We talked with Vince van Oostenbrugge, CCP, at Bernhard to learn about their commissioning practice. Bernhard is a Platinum Sponsor and long-time corporate member of the BCxA.
Tell us briefly about your company.
Bernhard was founded in 1919 in Louisiana as a plumbing and sheet metal company. In 1958, Bernhard Mechanical Construction Company (MCC) formed what is now called Design-Build. In 2017, Bernhard leveraged its expertise and started implementing energy-as-a-service.
When did the company initially engage with the BCxA – when and why?
Bernhard originally engaged with BCxA in 2007 and again in 2022 when the ETC Group was acquired. Vince van Oostenbrugge (IBOD & Membership Co-chair) was part of the ETC Acquisition and started managing the commissioning team. Since then, every commissioning team member has a membership with BCxA to take advantage of the webinars, participate in their region’s boards, and attend the annual conference.
Tell us what it means to be a CCF providing a CCP to projects.
As a Certified Commissioning Firm (CCF) with a growing number of Certified Commissioning Professionals (CCPs) in-house, we have been able to standardize our practices based on industry benchmarks. This not only demonstrates our adherence to essential commissioning attributes but also highlights the value of having a consistent, high-quality approach that every commissioning provider should follow. For our clients who now require CCP certifications in their RFQs/RFPs, it underscores the importance of partnering with a firm that holds both CCF and CCP credentials.
Can you share an interesting/important representative project example?
Utah Clean Energy (UCE), a nonprofit leader in climate solutions, unveiled the “Climate Innovation Center” in downtown Salt Lake City on June 5, 2024. Bernhard contributed to this significant milestone in UCE’s mission to combat climate change by providing in-kind commissioning services for this net-zero office project. Bernhard’s Commissioning team worked with the owner and design team to ensure that the Climate Innovation Center met its goal of being a Net-Zero building. Now completed, the Center has transformed a 70-plus-year-old building into one of Salt Lake City’s highest-performing, net-zero buildings. The Climate Innovation Center will serve as UCE’s headquarters and as a living laboratory to educate the public and business community about the crucial role buildings play in solving our climate crisis and how to renovate and build for a healthy climate. Achieving this goal was not without challenges. At the project’s outset, the team faced difficulties in developing a solid design to achieve a true net-zero building, including some out-of-the-box thinking. Utah Clean Energy’s goal of achieving the most energy efficient building in Utah wouldn’t have been possible without the close collaboration between Bernhard’s commissioning team and all others involved. This collaborative effort highlights the team’s dedication to achieving the project’s ambitious sustainability goals.
Future of Cx – What are you seeing shaping the commissioning practice in your markets?
Connected Commissioning, combined with the use of analytics, sums up the next generation. How can we address the needs of new and existing buildings without leveraging analytics to eliminate guesswork and adopt a more focused, targeted strategy? While the expertise of professionals in the field remains essential for inspecting installations and critical operations, as buildings become more integrated, it’s clear that we must work smarter, utilizing data-driven insights to enhance efficiency.
Recommendations for new entrants to the profession of commissioning.
Ask questions of your peers. Don't be afraid to reach out to others in the industry if you don’t understand or need a peer to ask questions. Share lessons learned with others. We never get better at what we do by ourselves. Reach out.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Get involved with the BCxA chapters and committees, and see how the BCxA operates. Remember, it’s a family…with knowledge and resources for the built environment. Cliché, I know. Seriously, join and become active.