Creating California’s Online Commissioning Case Study Database: Case Studies Go High Tech

Through the California Commissioning Collaborative (CCC) and Energy Design Resources, a new online Commissioning Case Study Database is now available. The goal of the database is to collect a detailed set of standardized information about commissioning projects in California, allowing for clear comparison of projects and articulation of their costs and benefits. The project began in 2002 with the development of a case study protocol through a workshop with leaders in the commissioning field. The finalized protocol was then applied as an online database and made available for commissioning providers and building owners to complete surveys detailing their commissioning project’s scope, costs, benefits, and findings. As projects are inputted into the database, summary information is compiled into case study datasheets that can be searched and viewed by all users. These datasheets will help owners and commissioning providers estimate the potential costs and benefits of a project by making data for comparable buildings readily available. In May 2004, there were 35 registered case study database accounts, 9 surveys in progress and 8 surveys completed. Once the database is sufficiently populated, the commissioning information will be analyzed across all buildings. This analysis will be useful in providing commissioning cost-effectiveness metrics to owners and to regulators interested in commissioning as an energy saving measure. In addition, the CCC intends to publish and distribute detailed case studies on selected buildings in the database. This paper describes the reasons the case study protocol was created, how it was created, and how it is intended to be used. Also, this paper details the definition of costs and benefits from commissioning tackled in the development of the case study protocol. Lastly, the paper discusses plans and proposals for populating the database.