Rating System

LEED BD+C: New Construction

Rating System Version

v2 - LEED 2.2, v2 - LEED 2.1, v2 - LEED 2.0

Inquiry

Our project is a day care facility serving the staff and students of the nearby University of Texas at Austin Campus. As such our project had a very tight design and construction schedule with a non-negotiable move-in date. The building is currently occupied and in use. Our design and construction team in all good faith undertook to capture both credit EQ3.1 and EQ3.2 through development and implementation of a IAQ management plan during construction and pre-occupancy phases as well as a two week building flush-out at 100% outside air. Activities undertaken included sealing of ductwork, ductwork cleaning, staging of materials, and other practices with the goal of providing optimum indoor air quality for construction workers and building occupants. However, at final documentation it was discovered that the specified and installed filters during construction and flush-out were MERV 7 rather than MERV 8. As the team in all good faith achieved (excepting MERV ratings) all requirements of credits EQ3.1 and EQ3.2, resulting in a much better air quality for the building than industry standards, is it still possible to achieve one or more of these credits? At a minimum, could credit 3.2 be achieved through the alternate testing method if undertaken at a time when the building is unoccupied (ie: on a weekend or holiday period)?