Credit Compliance with Un-determined Future Fit-out Space

Hi Catherine, I'm a little confused. You are an NC project but don't have any fixtures except scrub sinks? Where do your users go to the bathroom? So I'm assuming you do have a normal range fixtures not withstanding the scrub sinks. In our mixed use NC buildings that often have some groundfloor un-built out commercial space, we handle this with tenant design guidelines. If you are pursuing NC certification, you are in effect including the whole building. The whole building is getting the plaque including those un-built out spaces. So you have to specify the fixture gpm requirements that the future tenants will use in their spaces. The intent is that those requirements are then put in the tenant lease agreement. However unlike a C&S project where you would have an optional Tenant Design Guidelines credit and a required lease agreement for documentation, for NC you only will upload the tenant design guidelines document as additional backup. Please note this tenant design guidelines document should include all the credits you are pursuing for your NC project. In other words, every credit that you achieve for the building as a whole must be achieved by the future build out space also. I do not mean they have to certify their tenant improvement. What I mean is that you already will have done so by virtue of your NC certification.

Hi Catherine, Thanks, that helps. This is a confusing one. Though Healthcare may be fundamentally different, my thought is you have two choices. You are either similar to a CI project that doesn't have the fixtures in the space they are using - Case 2 in the Additional Water Guidance because you are using existing building fixtures or you are an NC project that needs to specify the flow rates for the future build-out. If your claim is Case 2, then you are exempt from WEpr1 and you explain your situation in alternate compliance. If you take the typical NC route, then I believe your letter of commitment may well work in lieu of the tenant design guidelines, but you would still have to specify the fixture flow rates. The advantage of this path would be the opportunity to earn WEcr3 points by actually having fixtures to claim. If it were me, I'd take the NC route and spec some future fixtures that match what your existing building has. Presuming they are low flow of course. Either way you have some explaining to do. SInce this is a Prereq issue, you might consider a CIR in this case to be sure which route is preferred. Good luck.

I'm not sure if Catharine's project can switch to NC because it is acute care healthcare. There is a LEED interpretation (10214) that allows NC teams to not be held to WEp1 if there are no qualifying fixtures in the project. There is also a comment on counting the fixtures outside the boundary if the team wants to claim WEc3 credits. Since the LI was done prior to LEED HC being adopted, the safest route is to call the GBCI on this and confirm.