BUILDING ENVELOPE  COMMISSIONING (BECx) AND CONSULTING

3iVE  provides industry-leading building envelope commissioning (BECx) and exterior consulting services for institutional grade buildings. Our firm has helped develop specifications, test methods, and BECx activities now widely adopted by the BECx community. Our expertise and experience incorporates extensive involvement throughout the design and construction process, including:

3iVE’s blend of technical expertise with the team approach we take with the design, construction, and ownership team is unique in the industry and key to our outstanding results. A track record of over 12 years as exterior specialists with demanding institutional clients including Harvard, MIT, Wellesley, Dartmouth and a number of Massachusetts public agencies attest to our success in substantially minimizing the likelihood of the of costly and potentially dangerous exterior envelope issues, including:

  • Energy inefficiencies from air leakage and insulation issues
  • Water leaks
  • Ice dams
  • Interior mold infestation related to exterior issues
  • Exterior assembly structural failures

3iVE strives to define the exterior assembly as a team challenge requiring the talent and input of all parties involved to solve problems and develop the best solutions. Our involvement helps reinforce a personal sense of purpose and responsibility among the architect, contractor, and the many tradesmen involved in the design and construction process. David de Sola, the firm’s founding principal, is personally involved in each of our exterior commissioning projects and is available to the team to address issues as they occur.

3iVE has supplied its systematic building envelope commissioning approach on new construction and retrofit high performance projects throughout the Northeast with enviable results.  Our work includes extensive experience with:

  • Elementary and secondary schools
  • University academic and residential facilities
  • Libraries
  • Laboratories
  • Athletic Centers
  • Hospitals
  • Churches
  • Museums

To see a portfolio of our BECx / Consulting work with representative projects, CLICK HERE .

CONTACT US to learn how we can help you achieve even your most ambitious building performance goals!

COMMISSIONING (BECx) SERVICES

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is the U.S. Green Building Council rating system that measures the sustainability of a building.

3iVE staff is BD+C LEED credentialed. We will work with the design and ownership team to understand LEED goals and provide a commissioning plan that will help achieve point objectives.

It is important that the owner puts together project requirements that are both achievable in terms of budget and realistic for the project type. 3iVE has extensive experience relating costs and project objectives. We will help the owner develop an Owner’s Project Requirements statement that will help guide the design process and establish appropriate benchmarks for the project. Similarly, we will work with project’s designers to help write a Basis of Design (BOD) statement that will match the Owner’s requirements.

3iVE has 30 years experience and design and construction. Our review takes into account our understanding of material compatibility, construction sequence, field conditions, local labor availability and skill set, and many other considerations to help establish a robust set of architectural exterior details.

Ronald Reagan’s famous quote, “Trust, but verify” is well-placed in the construction world. 3iVE will help the design team to establish mock-up and field testing protocols to provide a verification measure to verify the building’s exterior matches the design intent.

In accordance with NIBS  Guideline 3-2012 as well as LEED 4 Enhanced Commissioning Requirements, 3iVE will prepare an Exterior Commissioning Plan, a live document that “outlines the organization, schedule, allocation of resources, responsibilities and documentation requirements of the BECx process.” [NIBS  Guideline 3-2012.] 3iVE will update the Plan at appropriate intervals throughout the project in order to maintain functional parity between the Owner’s Project Requirements and the steps needed to achieve them.

Assembling a robust exterior from a set of documents is a complex enterprise requiring the input and participation of many parties, skills, and trades. 3iVE works to help foster a team environment and to elicit input and buy-in from designers, manufacturers, and skilled tradesmen to achieve high-performance results.

Similar to the way mechanical drawings have corresponding coordinated shop drawings to help reduce areas of potential conflict, 3iVE encourages projects include a requirement for coordinated exterior shop drawings. These drawings are produced under the supervision of a General Contractor or  Construction Manager during the submittal period. They indicate particular materials, the intended sequence of operations, a verification of compatibility for adjacent materials and assemblies, and a reflection of the architect’s design intent and detailing. The documents help validate the viability and constructability of the assemblies prior to execution, and provide the trades a means of communicating potentially improved approaches. 3iVE helps write the exterior coordinated shop drawings, reviews the submitted documents, and provides insight and feedback to refine the approach to construction.

3iVE typically reviews select exterior submittals to verify the subcontractors’ approach will work with adjacent materials assemblies and the contractors’ proposed sequence.

3iVE is available during the construction process to review request for information and provide input to resolve exterior issues as they occur in the field.

3iVE witnesses field and mock-up testing to make sure the protocols match those in the specifications and to witness issues as they occur. 3iVE provides an insightful report helping to diagnose the issues and provide thoughts on remediation.

