Rating System

LEED BD+C: New Construction, LEED BD+C: Schools, LEED ID+C: Commercial Interiors, LEED BD+C: Core and Shell, LEED O+M: Existing Buildings

Rating System Version

v2 - LEED 2.2, v2 - Schools 2007, v2 - LEED 2.0, v2 - LEED 2.0, v3 - LEED 2008

Inquiry

This project is located on a multi-building medical campus in Illinois. Typical of a campus, it is composed of numerous existing buildings, parking structures, surface lots and circulation streets. The campus is proposing to build, as separately bid projects, a new inpatient building, some additions to existing buildings, and a new parking structure. Our intent is to pursue LEED Certification for the new inpatient building, a new multi-level parking structure and new portions of site work on the campus, but not the additions to existing buildings. One of the buildings included in the LEED project boundary is an open multi-level parking structure. The parking structure includes an enclosed combination stair/elevator lobby as part of the structure. The structure is classified as an unoccupied structure per ASHRAE 62.1-2004. A previous ruling on 9/18/2007 addressed the applicability of EQ credits to unoccupied spaces. The previous ruling is included for reference below: --- 9/18/2007 - Ruling The CIR is asking whether the requirements of EQ category of LEED applies to areas that are not occupiable (per ASHRAE Standard 62.1 2004 definition) or non-occupied (per LEED v2.2 EQc8 definition). The requirements of EQc1, EQc2, EQc6.1, EQc6.2, EQc7.1, EQc7.2, EQc8.1, and EQc8.2 are only applicable to occupiable or occupied areas; non-occupiable spaces that meet either the ASHRAE Standard 62.1 2004 or LEED v2.2 definition can be excluded from compliance with these credits. The requirements of EQp1, EQp2, EQc3.1, EQc3.2, EQc4.1,EQc4.2, EQc4.3, EQc4.4, and EQc5 do not differentiate between occupied (LEED definition) or occupiable areas (ASHRAE definition) and must be applied to all spaces within the building envelope. These credits and prerequisites affect adjacent spaces that might be occupiable and will also ensure that the construction team is not adversely affected by poor Indoor Environmental Quality --- ASHRAE 62.1 2004 defines occupiable as "an enclosed space intended for human activities, excluding those spaces intended primarily for other purposes, such as storage rooms and equipment rooms, that are only occupied occasionally and for short periods of time." Based on the precedent established by the above referenced CIR, we are requesting that the elevator lobby/stair and the parking structure be exempt from the need to comply with EQp1, EQc1, EQc2, EQc5, EQc6.1, EQc6.2, EQc7.1, EQc7.2, EQc8.1, and EQc8.2 since the structure is classified as unoccupied and the people will spend approximately one to two minutes in these spaces waiting for the elevators or walking up or down the stairs. We believe this meets the fundamental intent of both ASHRAE 62.1-2004, and the LEED EQ credits, because building users will occupy the elevator lobby and parking structure for very short periods of time, and therefore there will be no significant adverse occupant health impacts associated with not complying with these credits. The impacts to construction workers will also be insignificant, and there are no adjacent occupied spaces that could be adversely impacted by our proposed approach. Please confirm that the parking structure may remain within the LEED Project Boundary, and still remain exempt from compliance with the above referenced credits and EQp1.