NIST Technical Note 1750

Annex 47 Extended Project Summary

Natascha Milesi Ferretti

Daniel Choinière 

http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1750
NIST Technical Note 1750 

Annex 47 Extended Project Summary

Natascha Milesi Ferretti

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Engineering Laboratory

Daniel Choinière 

Natural Resources Canada

CanmetENERGY 

http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1750

September 2012

U.S. Department of Commerce 

Rebecca Blank, Acting Secretary

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

Patrick D. Gallagher, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director
Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this

document in order to describe an experimental procedure or concept adequately.

Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the

National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the

entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose. 

National Institute of Standards and Technology Technical Note 1750

Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Tech. Note 1750, 24 pages (July 2012) 

http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1750

CODEN: NTNOEF
CITATION

Milesi Ferretti, N et al., Annex 47 Extended Project Summary. National Institute of Standards and 

Technology Technical Note 1750. July 2012.

This publication was simultaneously published by Natural Resources Canada as Milesi Ferretti, 

N et al., Annex 47 Extended Project Summary, a Report of Cost-Effective Commissioning of 

Existing and Low Energy Buildings. July 2012.

Copies of this report may be obtained from the Annex 47 web site at: http://www.iea-annex47.org , the 

NIST website at: http://www.nist.gov, or from the IEA/ECBCS Bookshop at: www.ecbcs.org.
Preface

International Energy Agency

The International Energy Agency (IEA) was established in 1974 within the framework of the 

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to implement an international energy 

program. A basic aim of the IEA is to foster co-operation among the twenty-eight IEA participating 

countries and to increase energy security through energy conservation, development of alternative energy 

sources and energy research, development and demonstration (RD&D).

Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems

The IEA coordinates research and development in a number of areas related to energy. The mission of 

one of those areas, the Energy Conservation for Building and Community Systems Program (ECBCS) is 

to develop and facilitate the integration of technologies and processes for energy efficiency and 

conservation into healthy, low emission, and sustainable buildings and communities, through innovation 

and research.

The research and development strategies of the ECBCS Program [1] are derived from research drivers, 

national programs within IEA countries, and the IEA Future Building Forum Think Tank Workshop, held 

in March 2007. The R&D strategies represent a collective input of the Executive Committee members to 

exploit technological opportunities to save energy in the buildings sector, and to remove technical 

obstacles to market penetration of new energy conservation technologies. The R&D strategies apply to 

residential, commercial, office buildings and community systems, and will impact the building industry in 

three focus areas of R&D activities: 

• Dissemination; 

• Decision-making; and

• Building products and systems.

Participating countries in ECBCS: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, P.R. China, Czech Republic, 

Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, New 

Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and the 

United States of America.

The Executive Committee

Overall control of the program is maintained by an Executive Committee, which not only monitors 

existing projects but also identifies new areas where collaborative effort may be beneficial. To date the 
following projects have been initiated by the executive committee on Energy Conservation in Buildings 

and Community Systems (completed projects are identified by (*)):

Annex 1: Load Energy Determination of Buildings (*)

Annex 2: Ekistics and Advanced Community Energy Systems (*)

Annex 3: Energy Conservation in Residential Buildings (*)

Annex 4: Glasgow Commercial Building Monitoring (*)

Annex 5: Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre 

Annex 6: Energy Systems and Design of Communities (*)

Annex 7: Local Government Energy Planning (*)

Annex 8: Inhabitants Behaviour with Regard to Ventilation (*)

Annex 9: Minimum Ventilation Rates (*)

Annex 10: Building HVAC System Simulation (*)

Annex 11: Energy Auditing (*)

Annex 12: Windows and Fenestration (*)

Annex 13: Energy Management in Hospitals (*)

Annex 14: Condensation and Energy (*)

Annex 15: Energy Efficiency in Schools (*)

Annex 16: BEMS 1- User Interfaces and System Integration (*)

Annex 17: BEMS 2- Evaluation and Emulation Techniques (*)

Annex 18: Demand Controlled Ventilation Systems (*)

Annex 19: Low Slope Roof Systems (*)

