Best Practices

Focus on “big ticket” items when seeking reused furniture of sufficient value to meet the credit requirements. Materials like workstations that meet the

Use your estimated budget as a guide throughout the project. Don’t wait until all the materials are purchased before calculating whether you had enough reused furniture to meet the requirements, only to find out that you have fallen short. 

A BAS can offer the ability to send alarms via email, pager, or telephone to alert building managers and technicians of developing problems and system failures.

BAS functions for lighting control include ensuring that lights are off after occupied hours.

The minimum capabilities for BAS equipment trending are as follows: 

• Trend resolution should be capable of accurately monitoring the status of each piece of equipment.
• Data capacity to store at least one month of trend outputs with time-stamped data. 
• Minimum systems to be trended include fan and pump status, economizer operation, heating and air-conditioning status, and terminal device status.

The BAS user interface should include the status of each sensor or controlled device.

An older BAS with pneumatic controls will meet the LEED requirements, but upgrading to direct digital controls (DDC) will provide a system that is fully integrated and responds more quickly and with more accuracy to system inputs.

The decision to expand or replace a BAS should be based on the building’s automation needs and the existing system’s ability to meet those functions. Commissioning activities conducted as a part of EAc2.1: Existing Building Commissioning—Investigation and Analysis may help to assess the existing system and inform this decision.

Keep a record of compliant furniture so that procurement staff can use this documentation to make future purchases. 

Deciding which IEQc4 credits to pursue early in design will guide you in specifying and purchasing the appropriate products. Pursuing all six credits is a great way to create a robust