Rating System

LEED BD+C: New Construction

Rating System Version

v2 - LEED 2.0

Inquiry

We registered The Navy League Building (LEED Project #108) in April 2001. Since the LEED program is new, both owners and designers have not yet become completely comfortable with it and therefore our project planning and schematic design took place for nearly a year before we registered. We needed that time to verify that we could achieve the points we desired and to allow the owner to decide that it was worthwhile both practically and economically to construct a LEED Silver Rated Building. We are the first project to work with the Arlington County Green Building Density Bonus Program and have agreed to earn 37 points based on our initial studies. The building design was based on the Version 2.0 Reference Guide dated August 2000. The June 2001 reissue of the Reference Guide was made available online to purchasers of the August 2000 version in November 2001. The Sustainable Sites Credit 4.2 Alternative Transportation, Bicycle Friendliness, clarified that the shower requirements are 1 shower for every 8 bicyclists. With a conservative analysis of our occupant load that requires 15 showers. Our initial planning included 6 showers. The August 2000 Reference Guide offers no manner in which to calculate required showers and only states: "Include calculations demonstrating that these facilities accommodate 5% or more of building occupants." The International Plumbing Code provides no requirements for showers in relation to office occupancies. The design team decided that three showers for each of the locker rooms was significant considering the number of bicyclists, the percentage of those bicyclists that were office occupants (more likely travel further and desire a shower) rather than retail occupants, the fact that the majority of commuting bicyclists do not shower, and that the arrival times of the bicyclists would be staggered over a two and a half hour period (7:30am to 10:00 am) in the morning. The additional 9 showers would cause not only planning and design problems but also increase the initial building cost. We are requesting a variance in the granting of Sustainable Sites Credit 4.2 due to the fact that we registered our project, made these important design and cost decisions, and entered into a legal agreement with Arlington County based on these decisions before the June 2001 Reference Guide was provided to us.