Annex 20: Air Flow Patterns within Buildings (*)

Annex 21: Thermal Modelling (*)

Annex 22: Energy Efficient Communities (*)

Annex 23: Multi Zone Air Flow Modelling (COMIS) (*)
Annex 24: Heat, Air and Moisture Transfer in Envelopes (*)

Annex 25: Real-time HVAC Simulation (*)

Annex 26: Energy Efficient Ventilation of Large Enclosures (*)

Annex 27: Evaluation and Demonstration of Domestic Ventilation Systems (*)

Annex 28: Low Energy Cooling Systems (*)

Annex 29: Daylight in Buildings (*)

Annex 30: Bringing Simulation to Application (*)

Annex 31: Energy-Related Environmental Impact of Buildings (*)

Annex 32: Integral Building Envelope Performance Assessment (*)

Annex 33: Advanced Local Energy Planning (*)

Annex 34: Computer-Aided Evaluation of HVAC System Performance (*)

Annex 35: Design of Energy Efficient Hybrid Ventilation (HYBVENT) (*)

Annex 36: Retrofitting of Educational Buildings (*)

Annex 37: Low Exergy Systems for Heating and Cooling of Buildings (LowEx) (*)

Annex 38: Solar Sustainable Housing (*)

Annex 39: High Performance Insulation Systems (*)

Annex 40: Building Commissioning to Improve Energy Performance (*)

Annex 41: Whole Building Heat, Air and Moisture Response (MOIST-ENG) (*)

Annex 42: The Simulation of Building-Integrated Fuel Cell and Other Cogeneration Systems 

(FC+COGEN-SIM) (*)

Annex 43: Testing and Validation of Building Energy Simulation Tools (*)

Annex 44: Integrating Environmentally Responsive Elements in Buildings

Annex 45: Energy Efficient Electric Lighting for Buildings (*)

Annex 46: Holistic Assessment Tool-kit on Energy Efficient Retrofit Measures for Government 

Buildings (EnERGo)

Annex 47: Cost-Effective Commissioning for Existing and Low Energy Buildings
Annex 48: Heat Pumping and Reversible Air Conditioning

Annex 49: Low Exergy Systems for High Performance Buildings and Communities

Annex 50: Prefabricated Systems for Low Energy Renovation of Residential Buildings

Annex 51: Energy Efficient Communities

Annex 52: Towards Net Zero Energy Solar Buildings

Annex 53: Total Energy Use in Buildings: Analysis & Evaluation Methods

Annex 54: Analysis of Micro-Generation & Related Energy Technologies in Buildings

Annex 55: Reliability of Energy Efficient Building Retrofitting - Probability Assessment of 

Performance & Cost (RAP-RETRO)

Annex 56: Energy and Greenhouse Gas Optimised Building Renovation

Working Group - Energy Efficiency in Educational Buildings (*)

Working Group - Indicators of Energy Efficiency in Cold Climate Buildings (*)

Working Group - Annex 36 Extension: The Energy Concept Adviser (*)

Working Group - Energy Efficient Communities

Annex 47

The objectives of Annex 47 were to enable the effective commissioning of existing and future buildings 

in order to improve their operating performance and to advance the state-of-the-art of building 

commissioning by:

Extending previously developed methods and tools to address advanced systems and low energy 

buildings, utilizing design data and the buildings’ own systems in commissioning;

Automating the commissioning process to the extent practicable;

Developing methodologies and tools to improve operation of buildings in use, including identifying 

the best energy saving opportunities in HVAC system renovations; and

Quantifying and improving the costs and benefits of commissioning, including the persistence of 

benefits and the role of automated tools in improving persistence and reducing costs without 

sacrificing other important commissioning considerations.

To accomplish these objectives Annex 47 has conducted research and development in the framework of 

the following three areas:
Initial Commissioning of Advanced and Low Energy Building Systems 

This area addressed what can be done for (the design of) future buildings to enable cost-effective 

commissioning. The focus was set on the concept, design, construction, acceptance, and early operation 

phase of buildings. 

