EMA Member Paul Raschilla, EMP, Acceptance Engineering was published recently in Facility Executive, where he discusses how to augment quality assurance efforts for facility equipment and operations through the services of a commissioning and energy professional.

Facility professionals can find an immediate boost to operations and maintenance (O&M) efforts by utilizing a commissioning and energy professional in fit-to-purpose focused areas of responsibility for the good of your team, department, project, and organization. 

Typically, the facility’s compliance coordinator maintains the documentation of the physical plant to comply based on AHJ, NFPA, The Joint Commissioning (TJC) standards for Environment of Care (EOC), including periods of construction/renovations and utilities management on an ongoing basis. Depending on your staff availability to proactively review project closeout documentation, this is an area where a small block of professional time can add value for your team.

The summary of areas for which commissioning, and energy professionals can boost your team in focused bursts of collaborative engineering may include:

• New construction requires verified documentation of the installed floor plan and system functionality. Have your professional standing by to augment the process.
• Predictive maintenance systems must be updated and periodic testing verifies: however, the day-to-day O&M staff is typically busy. Explore having the professional audit or manage an event periodically to add a level of quality assurance, feedback and objectivity to the process.
• Equipment demonstration and proper staff training on the usage of new and modified systems can be a labor-intensive effort, so augment the process with professional support to cover the training shifts. Ensure that the sequences of operations for energy usage and all modes of operation are clarified and can be delivered. 
• Required documentation of testing for Fire Damper, Fire Protection, Life Safety, Emergency Management, Security, Energy Reporting, and Information Systems in an ongoing effort. Investigate how your professional can help coordinate service providers, review test procedures, and facilitate the testing for your team.

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