Our Passion in Commissioning

DMA’s passion for commissioning comes from one of our core values of making the built environment a better place to live. Through enacting creative energy savings solutions, we have the ability to take an existing building that is not performing as intended, has equipment failures before the end of their expected operating life, or provides poor occupant comfort, and assess what level of design and energy savings these building need through our commissioning process.

What Is System Commissioning & What Are Its Benefits?

Think of it as quality assurance in the building industry. Building commissioning represents a systematic and documented process of ensuring the owner’s operational needs are met, building systems perform efficiently, and building operators are properly trained. Besides reducing risk for new construction projects, it’s a comprehensive way of addressing and tuning-up the performance of existing buildings. Retro-commissioning (which, as the name suggests, occurs after a building has already been in service) can cure problem areas such as high energy costs, poor comfort, and less-than-ideal indoor air quality.

What Are Some Commissioning Definitions?

Commissioning is for new buildings. The building owner should hire the commissioning authority before hiring a design team. The purpose of commissioning is for the building owner to get the exact building they want. This starts with the OPR, owner’s project requirements.

Recommissioning is for a building that has been commissioned in the past and several years have passed, typically 3-5 years. A savvy building owner wants their building to be operating at its peak performance and has seen the value in commissioning.

Retro-commissioning happens when a building has never been commissioned and there are serious operational deficiencies.

Fault detection and diagnostics uses software to ensure a building that has been commissioned operates flawlessly.