Comments on Stair Distance Requirements

I read this credit requirement a little differently so I think there may need to be some ambiguity cleared up. I assumed a staircase located anywhere inside the lobby meets the requirement for locating “A main staircase…within 25 foot walking distance from any edge of the lobby”, and in cases where the visible staircase is located outside of a large lobby, I assumed that it was any one edge and not every edge. This credit requirement would be very difficult for buildings with large lobby's using the every edge interpretation.

I agree Jeremy on this. The 25' requirement caused our project to not be eligible for this criteria. The main stair is directly across from the lobby (30')and is very visible. The elevators are located on opposite ends of the lobby (120' away), and cannot be seen at all from the lobby. The language about being 25' from every edge of the lobby makes it very difficult to achieve. Perhaps language can change to max distance 2x the distance of the elevator location or something that is more scalable to larger projects?

We also have a large lobby where 25' from every edge is impossible. I agree that the language is vague, and we aren't clear if "any" edge means every or just any (one) minimum of all possible edges. It would be very helpful to have some clarification from USGBC. Has anyone received feedback?

I believe Nicholas has the right interpretation here - 'any edge of the lobby' should mean any of the edges, and not all of them, but I defer to USGBC for the final verdict..
Garrett - if this is really the only thing standing in the way of your project getting the credit I would encourage you to submit based on this interpretation.

Perhaps the credit language has changed over time, but I am reading "Locate a main staircase to be visible from main building lobby and within 25 feet walking distance from any edge of the lobby." I have interpretted this to mean the stair can be within the lobby, too, but it not within it, the stair must be no more than 25 feet from any lobby boundary (just one boundary, not all). I agree with everyone that this path requires further clarification.

While my projects complies with the 25' requirements proximity between stairs to entry, it does seems arbitrary. It seems the intent is to promote exercise so why not allow longer distances?

I agree that the 25 foot walking distance does not make much sense, especially within the context of a larger building. In my project the central staircase is highly visible and serves as the primary mode of vertical circulation, but the distance requirement is not met from any building entrance or lobby.