Rating System

LEED BD+C: Schools

Rating System Version

v2 - Schools 2007

Inquiry

Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) requested the design team locate one single toilet room in each of the classrooms for their new Kindergarten through Eighth grade school. This is intended to eliminate potential vandalism and the noise associated with gathering in group toilets. Additionally, the single toilet rooms allow better supervision of the students and are designed for their safety and to minimize disruption in the classroom. In the Kindergarten through Third grade classrooms on the first floor, there is a direct access into the toilet room and it will be unisex. In the Fourth through Eighth grade classrooms on the second floor, there will be a vestibule for entrance into the female and male toilet rooms. The single toilet rooms located in the classrooms are private spaces and are not intended for common or public use. They are to only be used by the occupants in the respective classroom. The single toilet rooms are placed along the corridor wall, in the corner of each room to minimize sharing of multiple walls with the classrooms. One wall shares 8" CMU wall assembly with the corridor (STC rating of 48) on both floors while another shares a double wall with another toilet room on the first floor and on the second floor, the other wall is adjacent with the vestibule room. The other two toilet room walls will have a direct adjacency to the classrooms and have an STC rating of 50. These walls have limited penetrations to help minimize sound transmission. The insulated steel door leading into the single toilet rooms and at the vestibules meets the requirements of ANSI A250.8 for level and ANSI A250.4 for physical-endurance. The Ceco Door Product specified is a 1-3/4" Medallion (MS) full flush door with fiberglass insulation to help limit sound transmission. The door assembly itself provides an STC rating of 41. As single occupant toilets, noise created within the toilets will be limited to that which only one individual from the classroom space can make. Mechanical exhaust from the toilets is also minimal, with only 50 cfm requirement, in lieu of the larger exhaust requirement from group toilets. The dual flush toilets will further help to reduce sound. ANSI S12.60-2002, Table 2, indicates the minimum STC ratings required between classrooms and adjacent spaces. ANSI refers to "common use and public use toilet room and bathing room" and that the required assemblies have a rating of 53. DCPS and the design team respectfully request that the individual toilet rooms in this project be considered private, not common or public use, and that the 50 STC rating be considered acceptable for this use as the restrooms are not for public use but for the private use of the occupants in the classroom.