Steve Wiggins was in Australia to deliver a series of seminars in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane on design phase commissioning and to address the AMCA Australia National Council Meeting in Palm Cove, providing details of the LEED scheme in the USA and how it is impacting on the mechanical contracting industry.
Steve Wiggins said, “Commissioning is not an activity to be left to the end of the project as too often happens.” “In the USA”, he said, “enlightened clients understand to have an energy efficient operating building requires that commissioning be built into the process from the start.”
Steve Wiggins said that membership of the U.S. Green Building Council is growing at a rapid rate now after a slow beginning. By the end of 2007, there will be in excess of 11,000 members.
Also by the end of 2007, there will be in excess of 1 billion square feet of building under certification.
When looking for business opportunities in the future, Steve Wiggins said that retrofit commissioning is where the growth will occur.
ASHRAE approached NEBB to work with them in a proactive manner on the LEED certification system. NEBB, in particular, want to ensure that appropriate technically skilled people are involved in the certification process.
Steve Wiggins is one of the co-authors of the NEBB publication ”Design Phase Commissioning”.