AC occupancy VS Default Occupancy

Esteban Martinez

LEED Consultant

Green Loop

LEEDuser Basic Member

8 thumbs up

June 29, 2012

Is it mandatory to use the occupancy determined by the Air Conditioning Design (if available) instead of the Default Occupancy stablished at CS appendix 1? In our case, AC Occupancy is 4 times greater than default occupancy, therefore, it will be almost imposible to comply with bicycle racks and showers number if AC occupancy used. Thank you...

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David Posada

Integrated Design & LEED Specialist

SERA Architects

LEEDuser Expert

1361 thumbs up

Mon, 07/02/2012 - 20:01

Yes, as you noticed, code occupany - whether for fire, mechanical, electrical, or plumbing design - is often much higher than the actual or default occupany, since those code occupancy numbers are used to size equipment for peak loads or protect life safety in extreme conditions. Thankfully, LEED does not require us to use those code occupancy numbers becasue they don't usually reflect the typical building use. You can use the Default Occupancy numbers from Appendix 1, or if you have other more accurate planning & programing assumptions used for the design you can use those instead.