Introduction to Functional Testing
These videos were put together for classes I help support for the Pacific Energy Center and the Construction Engineering Research Lab (the folks behind RCxU). The provide an overview of the functional testing process, primarily from an EBCx (Existing Building Commissioning) perspective. But since the technical concepts are generally the same no matter if you are doing new construction commissioning (NCx), EBCx, or ongoing commissioning (a.k.a. operating the building properly) you may find them relevant no matter what process you are involved with.
These videos are basically a more comprehensive version of the presentation I made at the National Conference on Building Commissioning in 2013. You will find additional information related to the case study like the system diagram, test procedure and control system logic modifications we made on that page.
Note that all of the videos have a table of contents feature and hot links that allow you to jump to points of interest in the videos and also to supporting information. The opening sequences of the videos describe how these things work, so once you "get it", you may want to jump to the point labeled "Start of Technical Content" or in one case "(Somewhat Dramatic) Introduction".
These videos are basically a more comprehensive version of the presentation I made at the National Conference on Building Commissioning in 2013. You will find additional information related to the case study like the system diagram, test procedure and control system logic modifications we made on that page.
Note that all of the videos have a table of contents feature and hot links that allow you to jump to points of interest in the videos and also to supporting information. The opening sequences of the videos describe how these things work, so once you "get it", you may want to jump to the point labeled "Start of Technical Content" or in one case "(Somewhat Dramatic) Introduction".
This first video contrasts the NCx vs. EBCx perspective on functional testing, contrasts where functional testing fits in to the NCx vs. EBCx timeline, and contrasts forced response with natural response testing.
The second video builds off of the first video. It starts by looking at the hierarchy for a functional testing process in an NCx environment and then focuses in on how, for an EBCx process, functional testing is how we ask the building questions (note the title of the website home page), including examples of how you might want to frame up the questions (tests) you use in an EBCx process.
The third and fourth modules are a case study that look a how a functional test was developed to ask a building about the thermal inertia represented by the piping circuit associated with its chilled water system. The test was undertaken to solve an operational problem (i.e allow the building to fulfill its mission with out wrecking the compressors serving the chilled water system due to short cycling). But, in solving the operational problem, the door was opened to an energy conservation opportunity.