Commissioning and Optimization of Existing Buildings

This area addressed needs for existing buildings and systems to conduct cost-effective commissioning. 

The focus here was set on existing buildings where the commissioning process must be performed with 

incomplete or out-of-date documentation.

Commissioning Cost-Benefits and Persistence 

This area addressed how the cost-benefit situation can be represented. Key answers were provided by 

developing international consensus methods for evaluating commissioning cost-benefit and persistence. 

The methods were implemented in a cost-benefit and persistence database using field data.

Annex 47 was an international joint effort conducted by 50 organizations in 11 countries:

Belgium • KaHo St-Lieven

• Ghent University 

• Passive House Platform

• Université de Liège 

• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Canada • Natural Resources Canada (CETC-Varennes)

• Public Works and Governmental Services Canada

• Palais de Congres de Montreal

• Hydro Quebec

Czech Republic • Czech Technical University

Finland • VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

• Helsinki University of Technology

Germany • Ebert-Baumann Consulting Engineers

• Institute of Building Services and Energy Design 

• Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems 

Hong Kong/China • Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Hungary • University of Pécs

Japan • Kyoto University

• Kyushu University

• Chubu University 

• Okayama University of Science 

• NTT Facilities 

• Osaka Gas Co.

• Kansai Electric Power Co.

• Kyushu Electric Power Co.

• SANKO Air Conditioning Co 

• Daikin Air-conditioning and Environmental Lab

• Tokyo Electric Power Co

• Tokyo Gas Co.

• Takenaka Corp.
• Chubu Electric Power Co.

• Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.

• Tonets Corp

• Nikken Sekkei Ltd

• Hitachi Plant Technologies

• Mori Building Co.

• Takasago Thermal Engineering Co., Ltd. 

• Institute for Building Environment and Energy Conservation

Netherlands • TNO Environment and Geosciences

• University of Delft 

Norway • Norwegian University of Science and Technology

• SINTEF

USA • National Institute of Standards and Technology

• Texas A&M University

• Portland Energy Conservation Inc.

• Carnegie Mellon University

• Johnson Controls

• Siemens

• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
FOREWORD

This report summarizes the work of IEA-ECBCS Annex 47 Cost-Effective Commissioning of Existing 

and Low Energy Buildings. It is based on the research findings from the participating countries. The 

publication is an official Annex 47 report.

Report 1, ‘Commissioning Overview’ can be considered as an introduction to the commissioning process. 

Report 2, ‘Commissioning Tools for Existing and Low Energy Buildings’ provides general information 

on the use of tools to enhance the commissioning of low energy and existing buildings, summarizes the 

specifications for tools developed in the Annex and presents building case studies. 

Report 3, ‘Commissioning Cost Benefit and Persistence’ presents a collection of data that would be of use 

in promoting commissioning of new and existing buildings and defines methods for determining costs, 

benefits, and persistence of commissioning, The report also highlights national differences in the 

definition of commissioning.

Report 4, ‘Flowcharts and Data Models for Initial Commissioning of Advanced and Low Energy Building 

Systems’ provides a state of the art description of the use of flow charts and data models in the practice 

and research of initial commissioning of advanced and low energy building systems.

In many countries, commissioning is still an emerging activity and in all countries, advances are needed 

for greater formalization and standardization. We hope that this report will be useful to promote best 

practices, to advance its development and to serve as the basis of further research in this growing field.

Natascha Milesi Ferretti and Daniel Choinière

Annex 47 Co-Operating Agents 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The material presented in this publication has been collected and developed within an Annex of 

the IEA implementing agreement on Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community 

Systems, Annex 47, “Cost-Effective Commissioning of Existing and Low Energy Buildings”.

This report, together with four Annex final reports are the result of an international joint effort 

conducted in ten countries. All those who have contributed to the project are gratefully 

acknowledged. 

On behalf of all participants, the members of the Executive Committee of IEA Energy 

Conservation in Building and Community Systems Implementing Agreement as well as the 

funding bodies are also gratefully acknowledged.

A list of participating countries, institutes, and people can be found at the end of this report.

