Successful Building Commissioning: Getting Better Results with Facilities Staff Involvement
Jerry Bauers, P.E., Sebesta Blomberg Associates
Carol Donovan, P.E., Sebesta Blomberg Associates
Bridgewater State University and Sebesta Blomberg completed a formal third-party commissioning process for the new high-performance laboratory building constructed on the Bridgewater State campus. The speakers found that increased involvement of the facilities operations staff has enhanced the effectiveness of the commissioning process and has improved the operating efficiencies of the building staff after turnover.
This presentation will provide real-life examples of facilities staff involvement with the commissioning process from the design phase through construction and post occupancy. The speakers will demonstrate the significant long-term benefits realized for both the owner and operators to sustain facility performance.
The presentation will review implemented commissioning strategies that engage the building operations team to deliver improved building performance and a more effective building operations team. The speakers will discuss practical impediments to the commissioning and building turnover process. In addition, the speakers will demonstrate methods to overcome these impediments that were successfully implemented on the Bridgewater project.
The Bridgewater State Marshall Conant Science Building is a 211,000-square-foot addition and renovation, housing new laboratories, classrooms, offices, and support space for the biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, geography, math, and computer science departments.
Biographies:
Jerry Bauers is the national director of commissioning for Sebesta Blomberg. Mr. Bauers has provided building design, commissioning, and retro-commissioning services for the past 30 years. Mr. Bauers has been qualified by the National Environmental Balancing Bureau (NEBB) to supervise testing and balancing and building system commissioning services since as early as 1981. Mr. Bauers has served NEBB in both the local and national roles for the past 15 years.
Professionally, Mr. Bauers has provided commissioning and retro-commissioning services to pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, research and teaching laboratories, and hospital and medical facilities. Mr. Bauer has specialized in working in "critical environments" for more than 25 years. Mr. Bauers has been directly responsible for the execution of commissioning and retro-commissioning projects for laboratories and critical environments ranging from 4,000-square-foot biosafety level (BSL) 3 laboratories to 500,000-square-foot teaching and research laboratory complexes.
Carol Donovan is a mechanical engineer with more than 20 years of experience in the engineering field, specifically in design and construction directly relating to commissioning of heating, ventilating, air conditioning, plumbing, and fire protection systems. Ms. Donovan has a strong background in building resource efficiency, including testing and balancing procedures, automated temperature controls, and calculations for energy and water savings. Ms. Donovan has served as the project manager on numerous large- and small-scale facility projects, and has excellent skills in management, communication, and team building.
Professionally, Ms. Donovan has been providing commissioning and retro-commissioning services to BSL 2 and 3 laboratories, animal vivarium facilities, and research and teaching laboratories. Ms. Donovan has specialized in working in critical environments for Sebesta Blomberg for the past six years.