Rating System

LEED BD+C: New Construction

Rating System Version

v2 - LEED 2.2

Inquiry

We have registered a large, multiple-building project for certification as a single project - e.g. one certification for the collection of buildings. The Project is located on a portion of a Military Post.\nRather than a campus of different, equal buildings, this project has a series of buildings serving different functions. This concept is in place for several reasons, including functionality, security and project phasing.. No single building could function independently, without the other buildings. The buildings are the following:\n1. Main Office Building (2.2 million sf)\n2. Visitor Control Center (3,800 sf): Allows controlled access for visitors, in to and out of the complex.\n3. Technology Center: A data center that serves the Main Office Building.\n4. Central Utility Plant: This Plant does not serve any buildings outside of our project.\n5. Parking Garage: Serves the employees.\n6. Remote Inspection Facility (3,500 sf): A building for inspection of trucks and deliveries prior to access to the project. Houses inspection, storage, office and communications.\n\nThe buildings/functions are spaced-out based on Anti-Terrorism/ Force Protection as well as other security requirements. To mitigate impact from potential threats, the Remote Inspection Facility (RIF) is required to be set back a specific distance from the nearest inhabited building for this project. In addition, it has to align with the Military Post masterplan which includes areas beyond the proposed Project Site. In order for the RIF to comply with the applicable criteria, it was sited along an access road away from the main functions of this project. By doing so, a space is created between the RIF and the main functions of this project. This space is not arbitrary, and is not under the control of the design team, who must comply with the Military Post\'s Master Plan requirements.\n\nThe proposed Project Site for this project includes 151 acres, of which 5 acres is associated with the RIF.\n\nWe reviewed the following administrative CIR ruling of 3/30/2005 regarding a LEED Project Boundary on a campus that excludes areas out of the scope of the project team:,\n\n"It is permissible to set the LEED project boundary to exclude portions of the site as is reasonable in complicated scenarios, such as in your case, providing that the same boundary and scope are used for all credits."\n\nWhile this ruling does not address the exact situation we are dealing with, we believe it is generally applicable to our project - we have specific programmatic reasons for the designation.\n\nWe believe that our proposed Site Boundary meets the intent of LEED for the following reasons:\n\n1. Each of the buildings is inter-related, and one can not operate without the others.\n2. The infrastructure (roadway) connecting the RIF and the main functions of the site is part of an infrastructure project that we are not involved in and do not have control over.\n3. We have designated this area and we are going to apply this designation consistently to all credits.\n\nWe have found no ruling or written guideline stating that multiple building site boundaries must be contiguous. Based on all of the data we have gathered and the specifics of this project, we are confident that our approach of having a non-contiguous Site Boundary is appropriate and meets the requirement in the AGMBC for a "reasonable and logical" site definition.\n