The Owego Apalachin Central School District in Tioga County, New York, chose to integrate building-system commissioning (Cx) services into the new Owego Elementary School to ensure that the building would meet occupants’ needs and that it would perform as designed. The elementary school consists of a two-story building that is approximately 120,000 square feet. The building includes kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms, an auditorium, music rooms, a gymnasium, locker rooms, a cafeteria, an art room, a library and computer room, administrative offices, a faculty breakroom, mechanical and electrical rooms, and several other associated support rooms. 

The school district pursued the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification using the 2009 New Construction rating system, achieving a certification of LEED Gold. The LEED certification process required that the building be commissioned under the guidelines of the Energy and Atmosphere Prerequisite 1 (EApr1)—Fundamental Commissioning of Building Energy Systems. 

To further enhance the benefits of commissioning, Energy and Atmosphere Credit 3 (Cr3)—Enhanced Commissioning was also performed. Along with performing a rigorous commissioning process, Erdman Anthony verified the installation of energy savings measures to support the NYSERDA energy incentives under the New Construction Program.

Following the LEED protocol for commissioning, Erdman Anthony provided commissioning services on all HVAC, plumbing, and electrical-energy-consuming systems and equipment. More specifically, these systems included gas-fired hot-water boilers and pumping systems, geothermal heat pumps and associated pumping systems, rooftop air-handling units, radiant heating and cooling systems, terminal HVAC units with hot-water reheat, four-pipe fan-coil units, ventilation and exhaust fans, domestic hot water, and a building-management DDC-control system.

Throughout the design phase, Erdman Anthony communicated with the owner and design team, provided design reviews, and prepared a commissioning specification and a draft commissioning plan. During the construction phase, Erdman Anthony performed product-submittal reviews, conducted a commissioning kickoff meeting, distributed installation checklists, documented installation progress via site observations, witnessed field tests and manufacturers’ startups, and reviewed the testing, adjusting, and balancing report.