REPORT EDITORS:

Daniel Choinière (Natural Resources Canada)

Natascha Milesi Ferretti (NIST, USA)
Commissioning Overview

Building Commissioning (Cx) is a cost-effective way for building owners to ensure that 

buildings reach their operating potential. When a building is commissioned it goes through a 

systematic, quality assurance process. This process, which spans the design, construction, and 

operation of the building and its systems, is a valuable mechanism for quality building delivery. 

The process is aligned with industry best-practices, and involves commissioning agents, building 

owners, architects, engineers, and building operators. It includes: developing documents such as 

the Owner’s Project Requirements; planning for and carrying out verification checklists and 

functional tests; developing a complete Systems Manual and training requirements; and 

performing seasonal/deferred testing. Commissioning ensures that the building meets the 

owner’s needs and operates efficiently, and lays the groundwork for training the operations and 

maintenance staff to maintain systems over the life of the building. The overarching benefits 

include reduced lifecycle costs, improved occupant comfort and productivity, and cost-effective 

maintenance. Table 1 presents the summary of the range of costs and benefits reported from 12 

cost-Benefit commissioning studies that were conducted outside of Annex 47. The number of 

buildings evaluated in the studies ranged from 1 to 175. (summarized in Table 1). 

Table 1 Summary of Range of Costs and Benefits from 12 Studies 

(from Report 3, Table 2.1)i

New construction 

($/ft2)

($/m2)

Existing buildings 

($/ft2)

($/m2)

Cx / EBCx cost $0.19 to $1.00

$2.05 to $10.76

$0.08 to $0.40

$0.86 to $4.31

Energy benefits $0.05 to $0.64

$0.54 to $6.89

$0.11 to $0.26

$1.18 to $2.80

Non-energy 

benefits

$0.13 to $2.10

$1.40 to $22.60

$0.11 to $0.18

$1.18 to $1.94

Simple payback 4.8 y to 6.5 y 0.7 y to 3.2 y

i

Costs and benefits are presented as ranges to demonstrate the variances in the 

studies examined. Median or average values are not presented because 

underlying methodologies differ widely and such figures would not reflect 

actual costs and benefits experienced by building owners.

IEA - ECBCS Annex 47 Research Project

In 2006, researchers from 22 organizations in ten countries began a joint effort to enable the 

cost-effective commissioning of existing and future buildings to improve the buildings’ 

operating performance. The commissioning techniques developed through this Annex are 

intended to help transition the industry from the intuitive approach, currently employed in the 
operation of buildings, to more systematic operation focusing on achieving significant energy 

savings. 

Key outputs of IEA - ECBCS Annex 47 include:

 Methods and tools for commissioning advanced systems and low energy buildings; 

 Methods and tools for field application; and

 Information on the costs and benefits that can be used to promote the wider use of 

commissioning. 

Research Findings

The Commissioning Process and Market Penetration

Early investors in the commissioning process have attempted a number of different development 

paths including national research programs, industry guidelines, government mandates, training 

programs, demonstration projects, international collaborations, and the creation of non-profit 

organizations to gather resources and disseminate information. One of the most promising of 

these is the establishment of commissioning demonstration projects with detailed information 

about the associated costs and benefits of the process. The need for quantitative and qualitative 

information (beyond anecdotal reports) is universal. Demonstration projects can provide a

foothold for the industry and justify the large owner mandates, national mandates, and additional 

measures that are needed to scale up the adoption of commissioning as standard practice. The 

dissemination of information and education is also a critical component in establishing the 

commissioning process. Non-profit organizations have played a key role in fostering interest in 

commissioning research and commissioning projects and exchanging information, first on 

national levels, and increasingly at international levels.

