Credit achievement rate
XX%
Upgrade to LEEDuser Premium to see how many projects achieved this credit. Try it free »
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
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
Provide individual lighting controls for 90% (minimum) of the building occupants to enable adjustments to suit individual task needs and preferences.
Provide lighting system controls for all shared multi-occupant spaces to enable adjustments that meet group needs and preferences.
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 »Frequently asked questions
How much controllability do I need for my multi-occupant space?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
I included occupancy sensors to meet the controls requirement but my LEED reviewer indicated that they weren’t sufficient. Why is this?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
In order to help meet IEQc6.1 for my individual occupants I am including task lighting. Does my task lighting need to be hard wired?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
Addenda
Our building has stacking glass walls on the south face of all floors. East walls of the first floor retail spaces have the same type of openings. The areas of these openings range from 90 sf to 400 sf when are they completely open. Where installed, these openings make up at least 75% of the entire wall area. We would like an equivalency for counting those areas toward the operable window requirement of IEQc6.1. We propose that the area of a standard window is 6 square feet. We request an allowance to account for 1 window for every 8 square feet of stacking glass. For example, a 90 sf stacking glass wall would equal 11.25 operable windows. Please confirm that this calculation method is acceptable.
The applicant is requesting an equivalency calculation between wall openings and operable windows. It is not clear from the description what types of openings are included in the "stacking glass walls". Typical retail spaces only have doors that may be held open when the climate is conducive to do so. If the only openings in the wall are primarily for entry and exit, the requested equivalency cannot be accepted. An operable window has a primary function to provide a user controllable and adjustable opening to maintain user required conditions in the space. A door does not have that type of primary function and does not qualify for the credit. Applicable Internationally.
The project team is providing individual floor air valves each with variable duration (open / close) primary air dampers and multi-position diffusers for occupant comfort conditioning as part of an under floor air distribution system. Individual floor air valves will be provided for a minimum of 50% of the building occupants. The variable duration (open/close) primary air dampers in the floor air valves will be controlled using thermostats. Multiple air valves will be connected to one thermostat, such that there will not be one thermostat for 50% of the occupants. However, all of the local floor air valves include multi-position adjustable floor diffusers which are integral to each floor air valve. At a minimum, 50% of the occupants will have control over the primary air flow direction out of the local floor air valve in their space (comfort zone) by adjusting the multi-position local floor diffuser air outlet. Changing the direction of the air flow inherently changes the speed of the airflow in a given direction. LEED NC v.2.2, First Edition, Reference Guide, p361, indicates: Conditions for Thermal Comfort per ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 include the following as primary factors: air temperature, radiant temperature, air speed, and humidity. The Reference guide also states that, "Comfort System control, for the purposes of this credit, is defined as the provision of control over at least one of these primary factors in the occupant\'s local environment" and that "Individual adjustments may involve individual thermostat controls, local diffusers at floor, desk or overhead levels, or control of individual radiant panels, and energy system design." This CIR is to confirm that providing air valves, with multi position diffusers, that allow more than 50% of the occupants to change the direction of airflow out of their floor diffuser (which changes the speed in that direction) will satisfy the LEED credit requirement for thermal comfort.
The applicant is asking whether multi position diffusers that allow changes in direction of airflow satisfy the requirements for individual comfort control for EQc6.2. The applicant is suggesting that changing the direction of airflow inherently changes the speed of the airflow in a given direction, meeting credit compliance by providing control of air speed. Simply changing the direction of airflow in one\'s workspace does not adequately meet the credit intent to provide individual comfort controls. Individual diffusers must have the ability to regulate the speed of the air leaving the diffuser, not simply the direction of airflow. Applicable Internationally.
Checklists
Step by step to LEED certification
LEEDuser’s checklists walk you through the key action steps you need to earn a credit, including how to avoid common pitfalls and save money.
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.
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
Provide individual lighting controls for 90% (minimum) of the building occupants to enable adjustments to suit individual task needs and preferences.
Provide lighting system controls for all shared multi-occupant spaces to enable adjustments that meet group needs and preferences.
