Dear Sirs,

We have a mall seeking LEED C&S 2009. Most of the spaces will be tenanted. The owner will be installing the main HVAC system (Chillers & Boilers), whereas the tenants will fit out their HVAC system later.

I am trying to assess the difficulty in achieving this credit. The mall will contain retail shops, restaurants, and movie theaters (all are tenanted). The C&S areas fitted by the owner are basically the underground parking levels and the mall circulation areas (mall concourse).

My queries below:

1) Generally speaking, is it too difficult to achieve this credit?

2) The mall concourse circulation is occupied by transient occupants. It would not make sense to provide these transients with thermal comfort controls. However, the circulation area has a thermostat which is controlled by the Mall's facility managers if need be. Is this sufficient for complying with this credit?

3) Restaurants & Retail shops will have FTE employees and transient visitors. Is it sufficient to have 1 thermostat control for each restaurant / retail, and this thermostat operated by the shop's employees (not transients)? If a retail shop has 3 employees, it doesn't make sense to provide 3 controls, as the employees will be constantly moving in the shop (unlike a shared office space whereby each person works on 1 fixed desk).

Thanks!