Addenda and Interpretations Database

Description of change

Revise connectivity definition to: “connectivity the number of publicly accessible intersections per square mile, including any combination of streets, dedicated alleys, transit rights-of-way, and nonmotorized rights-of-way. If one must both enter and exit an area through the same intersection, such an intersection and any intersections beyond that point are not counted; intersections leading only to culs-de-sac are also not counted. The calculation of square mileage excludes water bodies, parks larger than 1/2 acre, public facility campuses, airports, rail yards, slopes over 15%, and areas nonbuildable under codified law or the rating system. Street rights-of-way may not be excluded."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

Delete the sentence: "An intersection of an alley with an alley is not an eligible intersection."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

In the definition of planned diverse use, delete: "outside the project boundary"

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

"Add the following after “Option 2” in “Case 3”: OR OPTION 3 For projects that have no minimum local zoning requirements, provide 25% fewer parking spaces than the applicable standard listed in the 2003 Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) ""Parking Generation""study at http://www.ite.org."

Related Addenda and LIs

• li-1869
• li-2495
• li-2541
• li-1922
• li-3145
• li-6001
• li-518

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Description of change

Replace "Addenda I" and "Addenda 1" with "Addenda i"

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

Delete footnote 2 (previously developed sites) and renumber footnotes

Related Addenda and LIs

• li-5354
• li-1804

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Description of change

Change "development footprint" definition: "The development footprint is the total area of the building footprint and area affected by development or by project site activity. Hardscape, access roads, parking lots, nonbuilding facilities, and the building itself are all included in the development footprint."

Related Addenda and LIs

• li-499
• li-5787

Related resources

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Description of change

"Delete footnote text: “For the purposes of this credit, ""net usable program area"" shall be defined as the sum of all interior areas in the project available to house the project's program. Areas housing building equipment, vertical circulation and structure shall be excluded.” Replace with: “For the purposes of this credit, ""net usable program area"" shall be defined as the sum of all interior areas available to house a building's functions; areas for building equipment, vertical circulation, and structure are excluded. See ANSI/BOMA Z65.1Ð2010, Office Buildings: Standard Methods of Measurement (http://www.boma.org).”"

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

"Footnote 1, delete: ""those that are not previously developed or graded and remain in a natural state."" Replace with: ""sites not previously developed or graded that could support open space, habitat, or agriculture.”"

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

Delete: "If a project is designed and constructed to be partially occupied by the owner or developer, then the owner or developer has direct influence over that portion of the interior build-out. For these projects, LEED for New Construction may be more appropriate."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

"Below the first paragraph, enter the following text as a new paragraph: ""For hospitality projects, commercial kitchen sinks and bar sinks including pot sinks, prep sinks, wash down, and cleaning sinks are considered process water and are not included in the water use calculations. Hand washing sinks located in commercial kitchen areas that do not pass through a grease interceptor should be included in the water use calculations under the kitchen sink category."""

Related Addenda and LIs

• ad-100001071
• ad-100001066

Related resources

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Description of change

"At the end of the section, insert the following text as a new paragraph: ""For hospitality projects, FTE and transient occupants are calculated per the typical methodology for the respective occupancy types. Hotel guests may be determined based on the number and size of units in the project. Generally, assume 1.5 occupants per guest room and multiply the resulting total by 60% (average hotel occupancy per AH&LA information) to determine the total number of hotel guests. Alternatively, occupants may be derived from actual historical occupancy numbers. Fixture use assumptions for hotel guests follow the fixture assumptions for residential occupants. Accordingly, lavatories located in guest rooms are considered to be private lavatories. Additionally, day use guests at the hotel should be included in the value for transient / visitor occupants. Per typical fixture use assumptions, this category of occupants assumes zero shower uses throughout the day. Example: 123-room hotel Total Hotel Guests = 123*1.5 * 60% Total Hotel Guests = 111"""

