Rating System

LEED BD+C: New Construction

Rating System Version

v2 - LEED 2.2

Inquiry

A CIR ruling from 1/18/2005 (EQc5) stated that " [i]f there is a janitorial / housekeeping room in the building then it must meet the criteria for this credit by providing the ventilation requirements and deck-to-deck partitions," even if the building adhered to a green housekeeping policy that required only GreenSeal-compliant cleaning materials to be used in the building. In contrast, a CIR ruling from 6/24/2003 (also EQc5), stated that "The green housekeeping program is commendable but not directly applicable to credit achievement. However, because of this program, there does not appear to be chemical use in this building that would require a separate drainage system, and thus such a system will not be required." Logical consistency dictates that if no drainage system is required, then no ventilation and partition requirement would be required either. We presume that simply calling the room where green housekeeping chemicals are stored a \'janitorial closet\' couldn\'t trigger the requirements -- we could simply rename the room and then our facts would be the same as the school in the 6/24/2003 ruling. Please clarify whether the 1/18/2005 ruling intended to overrule the 6/24/2003 ruling, or alternatively, please explain what would appear to be a logical inconsistency (no drains are required but ventilation and partitions are required?), or please revise the 1/18/2005 ruling to confirm that if we are using a green housekeeping policy (all GreenSeal-compliant), that this eliminates the requirement for ventilation/partitions/drainage to meet the credit intent. Also please respond to the question in the 1/18/2005 CIR whether, absent a requirement for partitions/ventilation/drains, the credit could be achieved simply with walkoff mats and entryway systems.