How Building Enclosure Commissioning Benefits the Design Community

While the design and construction of the building enclosure poses numerous challenges, it also presents opportunities to greatly improve the building’s overall energy performance and sustainability. Learn how to mitigate risks and promote sustainability through development and implementation of a Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) program.

The presentation explores:

• Purpose and components of enclosure commissioning
• Roles of the façade designer and of the enclosure commissioning consultant
• Distinctions and uses of BECx standards
• BECx impact and benefit toward constructing sustainable buildings
• How to maximize the value and effectiveness of a BECx program

The purpose of BECx is to verify that the design and construction of the building envelope are performed to the owner’s project requirements and to the architect’s vision. This introduces an opportunity to develop and implement more sophisticated and higher performing enclosure technologies and construction techniques (BIM). The BECx provider does not replace the architect or the the façade designer; rather, they create a framework of quality verification processes. The BECx provider helps promote the coordination needed to implement a complex and continuous envelope and provides focused expertise on the most complex aspects of building enclosure technology and building science.

The BECx program typically includes developing the Owner’s Project Requirements and Basis of Design documents, peer review of the enclosure construction documents, developing a project-specific Enclosure Commissioning Plan, developing enclosure construction checklists for the contractor, holding BECx kickoff and BECx meetings during construction, construction observations, oversight of the enclosure performance verification testing, developing and maintaining an issues and resolutions log, overseeing owner staff training as needed, and verifying performance after the building has been placed into service.

This presentation will examine the relative merits of these component and provide short case examples of how the components are beneficial in practice. Additional topics discussed include the impact of BECx on the sequence of construction, sustainability, the distinctions and similarities of the various BECx standards, and the factors influencing cost.

Speakers:
Giulia Alimonti, AIA, LEED AP, BECxP, CxA+BE, Senior Associate, De Simone Consulting Engineers
Benjamin Townsend, PE, Division Manager/Senior Engineer, WDP Consulting Engineers

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