I'm trying to figure out how to document compliance with WEp1 and WEc3. I'm dealing with a situation where all indoor water use is part of the tenant build-out. There are no public restrooms in the building, and all fixtures in lavatories are within tenant space and specified by the tenants. Has anyone else encountered a situation where all indoor water falls outside of the owner scope?
I looked through CIRs, but couldn't find any similar situations. I'm trying to figure out whether this is a situation where you may claim the LEED points because you have no usage, or whether having no indoor water usage prevents our project from meeting this prerequisite. Adding a public restroom to the design purely to suffice this prerequisite and credit seems to violate the intent of the LEED system, by consuming more building materials unnecessarily.
I'd appreciate any insight anyone has on this topic. Thanks so much.
Curt Pascoe
P.E., LEED AP BD+CRyan Companies US, Inc.
123 thumbs up
March 23, 2012 - 10:16 am
You would have to provide a Tenant Lease or Sales Agreement per CS Appendix 4 in the Reference Guide. I am going through this same issue; it is not clear if the Lease must be signed or if the owner can sign a certification letter when there is not a tenant yet. LEED Interpretation #10102 has additional guidelines, though it is conflicting whether it applies to CS or not. Note that according to this Interpretation, the Lease Agreement can meet WEp1 but you cannot gain any points for WEc3. Perhaps someone else can clarify on some of these questions?
Additionally, if your CS scope is too limited, you could consider a CS Precertification in lieu of the full process.
Mary Frances Stotler
The Dennis Group17 thumbs up
March 23, 2012 - 11:12 am
Appendix 4 in the reference guide states that when documenting compliance with Case A credits (WEp1, WEc3), project teams should treat anticipated tenant work as neutral. I am in a situation then, where all indoor water use is neutral, since all indoor water use is within tenant fit-out space.
The tenant lease agreement is an option for CS, but not mandatory. However, in this case, would a tenant lease agreement need to be a requirement to comply with WEp1?
I agree, Curt, I think we still need more clarification on this subject.
Curt Pascoe
P.E., LEED AP BD+CRyan Companies US, Inc.
123 thumbs up
March 23, 2012 - 12:23 pm
In your case, you would need to provide a Tenant Agreement to meet WEp1, since you are installing no fixtures and must prove a 20% reduction from baseline somehow. Others may not need the Agreement. For example, if your core scope installed most (but not all) fixtures, and you could meet 20% savings treating future fixtures as neutral, then the Agreement would not be needed.