Discover how the upfront costs of building commissioning are offset by improved energy efficiency and system performance. Prepare for the LEED Green Associate Exam with this expert question breakdown.
Table of Contents
Question
The cost of Commissioning (Cx) Is often repaid with
A. advanced energy metering
B. renewable power management
C. recovered energy performance
D. enhanced refrigerant management
Answer
C. recovered energy performance
Explanation
The cost of commissioning (Cx) is often repaid with recovered energy performance. Commissioning is a process of verifying and documenting that a building and its systems meet the design intent and the owner’s project requirements.
Commissioning can help improve the energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and occupant satisfaction of a building. According to a study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, commissioning can result in median energy savings of 13% for existing buildings and 16% for new construction, with payback times of 1.1 years and 4.2 years, respectively. Therefore, commissioning can be a cost-effective investment that pays off with reduced energy consumption and costs over the life cycle of a building.
Building commissioning (Cx) is a quality-assurance process that verifies and documents that a building’s systems are planned, designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained to meet the owner’s project requirements. While commissioning does add upfront costs to a construction project, typically 0.5-1.5% of total construction costs, those expenses are usually recovered within the first 1-2 years of building operation through improved energy performance.
Commissioning helps ensure that building systems like HVAC, lighting, plumbing, and electrical are properly integrated and optimized. This leads to more efficient operation, reduced energy consumption, and lower utility bills over the life of the building. The enhanced energy performance achieved through commissioning allows building owners to recover the initial Cx costs in a relatively short timeframe.
The other answer options, while relevant to green building practices, do not directly relate to recovering commissioning costs:
A. Advanced energy metering allows for detailed tracking of energy usage but does not in itself repay Cx costs.
B. Renewable power management deals with onsite renewable energy systems but is not tied to commissioning.
D. Enhanced refrigerant management aims to reduce ozone depletion and global warming impacts of refrigerants but is not a direct means of recovering Cx costs.
In summary, commissioning leads to recovered energy performance through optimized building systems, which offsets the upfront costs of the Cx process. This makes commissioning a smart investment for building owners and a key component of sustainable, high-performance buildings under the LEED rating system.
USGBC LEED Green Associate certification exam practice question and answer (Q&A) dump with detail explanation and reference available free, helpful to pass the USGBC LEED Green Associate exam and earn USGBC LEED Green Associate certification.