Monitoring and continuous Commissioning of new and existing Buildings

Abstract

In the building industry, the quality control practices during the design stage, implementation, introduction and use varies. Also, the owner´s project requirements may vary. The instrumentation, measurements and the control options are different. The final product of the building process is the indoor environment. When evaluating the need of renovation of existing buildings and to control the performance of a new building, certain procedures are needed. Building automation system collects information for control of the building systems and for the users and stakeholders. The validity of the system depends on the level of instrumentation, data processing and reporting. The level of measurements can`t be equal in all buildings. Apartment houses does not need such installations than e.g. hospitals. It is obvious, anyhow, that the data collection, processing and reporting need to be improved. The new sensors and data transfer technologies give a better opportunity to do so. In new buildings it is possible to measure the performance of certain structural details and compare the results with the models. The actual performance does not necessarily fit the planned because there can be always some differences and deficiencies after construction phase. The planning of renovations must be based on condition assessment, and normally there are various measurements carried out and also documents are checked, if there are measurement records available Because the performance and indoor conditions are the sum is the integration and function of all the systems together, measurements can reveal deficiency and inefficiency of building systems.. In this presentation some examples and measures are introduced, based on the city of Oulu, Finland. The advantages of commissioning-type monitoring are discussed. The key point is to have proper measurements and especially proper reporting.