Where do clients who have a set budget usually make cuts to create funding for commissioning?
If they have a little bit of faith — and usually if they have been down the path before — there is money set aside for change orders that could be used. You really don’t have to cut because the process can pay for itself even before the end of construction. There is an upfront cost, but the return is very quick. When we do the building envelope and mechanical/electrical commissioning, including LEED certifications, on projects of about $30 million or more, the cost is about 7/10 of a percent. There is an economy of scale. For $5- $8 million projects, it is probably closer to 1.5 percent. Q: You have worked on several different types of facilities. Is there much variation in how you address different buildings? A: The process doesn’t change. What you look at specifically with commissioning is interaction between systems. You need to look at what happens from one system to another when failure occurs. Q: What is the most difficult type of facility to work with? A: It really doesn’t matte
