A retrospective on the impact of Annex 40 and Annex 47 research on the international state of building commissioning

The need for improved building performance is global and has led to numerous international collaborations. Since 2000, the International Energy Agency (IEA) Energy in Buildings and Communities Program (EBC, formerly ECBCS) has completed two building commissioning research annexes, recognizing the role of the building commissioning process in meeting energy conservation goals. Annex 40 established a common understanding of the commissioning process and initiated research that became the basis for the development of national guidelines and automated tools. Subsequently, Annex 47 focused on advancing the use of technology in commissioning and the work developed and ideas exchanged in Annex 47 were foundational in enabling numerous positive impacts internationally. This paper describes research results from these annexes1 and discusses the impact of both in four areas: 1) commissioning support software tools, 2) cost-benefit methodology, 3) guidelines and standards, and 4) industry associations and research conferences. The paper concludes with a discussion of current commissioning industry research and policy needs.