Rating System

LEED BD+C: New Construction, LEED BD+C: New Construction

Rating System Version

v2 - LEED 2.0, v2 - LEED 2.2

Inquiry

We are submitting this credit interpretation for an Elementary School currently under construction. Our construction team has developed both a detailed Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan (for Credit 3.1) and a 2-week Building Flushout Protocol (for credit 3.2), but as we begin to implement the Plan, the primary contractors have requested a number of clarifications to ensure that the Plan is executed in strict accordance with LEED requirements: 1. Credit 3.1 requires that all filtration media be replaced immediately prior to occupancy, and Credit 3.2 requires that all filtration media be replaced immediately prior to the flushout. Shall we interpret this to mean that all filtration media in the facility needs to be replaced both before AND after the 2-week flushout in order to capture both points? Or is there an optimal time to replace filters only once in relation to the flushout and building occupancy? 2. Our building is comprised of several wings, which can be separated from each other physically and whose mechanical systems can be run independently. Is it acceptable to flush out sections of the building as they are completed, rather than waiting until the very end to flush out the entire building (this will be important because the administrative areas will need to be used before the classroom wings, and we have scheduled construction such that that area will be completed and ready for flushout several weeks earlier)? 3. Because our facility is a school, and must open on a certain non-negotiable date, our construction team would like to allow certain, non polluting, activities to occur during the 2-week flushout period (examples include: finishing the building commissioning, completing minor punch-list items, and allowing teachers to move belongings into their rooms but not regularly occupy those spaces). Are these and similar activities permissible during the flushout period? Are there any strictly forbidden activities that we need to expressly prohibit during the flushout period?