Rating System

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

Rating System Version

v2 - LEED 2.0, v2 - LEED 2.2, v2 - LEED 2.2, v3 - LEED 2009, v2 - Schools 2007, v3 - LEED 2009, v2 - LEED 2.0, v3 - LEED 2009

Inquiry

For the Blanchard College Center project, we are asking the USGBC to clarify the criteria for declaring whether a building is New or Existing in relation to the available points for this credit. In the specific case of the Blanchard College Center, the project is primarily a gut renovation of an existing historical facility, to which two new additions will be added. The area of the existing facility is approximately 33,403 s.f. The area of the two additions totals approximately 13, 885 s.f. The additions therefore represent approximately 29.4% of the total building area. From a systems standpoint, approximately 95% of the existing shell will be reused, however, there will be new furring/insulation for the walls and roof, new lighting, and new mechanical systems. We are assuming that this facility qualifies as an existing building, primarily because the existing facility represents the majority of the overall square footage of the project. In addition, the efforts to preserve the form and shell of the existing building has restricted the designer opportunities to pursue more aggressive energy reduction strategies (e.g., building orientation, daylighting/ventilation strategies, high performance envelope, etc.). Please clarify that this is the correct assumption for this project.