The design supports the purpose when it is operable and maintainable by the owner over the life of the building. Many times first cost rules a project, but a project based on building purpose includes operating it throughout its lifetime. Our design reviews also focus on this aspect.
During construction, one of our first focuses is to foster a partnership with the construction team. With the owner, designers, contractors, end users and commissioning provider working as a team and embracing the commissioning process, this is as close to a guarantee that the building will reach its potential as one can get in the building industry.
Fostering a relationship with the contracting team begins at the Commissioning Kickoff Meeting. This meeting is held when all the subcontractors that have commissioning responsibilities are on board. The meeting goes through the roles and responsibilities, the sequence of commissioning activities throughout construction, and the project schedule.
Activities by the Commissioning Authority during the period prior to functional performance testing include submittal review, documentation production (construction checklists and functional test procedures), installation observation, equipment startup witnessing, control point to point review and test and balance review. These activities, done with diligence and to the best of everyone’s abilities, leads to successful functional performance testing and integrated systems testing. This, followed by meaningful operations and maintenance training, leads to …building potential realized!
But just to make sure…
We return to the building during the warranty period to check out the MEP systems after they have operated under occupancy. We interview facility staff to obtain feedback on building problems and concerns, we review building operation through available trends, perform any remaining seasonal testing, document outstanding issues impacting the operation of the building as originally intended and assist facility staff in reporting, documenting, and requesting services to remedy the outstanding problems.
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