Rating System

LEED BD+C: New Construction

Rating System Version

v2 - LEED 2.2

Inquiry

The project is a 3-story, 18,000 SF, mixed use building that is one-third office space and two-thirds retail space, located in The Woodlands, Texas. Despite the mixed use of the building, is it acceptable, under Option 2 - Prescriptive Compliance Path, to classify this building as an office occupancy, and achieve 4 points through compliance with the prescriptive measures of the AHSRAE Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Office Buildings 2004? Please note that ASHRAE has developed an Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Retail Buildings 2006. Due to the fact that the project will not have a heated slab, the requirements listed for Climate Zone 2 in the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Office Buildings 2004 are more restrictive than the aforementioned Design Guide for Small Retail Buildings. Therefore, if the building is allowed to be classified as a small office building as stated above, the retail component of the mixed-use building would be constructed to a more stringent and energy efficient standard.