Rating System

LEED BD+C: New Construction

Rating System Version

v2 - LEED 2.2

Inquiry

The project is a 5-story 110,000 square foot juvenile courthouse located in Atlanta, Georgia. We are seeking to obtain credit IEQ 3.2. This credit allows for two paths: a minimum two-week flush-out, or a baseline indoor air quality testing procedure consistent with the United States EPA\'s current Protocol for Environmental Requirements, Baseline IAQ and Materials, for the Research Triangle Park Campus, Section 01445. Because the project is located in a humid climate, we feel it is not in the occupant\'s best interest to perform a building flush out. We have therefore elected to conduct the baseline to meet the credit. We seek to comply with the EPA\'s baseline by testing each floor in areas not having high outside air ventilation rates, with samples collected during normal business hours while the building is operating at normal HVAC rates. We will sample outside air levels of formaldehyde and TVOC contaminants simultaneously to testing the indoor areas. The indoor test sites will be between 4\' and 7\' within each space tested. 4-Phenylcyclohexene (4-PC) is a containment almost exclusively found in carpet backing using styrene-butadienelatex rubber (SBR). We are seeking to fulfill MR Credit 4.3 (Low Emitting Carpet), and therefore the carpet specified for our project will meet or exceed the Carpet and Rug Institute\'s Green Label, which requires a maximum of .05 micrograms per cubic meter. This is well below the 3 micrograms per cubic meter allowed by the EPA\'s Protocol for Environmental Requirements. The required tests for carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, airborne mold and mildew, formaldehyde, TVOC, PM, and regulated pollutants will be performed in the required 16 locations on three days. Because the carpet installed in the project will not contain the offending SBR, we propose testing for 4-PC in five locations for three days. In our option, it is not cost conscious to perform the full testing regimen for a substance that has not been introduced into the building. Our questions is as follows: Assuming the tests find acceptable levels of all tested pollutants, would this be sufficient to meet the credit requirements?