Although the goals of reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gases are gaining political 

support, investment still lags behind. There is a disparity between those who must invest in the 

development of commissioning technologies and those who would benefit. Because adoption 

has been slow, public and private partnerships are needed to grow both the supply side and the 

demand side of the commissioning market. On the supply side, there is a need for greater 

standardization of products and services. There is a dramatic shortage of skilled providers and a 

lack of resources to enable the industry to improve the building delivery process. On the demand 

side, resources are needed to make the business case for the long-term benefits of their 

investment. Owners lack the resources, such as contracting documents, and market information 

that is needed to facilitate the procurement of commissioning services. Harmonization of 

commissioning services is needed to assure that the process adequately spans the building 

lifecycle and to ensure that the benefits obtained in individual projects can be scaled up to meet 

national needs. Continued support for the development of the commissioning market is needed 

for a global increase in building performance.
Report 1, ‘Commissioning Overview’ provides an introduction to the commissioning process. 

The project results also serve as a means to document information on commissioning practices in 

different countries and to disseminate relevant information to national practitioners.

Methods and Tools for Commissioning Advanced Systems and Low Energy Buildings

Researchers investigating the Commissioning and Optimization of Existing and Low Energy

Buildings identified that a major barrier to market penetration stems from the lack of 

commissioning methods and tools to ensure that advanced components and systems reach their 

technical potential and operate energy-efficiently. Results of research to develop guidelines and 

tools to help overcome that barrier for both existing and future buildings are presented in Annex 

47 Report 2, ‘Commissioning Tools for Existing and Low Energy Buildings’. Report 2 provides 

general information on the use of tools to enhance the commissioning of low energy and existing 

buildings, summarizes guidelines for monitoring and the use of sensors, and presents a collection 

of international case studies. 

Commissioning – and especially on-going commissioning – must cope with vast amounts of 

information and data. Information on the building’s characteristics and heating, ventilating, and 

air-conditioning (HVAC) system, as well as measured data, e.g., of the energy consumption, 

state variables or control signals, must be managed. In more complex or low energy buildings 

with advanced technologies this task requires computer-aided processes or software tools 

because humans cannot manage the wealth of data or extract specific information.

The tools and case studies discussed in Annex 47 Report 2 illustrate the potential for improved 

building performance through the use of software tools in the commissioning process. They 

provide features for operational fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) and/or for optimization that 

help to identify and realize potential savings. Most developed tools focus on the operation phase 

(existing buildings). Only a handful addresses the design phase (new constructions). This seems 

natural as commissioning has close ties to the operation phase and most of the built environment 

already exists. However, ideally, commissioning starts in the early design phase of construction. 

In this context, it should be noted that design and operation phases demand very different tool 

features:

 Tools for the design phase (new construction)

The design phase is characterized by considerable choice in solutions for building construction 

and HVAC systems. The design team must find a way to meet the owner’s project requirements 

(OPR). Typically this involves comparing various design alternatives that (ideally) are based on 

simulation. Consequently, a design phase Cx tool should support the assessment of different 

design alternatives. 

More important is documentation of the OPR, basic design, target values (e.g., energy demand), 

and all decisions and knowledge gathered during the design phase. This information is essential 
to measurement and verification in the latter operation phase. The current absence of complete 

and/or up-to-date building documentation is one of the biggest barriers to the introduction of 

commissioning in existing buildings. Cx tools should therefore support information management 

over the building’s lifecycle.

 Tools for the operation phase (existing buildings)

In the operation phase, most commissioning is made up of FDD and optimization. Unlike in the 

design phase, the commissioning provider must deal with a given system without a chance to 

replace major equipment (as long as no significant refurbishment is planned). In fact, many 

existing buildings were not commissioned during the design phase and many may not even have 

been commissioned during hand over. As a result, the commissioning provider must often cope 

with a situation in which a lack of information and little measured data exist. Consequently, the 

features and scope of the operation phase vary significantly, depending on the data and 

information needed to apply the tool.

Report 2 also gives an overview of tools developed in Annex 47 and also addresses data 

visualization - a feature identified as vital for revealing information hidden in data. 

