Rating System

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

Rating System Version

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

Inquiry

This proposal requests confirmation and approval of an alternate walk-off mat compliance method. We request 1) confirmation if an access point into a hotel accommodation serving 12 people or less constitutes a "high traffic exterior access point," would require a walk-off mat; and, 2) if walk-off mats are required in the "low traffic access areas," we request approval of walk-off mats that are less than 6 feet long in the direction of travel due to the constraint of existing historic building porch depths and building footprints. The project is complying with the all three requirements under this credit: all areas where hazardous chemicals may be present are being exhausted at a rate of at least 0.50 cfm/SF and all of the rooms have hard lid ceilings; MERV 13 filters are installed on all mechanically ventilated systems; and, walk-off mats are being employed in all primary entryways to all regularly occupied buildings. The project is a multiple buildings submission and includes rehabilitation of 21 historic buildings being adaptively reused as a hotel and conference center, and construction of 14 new buildings on existing non-historic building footprints. Four of the 21 historic buildings and one of the new buildings are major publicly used buildings used for lobby/registration, offices, conference rooms, a commercial kitchen, a bar/restaurant, banquet facilities, and day spa facilities. The main entrance of each historic building is located at the building\'s front porch. These porches are deep enough to accommodate 6\' long walk-off mats and will employ a 6\' long mat. These are considered "high traffic areas." Thirteen of the 21 historic buildings that were originally officer\'s housing are being converted to guest lodging. The main entrance of each building is located at the building\'s front porch. The porches are less than 6\'-0" deep and can accommodate a mat that is 3\'-6" to 4\'-0" deep without creating a trip hazard. Some lodging buildings have 1 to 2 units (so a total occupant load of 2 to 4 people), and others will accommodate between 8 and 12 occupants from a single point of entry. Thirteen of the 14 new buildings were constructed to accommodate additional lodging units. The project\'s Environmental Impact Statement limited new construction footprints to the existing footprint of the demolished non-historic housing. Each lodging unit has a separate entry and will accommodate between 1-4 people. At new lodging, the constraints of reusing pre-existing building footprints/pads limited unit entries to approx 4\' deep and as such, the LEED walk-off mat length requirements at new lodging entries can not be achieved. All mats sitewide will be maintained on a daily basis. This is an exemplary practice that goes beyond the weekly maintenance requirement of LEED. As the intent of this credit is to reduce the amount of contaminant from being tracked into the space, the use pattern of stopping to open the door with the room key is a practice that presumably removes much more contaminant than merely walking over a mat in an office setting, thus daily maintenance of a slightly shorter mat may likely be more effective than weekly maintenance of a 6\' mat. This credit requires walk-off mats at "high traffic exterior access points". Please confirm if an access point into a hotel accommodation serving 12 people or less constitutes a "high traffic exterior access point" and requires a walk-off mat. And if they are required, we request approval of the use of walk-off mats that are less than 6 feet long in the direction of travel due to the constraint of existing historic building porch depths and building footprints.