Related Addenda and LIs

• ad-100001071
• ad-100001067

Related resources

None

Description of change

"Replace the entire Occupancy paragraph with the following: “Identify the number of building occupants by occupancy type using actual occupant counts or historical data or projections. Use occupancy numbers that are a representative daily average over the course of the year. If the occupancy is not known and historical data or projections are unavailable, use LEED-CS Appendix 1: Default Occupancy Counts in the LEED Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction to calculate the default occupancy. For project types that are not listed in LEED-CS Appendix 1, use code occupancy. Use a balanced 1:1 male to female gender ratio. Use whole occupant values (round female values up and male values down to adjust for half values when there is an odd number of occupants). Calculate the number of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) building occupants based on a standard 8-hour occupancy period for full-time and part-time staff. An 8-hour occupant has an FTE value of 1.0, and part-time occupants have an FTE value based on their hours per day divided by 8. In retail projects with multiple shifts, use the daily average number of FTE from all shifts. Estimate the daily average number of retail customers who enter the project building or space. Retail customers should be reported as daily average totals. Include only retail customers who enter the project building or space. Drive through customers or customers who only visit the project exterior and do not enter the retail project building should be excluded from the water use calculations. Refer to the Calculating Occupancy section within WEp1 in the LEED Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction, 2009 edition or Green Interior Design and Construction, 2009 edition. for further details.”"

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

"In the third paragraph under Implementation, edit the last sentence so it now reads: ""For buildings connected to an existing chilled water system, including District Energy Systems, the chilled water supplier must perform the required calculation and submit a letter showing compliance with the requirements."" Delete the following sentence under District Energy Systems: ""Follow the guidance in effect at the time of registration."""

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

Replace the definition of "departmental gross square footage (DGSF)" with "the floor area of a diagnostic and treatment of clinical department, calculated from the centerline of the walls separating the department from adjacent spaces. Walls and circulations space within the department are included in the calculation. This calculation excludes Inpatient Units."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

Replace the definition of "soft space" with "in healthcare facilities, a lightly programmed area that can be easily displaced to allow an adjacent department to expand"

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

Replace the definition of "assembly recycled content" with "is the percentage of material in a product that is either postconsumer or preconsumer recycled content. It is determined by dividing the weight of the recycled content by the overall weight of the assembly."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

Replace the definition of "postconsumer material" with "waste generated by end users (households or commercial, industrial and institutional facilities) of a product no longer able to be used for its intended purpose that is recycled into raw material for a new product."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

Replace the definition of "chain-of-custody (COC)" with "the path taken by raw materials, processed materials, and products from the forest to the consumer, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution. A chain-of-custody certificate number on invoices for nonlabeled products indicates that the certifier’s guidelines for product accounting have been followed. A chain-of-custody certification is not required by distributors of a product that is individually labeled with the Forest Stewardship Council logo and manufacturer’s chain-of-custody number. Chain of Custody (CoC) certification requirements are determined by Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody Standard 40-004 v2-1."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

"Replace calculation steps 2 and 3 with the following: 2. For densely occupied spaces, document compliance with Case 2. 3. For all AHUs, document compliance with Case 1. Use Table 2 to identify each AHU, the presence of appropriate monitoring for that unit, and the minimum required outdoor airflow for that unit (as generated via compliance with IEQ Prerequisite 1). Use Equation 2 to calculate the portion of the building’s total outdoor air intake flow serving occupied spaces."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

Replace the definition of "sustainable forestry" with "is the practice of managing forest resources to meet the long-term forest product needs of humans while maintaining the biodiversity of forested landscapes. The primary goal is to restore, enhance, and sustain a full range of forest values, including economic, social, and ecological considerations."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

"Delete: ""Clarification: LEED for Homes cannot be offered outside of the US at this time because of the technical limitations of adapting the rating system to local codes and the logistical limitations of providing a uniform international verification network. This decision will be revisited in 2012. Canadian projects should pursue LEED Canada for Homes, offered by the CAGBC. Any project that registered with LEED for Homes prior to the release of LEED Canada for Homes can be certified under LEED for Homes."" Replace with: ""Clarification: As a response to growing international interest in residential green building and LEED for Homes, USGBC has launched an international pilot. Project teams outside the United States and Canada may now apply to participate in the international pilot. If selected, project teams will need to coordinate with USGBC and an approved LEED for Homes Green Rater on meeting the program, verification and certification submittal requirements of the LEED for Homes rating system. This process will include determining Alternative Compliance Pathways (ACPs). For more information on the International Pilot and the process for certification please visit usgbc.org. Canadian projects should pursue LEED Canada for Homes, offered by the CAGBC. Any project located in Canada that registered with LEED for Homes prior to the release of LEED Canada for Homes can be certified under LEED for Homes."""