 Tools to ensure persistence

The international status of on-going commissioning and Cx tool requirements can be 

summarized as follows: There is no common understanding of the term “on-going 

commissioning” among the different countries. With the exception of the USA, on-going 

commissioning has yet to be established as a well-defined, third-party service. Nevertheless, 

every country offers services that form part of the on-going commissioning process and experts 

stress its importance for the persistence of energy efficient operation of buildings. All countries 

(including the US) state that there are few if any commercial and/or easy to use tools available 

that can be used for on-going commissioning. Moreover, all countries state that automation of 

the tools and thereby a reduction of labor cost associated with the process is crucial for a wider 

application. Cost-benefits of on-going commissioning -tool application have yet to be 

documented.

The Annex 47 team identified the following needs for further research and tool development to 

support on-going commissioning in new and existing buildings:

• Automation and a more robust application of tools (e.g., for FDD or functional testing) 

remains an important issue to reduce costs. 

• Tools should be better integrated, i.e., not just provide one feature like FDD for an airhandling unit. This will make the application of tools increasingly relevant to building 

owners or operations staff. The number of tools required to cover all on-going 

commissioning -required functionalities should be reduced.
• Tools must be made easy to use and their interfaces improved.

Finally, tools should be better integrated in the whole commissioning process. To do so, the 

process itself must be better defined and standardized. An example is the need for monitoring 

guidelines.

Commissioning Cost-Benefit and Persistence

Research on commissioning cost-benefits and persistence addressed how the cost-benefit 

situation can be represented. Twelve studies were summarized, focusing on where the costbenefit methodologies were known. The majority were research studies of multiple buildings, 

and the studies ranged from research reports, databases, and marketing literature. Key answers 

were provided by developing international consensus methods for evaluating commissioning 

cost-benefit and persistence. The methods were implemented in a cost-benefit and persistence 

database using field data. Financial and technical data was collected and analyzed from 10 new 

building commissioning projects and 44 existing building commissioning projects, from seven 

countries. Results are published in Report 3: Commissioning Cost Benefit and Persistence. The 

report also highlights national differences in the application of commissioning.

The data collected through this research project begins to characterize the various types of 

commissioning processes that are occurring internationally. While data was often difficult to 

obtain, researchers expanded knowledge in two key areas: 

1. the scope of the Cx process employed for new and existing buildings; and

2. the characterization of issues discovered through the Cx process including system type, 

likely origin of issue (design, construction/installation, O&M, or capital improvement), 

issue type, and measures implemented. 

While the project results begin to develop a qualitative picture for how commissioning is 

evolving internationally, quantitative results were less apparent. For example, data on 

commissioning costs and energy savings were highly variable. Falling short of the data collection 

goals set by Annex member country representatives, it was not possible to make strong 

conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of Cx across countries. However, progress was made 

towards understanding and categorizing the state of the commissioning industry for new and 

existing buildings in Annex member countries. While all countries have Cx research occurring, 

the majority of countries are in an early adopter phase of industry development. Only a few 

countries can be categorized as having a developing commissioning industry in which services 

are becoming more commonly obtained by owners. 

For the Annex 47 projects, New Construction Cx costs ranged from $0.65 per m2 to $2.57 per m2

($0.65 per ft2 to $27.66 per ft2), way in which costs were attributed varies. Savings values were 
either not reported or considered unreliable as reference values, and so payback values were not 

calculated for New Construction Cx in the Annex 47 projects. 

For Existing Building Cx, calculating simple payback results in a small data set (19 samples) but

this can serve to illustrate a typical range of values (See Figure 1). 

Figure 1 EBCx project costs vs. annual savings estimates

Project simple payback values ranged from 0.9 years to 45.7 years, with a median value of 3.7 

years. Nine out of the 19 projects had a payback of greater than four years, and six had payback 

of between two and four years. 

Improving Information Access through the Building Lifecycle

Researchers investigated the Initial Commissioning of Advanced and Low Energy Building 

Systems focused on the concept, design, construction, acceptance, and early operation phase of 

buildings to see what could be improved for future buildings. They provided a state of the art 

description of the use of flow charts and data models in the practice and research of Initial 

n = 19 projects

$-

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

$120,000

$140,000

$- $50,000 $100,000 $150,000 $200,000

EBCx project cost (US$)

EBCx project annual savings (US$)

1-year

payback

2-year

payback

4-year

payback
Commissioning of Advanced and Low Energy Building Systems. This is an area of practice with 

complex data and process management needs. Without digital tools to assist in this management 

task, there are significant losses of information, time and money.

