Log in
LEED v4
Healthcare
Materials and Resources
Design for flexibility

LEED CREDIT

Healthcare-v4 MRc8: Design for flexibility 1 point

LEEDuser’s viewpoint

Frank advice from LEED experts

LEED is changing all the time, and every project is unique. Even seasoned professionals can miss a critical detail and lose a credit or even a prerequisite at the last minute. Our expert advice guides our LEEDuser Premium members and saves you valuable time.

Credit language

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Increase building flexibility and ease of adaptive use over the life of the structure by employing at least three of the following strategies.

  • Use interstitial space. Design distribution zone utility systems and equipment including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, information technology, medical gases, and life safety systems to serve the occupied zones and have the capacity to control multiple zones in clinical spaces.
  • Provide programmed soft space, such as administration or storage, equal to at least 5% of departmental gross area (DGA). Locate soft space adjacent to clinical departments that anticipate growth. Determine a strategy for future accommodation of displaced soft space.
  • Provide shell space equal to at least 5% of DGA. Locate it such that it can be occupied without displacing occupied space.
  • Identify horizontal expansion capacity for diagnostic and treatment or other clinical space equal to at least 30% of existing floor area (excluding inpatient units) without demolition of occupied space (other than at the connection point). Reconfiguration of additional existing occupied space that has been constructed with demountable partition systems is permitted. Design for future vertical expansion on at least 75% of the roof, ensuring that existing operations and service systems can continue at or near capacity during the expansion.
  • Designate space for future above-grade parking structures equal to 50% of existing on-grade parking capacity, with direct access to the main hospital lobby or circulation. Vertical transportation pathways that lead directly to the main hospital lobby or circulation are acceptable.
  • Use demountable partitions for 50% of applicable areas.
  • Use movable or modular casework for at least 50% of casework and custom millwork. Base the calculation on the combined value of casework and millwork, as determined by the cost estimator or contractor.
See all forum discussions about this credit »

What does it cost?

Cost estimates for this credit

On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.

Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.

This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.

Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »

Documentation toolkit

The motherlode of cheat sheets

LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit is loaded with calculators to help assess credit compliance, tracking spreadsheets for materials, sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions, and examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects for you to check your work against. To get your plaque, start with the right toolkit.

Get the inside scoop

Our editors have written a detailed analysis of nearly every LEED credit, and LEEDuser premium members get full access. We’ll tell you whether the credit is easy to accomplish or better left alone, and we provide insider tips on how to document it successfully.

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Increase building flexibility and ease of adaptive use over the life of the structure by employing at least three of the following strategies.

  • Use interstitial space. Design distribution zone utility systems and equipment including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, information technology, medical gases, and life safety systems to serve the occupied zones and have the capacity to control multiple zones in clinical spaces.
  • Provide programmed soft space, such as administration or storage, equal to at least 5% of departmental gross area (DGA). Locate soft space adjacent to clinical departments that anticipate growth. Determine a strategy for future accommodation of displaced soft space.
  • Provide shell space equal to at least 5% of DGA. Locate it such that it can be occupied without displacing occupied space.
  • Identify horizontal expansion capacity for diagnostic and treatment or other clinical space equal to at least 30% of existing floor area (excluding inpatient units) without demolition of occupied space (other than at the connection point). Reconfiguration of additional existing occupied space that has been constructed with demountable partition systems is permitted. Design for future vertical expansion on at least 75% of the roof, ensuring that existing operations and service systems can continue at or near capacity during the expansion.
  • Designate space for future above-grade parking structures equal to 50% of existing on-grade parking capacity, with direct access to the main hospital lobby or circulation. Vertical transportation pathways that lead directly to the main hospital lobby or circulation are acceptable.
  • Use demountable partitions for 50% of applicable areas.
  • Use movable or modular casework for at least 50% of casework and custom millwork. Base the calculation on the combined value of casework and millwork, as determined by the cost estimator or contractor.
See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Subscribe to new discussions about Healthcare-v4 MRc8 View the LEED v4.1 version of this credit