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

Our project is a Graduate University located in Saudi Arabia dedicated to the research of alternative fuels and renewable energy. The entire campus will be New Construction and will consist of research labs, lab support areas, administration buildings, a library, a commons building, food service, an auditorium, conference rooms, lecture halls, offices and public areas. The project is seeking interpretation for the MERV 13 filtration media requirement in regularly occupied spaces. Some spaces will be utilizing Active Chilled Beams as an Energy Conservation Strategy. The Air Handling Units supplying the space with the active chilled beams contain MERV 13 or 14 filtration media. The Active Chilled Beams induce room air in these spaces and provide highly efficient cooling for the space. This active chilled beam induced room air is not filtered by MERV 13 media because MERV 13 media is not available for the active chilled beam apparatus. To reference a CIR ruling dated 8/13/07, "Since the fan coil units re-circulate room air, they must have MERV 13 filters, which are available on the market." The MERV 13 filters for the active chilled beams are not available on the market. The design team would like an exemption for this requirement because the MERV 13 filters for the active chilled beams are currently not available on the market. The design team feels that the implementation of energy saving active chilled beams, despite the lack of availability of MERV 13 filters, is imperative to help achieve the overall energy reduction goals of the project. The project design will meet both of the other requirements of this Credit and believes that the design should be exempt from the filtration requirements.