The vision of the future suggested by this investigation is that the commissioning agent is 

stationed at the console, able to access a very large portion of the data needed through data 

mining and sensor-control feeds; he/she produces reports, recommendations, and persistent data 

stores, digitally and with interoperability; and shares this with a variety of building professionals 

including architects, design engineers, facility managers, building operators, owners and 

equipment manufacturers. To enable this vision, Cx data and processes must be formally 

represented in data bases and associated algorithms in a format compatible with tools used by 

different practitioners and over long periods of time. Two key requirements emerging from this 

vision are formal representation and interoperability of information.

The findings and recommendations of this report in the commissioning of advanced and lowenergy building systems include encouraging the use of: 

• Integrated Definition diagrams (IDEF, a family of methods for system design and 

modeling for system analysis) to provide a systematic and structured method to 

describe the internal information flow of a process as a shared representation by 

all constituents involved;

• Functional Performance Tests (FPT) and similar Cx protocol data as a testbed for 

commissioning flow charts and process models;

• Existing energy auditing, the “green movement,” and building occupancy 

certification procedures as leverage to implement the purposes of commissioning;

• Available product modelling software -- such as Express Language of the 

Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), Seadec data eXchange Format (SXF), and 

Green Building XML (gbXML) to represent building performance data and FPT 

protocols for the commissioning; and

• Conventional database representations such as ACCESS, RDBMS, HDF5 in 

order to formalize data representations and Flow Chart.

The final and overarching recommendations were to move the industry towards:

• Standardizing parameters of commissioning data, users, and practices;
• Finding representations that can carry data from one phase of building delivery to 

the next one seamlessly, minimizing the loss of data;

• Partnering with the current efforts in the area of building information modeling 

(BIM) and developing parallel models and software applications for 

commissioning of advanced and low-energy buildings;

• Researching challenges of cost, function, and payback in digital Cx tools; and 

• Developing historic data records for commissioning of advanced and low-energy 

buildings based on pre-specified data and Flow Chart categories.

Report 4: Flowcharts and Data Models for Initial Commissioning of Advanced and Low Energy 

Building Systems presents these findings, together with process tools.

Concluding Remarks

In many countries, commissioning is still an emerging activity and in all countries, advances are 

needed for greater formalization and standardization. The products of this research project are 

intended to promote best practices, to advance commissioning development and to serve as the 

basis of further research in this growing field.

Publications

Report 1 Commissioning Overview 

Citation: Legris, C., N. Milesi Ferretti, and D Choinière. 2012. “Annex 47 Report1: 

Commissioning Overview” National Institute of Standards and Technology, Technical Note 

1725.

Report 2 Commissioning Tools for Existing and Low energy Buildings

Citation: Neumann. C. et al. 2012. “Annex 47 Report2: Commissioning Tools for Existing 

and Low energy Buildings”, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Technical Note 

1744.

Report 3 Commissioning Cost-Benefit and Persistence of Savings

Citation: Friedman, H. et al. “Annex 47 Report3: Commissioning Cost-Benefit and 

Persistence of Savings”, Edited by Hannah Friedman, David Claridge, Daniel Choinière and 

Natascha Milesi Ferretti, 2012, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Technical 

Note 1727
Report 4 Flow Charts and Data Models for Initial Commissioning of Advanced and Low 

Energy Building Systems

Citation:“ “Annex 47 Report4: Flow Charts and Data Models for Initial Commissioning of 

Advanced and Low Energy Building Systems”, Edited by Ömer Akin, Natascha Milesi 

Ferretti, Daniel Choiniere and David Claridge, 2012, www.iea-annex47.org

Copies of these reports may be obtained from the Annex 47 web site at: http://www.iea-annex47.org , 

the NIST website at: http://www.nist.gov, or from the IEA/ECBCS Bookshop at: www.ecbcs.org.