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

"Clarification: Unique residential projects that do not meet the intent of a single family home but are also not being built like a multifamily building, such as fraternity houses and assisted living facilities, may submit a CIR and will be ruled on a case by case basis. Rulings will ensure the HSA is not over-penalizing or over-rewarding projects. Possible rulings include but are not limited to: allowing projects to add common space into the average unit size and then using the multifamily HSA and allowing projects to use a HSA of 0."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Related resources

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Description of change

Delete: "Clarification: If waste is processed by a waste management facility, the average monthly or annual diversion rate for the entire facility may be used for the purposes of this credit. This option is only acceptable if the annual waste facility data is available and verified by the Green Rater. (MR 03-25)"

Related Addenda and LIs

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Description of change

"Delete: ""Clarification: There cannot be a door from an air handling unit closet that opens into the garage. The access door to an air handling unit must open into the living space, or the exterior of the building."" Add: ""Clarification: Multi-family buildings must meet the requirements in EQ 10-09a. Where a diagnostic test showing minimal air flow is not possible, the project team must still fully air seal the AHU closet but verification of the air sealing can be conducted visually by the Green Rater."""

Related Addenda and LIs

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Related resources

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Description of change

Add: "Clarification: An air handler unit may be not be located in a mechanical closet or room that only opens into the garage unless the following are met: 1) the mechanical closet that holds the AHU is fully isolated from the garage; 2) the mechanical closet is directly connected to the living space or outdoors; 3) the doors to the mechanical closet are sealed and gasketed; 4) the doors to the mechanical closet are either self-closing OR tied to a trigger that prevents the AHU from operating when the doors are open OR clear signage is posted to keep the doors closed at all times and the homeowner or building manager is trained on the importance of keeping garage air out of the mechanical closet; and 5) a 3rd party has verified (using a blower door test) that the mechanical closet has less than 2 Pa of connection to the garage when the house is depressurized to 50 Pa."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Related resources

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Description of change

Add: "Clarification: If a project has two completely separate HVAC systems (i.e. no shared ductwork, no shared AHU, etc.), one for the garage and one for the home, then it is okay to have the HVAC system that only accommodates the garage located in the garage itself."

Related Addenda and LIs

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Related resources

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Description of change

Autocontrol faucet baseline Addenda (all rating systems). In the 2/2/2011 Addenda, replace the baseline in the related note below table with “Default duration for the metering type / autocontrol lavatory faucet is 0.25 gallons per cycle (gpc) for the baseline case and 12 seconds for the design case.”

Related Addenda and LIs

• ad-100000920
• ad-100000753
• ad-100000990
• ad-100001788

Related resources

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Description of change

In the 2/2/2011 Addenda, replace the baseline in the related note below table with “Default duration for the metering type / autocontrol lavatory faucet is 0.25 gallons per cycle (gpc) for the baseline case and 12 seconds for the design case.”

Related Addenda and LIs

• ad-100000990
• ad-100001787

Related resources

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Inquiry

Using the Water Use Classifications of Landscape Species definitions for water needs for plants in California, what is USGBC’s cut off for drought tolerant?

Ruling

For plants in California, anything 30% or below using the Water Use Classifications of Landscape Species (WUCOLS) is considered drought tolerant.

Related Addenda and LIs

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Applicable Rating Systems & References

	v2.0	v2.1	v2.2	v2007	v2008	v2009
New Construction
Schools
Commercial Interiors
Core & Shell
Existing Buildings
Retail NC
Retail CI
Neighborhood Development
Homes
Healthcare

KEY
	The ruling was written for projects using this rating system and must be applied based on the project's registration date
	Project teams and reviewers may refer to the ruling for projects using this rating system, if reasonable and appropriate
	The ruling was not yet considered for projects using this rating system
	The ruling does NOT apply to projects using this rating system
	The rating system for this version does not exist