3iVE  reviews contractors QA / QC protocols to verify the proposed oversight will establish an appropriate level of quality and verification. 3iVE provides comments and insights to address issues with the protocol.

Throughout the construction period 3iVE performs site visits with detailed reporting on issues and suggestions on remediation. 3iVE logs all issues and institutes a process by which to verify and log each issue is resolved and documented by the contractor. 3iVE’s Exterior Commissioning Plan includes the Owner’s Project Requirements as well as the Basis of Design; the document includes the required number of field visits appropriate to maintain the constructed quality given the Owner’s goals and budget.

3iVE is available to perform exterior thermography to either diagnose issues or verify performance characteristics. Our thermographic investigations include a clear report detailing discovered issues and providing recommendations for follow-up steps.

3iVE helps prepare the owner for occupancy of a new building by providing a maintenance protocol and schedule of material life expectancy. 3iVE recommends procedures and protocols to help Owner’s make sure buildings will continue to perform at a high level for years beyond completion.

In keeping with LEED v4 requirements, 3iVE provides warranty review services to help protect owners after the building is completed.

CONSULTING SERVICES

3iVE works closely with designers to develop a Basis of Design (BOD) statement that will meet or exceed the Owner’s Project Requirement given the budget available. 3iVE works hard to maintain designer’s vision while adding a high level of robust performance in terms of the way it’s detailed.

3iVE has 30 years experience and design and construction. Our review and collaboration with designers takes into account our understanding of material compatibility, construction sequence, field conditions, local labor, talent, and many other considerations to help establish a robust set of architectural exterior details. We do our best to honor and maintain designer’s aesthetic goals and design intent while making suggestions to improve the viability and performance of particular aspects of the design.

On-site field visits and consulting during the construction period are performed to observe contractor’s performance and resolve field issues. 3iVE reviews material data, shop drawing submittals, the Contractor’s Quality Control and Quality Assurance protocols, and recommends modifications as needed.

3iVE provides peer review of construction documents pertaining to the exterior. We routinely review CD’s at several points in the design and bid process: at schematic design, and again at 60%, 90%, and 100% completion. We offer highly detailed feedback on relevant specification sections as well as mark-ups and comments on exterior assembly drawings and details.

3iVE is available to subcontract exterior design services. We will provide whole-system design as well as detail-level design input and red-lining services, depending on the request and needs of the client.

At useful intervals in the design process, 3iVE will review progress drawings and provide markups to help the architect establish a robust and consistent set of exterior details

3iVE is able to provide both targeted feedback for specific project specification sections as well as author whole specification sections, depending on the needs of the project and client. We typically write full specifications sections for performance mockup and exterior field testing protocols when our role is exterior consulting to help our clients infuse the project with value-driven field verification procedures. We provide BECx services; performance mockup, and exterior field testing protocol sections when our role is for exterior commissioning.

3iVE will help designers to develop a mock-up specification along with a mock-up testing protocol. 3iVE will also help the designer with the mock-up itself in terms of which system should be included its scope and the detailing.

3iVE will work with the designer to develop and exterior test protocol that matches the Owner’s Project Requirements and provides value in terms of verifying the building’s exterior.

3iVE has certified, experienced LEED practitioners. 3iVE can assist the architect’s pursuit of LEED points related to the building envelope in both design and construction phases.

3iVE witnesses field and mock-up testing to make sure the protocols match those in the specifications and to witness issues as they occur. 3iVE provides an insightful report helping to diagnose the issues and provide thoughts on remediation.

with over 12 years experience facilitating high performance exteriors 3iVE is able to make specific recommendations regarding the number and timing of field  field visits needed to maintain construction quality. 3iVE’s site visits provide value to the Owner as problems can often be discovered and systematically addressed before they are multiplied. 3iVE’s site visits include detailed reporting on issues and make specific recommendations on next-steps. 3iVE logs discovered issues and participates in designing the process by which each is addressed by the responsible party.

3iVE is available during the design and construction phases to review issues that arise and provide insight and practical thoughts on resolution measures.

Even though designers may have the best intentions and strong design work, it is possible that poor construction field control will result in a poorly-performing building. 3iVE is available to help the architect review the contractor’s quality control and assurance protocols to make sure that the designer’s intent is met in the field.

3iVE provides exterior thermography, as well as a detailed reporting and resolution strategies for discovered issues.

3iVE helps prepare the owner for occupancy of a new building by providing a maintenance protocol and schedule of materials. 3iVE recommends procedures to help make sure the building continues to perform at a high level for years beyond its completion.