XX%
Upgrade to LEEDuser Premium to see how many projects achieved this credit. Try it free »
Got the gist of IEQc6.1 but not sure how to actually achieve it? LEEDuser gives step-by-step help. Premium members get:
- Checklists covering all the key action steps you'll need to earn the credit.
- Hot tips to give you shortcuts and avoid pitfalls.
- Cost tips to assess what a credit will actually cost, and how to make it affordable.
- Ideas for going beyond LEED with best practices.
- All checklists organized by project phase.
- On-the-fly suggestions of useful items from the Documentation Toolkit and Credit Language.
In the end, LEED is all about documentation. LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit, for premium members only, saves you time and helps you avoid mistakes with:
- Calculators to help assess credit compliance.
- Tracking spreadsheets for materials purchases.
- Spreadsheets and forms to give to subs and other team members.
- Guidance documents on arcane LEED issues.
- Sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions.
- Examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects.
How much controllability do I need for my multi-occupant space?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
I included occupancy sensors to meet the controls requirement but my LEED reviewer indicated that they weren’t sufficient. Why is this?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
In order to help meet IEQc6.1 for my individual occupants I am including task lighting. Does my task lighting need to be hard wired?The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
Our building has stacking glass walls on the south face of all floors. East walls of the first floor retail spaces have the same type of openings. The areas of these openings range from 90 sf to 400 sf when are they completely open. Where installed, these openings make up at least 75% of the entire wall area. We would like an equivalency for counting those areas toward the operable window requirement of IEQc6.1. We propose that the area of a standard window is 6 square feet. We request an allowance to account for 1 window for every 8 square feet of stacking glass. For example, a 90 sf stacking glass wall would equal 11.25 operable windows. Please confirm that this calculation method is acceptable.
The applicant is requesting an equivalency calculation between wall openings and operable windows. It is not clear from the description what types of openings are included in the "stacking glass walls". Typical retail spaces only have doors that may be held open when the climate is conducive to do so. If the only openings in the wall are primarily for entry and exit, the requested equivalency cannot be accepted. An operable window has a primary function to provide a user controllable and adjustable opening to maintain user required conditions in the space. A door does not have that type of primary function and does not qualify for the credit. Applicable Internationally.
The project team is providing individual floor air valves each with variable duration (open / close) primary air dampers and multi-position diffusers for occupant comfort conditioning as part of an under floor air distribution system. Individual floor air valves will be provided for a minimum of 50% of the building occupants. The variable duration (open/close) primary air dampers in the floor air valves will be controlled using thermostats. Multiple air valves will be connected to one thermostat, such that there will not be one thermostat for 50% of the occupants. However, all of the local floor air valves include multi-position adjustable floor diffusers which are integral to each floor air valve. At a minimum, 50% of the occupants will have control over the primary air flow direction out of the local floor air valve in their space (comfort zone) by adjusting the multi-position local floor diffuser air outlet. Changing the direction of the air flow inherently changes the speed of the airflow in a given direction. LEED NC v.2.2, First Edition, Reference Guide, p361, indicates: Conditions for Thermal Comfort per ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 include the following as primary factors: air temperature, radiant temperature, air speed, and humidity. The Reference guide also states that, "Comfort System control, for the purposes of this credit, is defined as the provision of control over at least one of these primary factors in the occupant\'s local environment" and that "Individual adjustments may involve individual thermostat controls, local diffusers at floor, desk or overhead levels, or control of individual radiant panels, and energy system design." This CIR is to confirm that providing air valves, with multi position diffusers, that allow more than 50% of the occupants to change the direction of airflow out of their floor diffuser (which changes the speed in that direction) will satisfy the LEED credit requirement for thermal comfort.
The applicant is asking whether multi position diffusers that allow changes in direction of airflow satisfy the requirements for individual comfort control for EQc6.2. The applicant is suggesting that changing the direction of airflow inherently changes the speed of the airflow in a given direction, meeting credit compliance by providing control of air speed. Simply changing the direction of airflow in one\'s workspace does not adequately meet the credit intent to provide individual comfort controls. Individual diffusers must have the ability to regulate the speed of the air leaving the diffuser, not simply the direction of airflow. Applicable Internationally.