Rating System

LEED BD+C: New Construction, LEED BD+C: New Construction, LEED BD+C: Schools, LEED BD+C: Schools, LEED BD+C: Core and Shell

Rating System Version

v2 - LEED 2.2, v3 - LEED 2009, v2 - Schools 2007, v3 - LEED 2009, v3 - LEED 2009

Inquiry

The project is a metal recycling facility primarily used for shredding and separating metal to be recycled. The building is a very process intensive facility containing many large motors - the largest of which is 4,000 HP. ASHRAE Standard 90.1, Appendix G - Table G3.1, section 12 states that for the baseline: "Other systems, such as motors covered by Section 10, and miscellaneous loads shall be modeled as identical to those in the proposed design. Where there are specific efficiency requirements in Section 10, these systems or components shall be modeled as having the lowest efficiency allowed by those requirements." Because such a large portion of the facilities energy consumption will result from the large motors (greater than the 200 HP upper limit of Section 10) it will be difficult to obtain any appreciable improvement over the baseline performance if the baseline large motors (> 200 HP) are to be modeled with the same efficiencies as the proposed design. For these motors that exceed the 200 HP, would it be acceptable to use the minimum efficiencies for 200 HP motors as outlined in Section 10 for the baseline building performance? Or is there another way that we can take credit for using high efficiency motors? Additionally, the project is planning on incorporating many other sustainable features into the project that will allow for us to achieve a Silver, and possibly a Gold rating. However, if 2 points must be achieved from EA credit 1 in order to be certified, then it does not look like we can become certified despite all of the other LEED points we could achieve. Do we need to receive a minimum of 2 points under this credit to be eligible to certify the project under LEED NC version 2.2?