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LEED Rating System Selection

Definition of Major renovation?

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Adrienn Gelesz
LEED AP
ABUD Engineering Ltd.
LEEDuser Basic Member
34 thumbs up

There is an existing multitenant office building that is undergoing some renovation. The building will be in a shell and core state after renovation, e.g. no new floors,ceilings or seperating walls will be added; however, the demolition of the floor coverings will partly be done. The following works are being done: replacement and improvement of central boilers and AHU's; replacement and improvement of fan-coils and air ducts in every office area (landscaped offices); new lifts; major architectural renovation in lobby and lift vestibules. However, there will be minimal renovation in the building skin; the roof is not being touched and there will only be replacement of one door on the building skin. The chillers will not be replaced but the electrical system and BMS will be undergoing some improvement. Based on your experiance, can this go for LEED Core and Shell? What is the process of getting this GBCI approved? writing a CIR is not an option as the building is not yet registered and will not be registered until it is anticipated to fit in the system. Thanks, Adrienn

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Ben Tucker
President / LEED AP+
Chapman Construction/Design
LEEDuser Basic Member
14 thumbs up

Wed, 09/12/2012 - 12:18

Adrienn - We have successfully certified a Core & Shell project similar to the one you describe. The project was a repositioning of an existing office building. The scope included renovation of all common area spaces, bathrooms, new AHUs & BAS, and a small PV array, but no envelope work. Part of the reason this worked was that the building was not that old (originally constructed in 1986) and the existing envelope performance was good enough - when combined with the mechanical, lighting, controls and renewable energy improvements - to satisfy the EA Minimum Energy Performace prerequisite. If the existing envelope performance is poor, you may find it challenging to meet this prerequisite. On another project done several years back (V2.2) the envelope was worse and we could not achieve the prerequisite requirements without replacing the windows and adding insulation. The other consideration is that the points available in LEED 2009 are heavily weighted in the Energy & Atmosphere section. With inferior envelope performance you may meet the prerequisite but will likely not be able to achieve many (if any) points in EAc1: Optimize Energy Performance. This will necessitate relying heavily on other sections of LEED to achieve enough credits for the desired level of certification. An energy model will help determine where your project's performance is likely to end up on both these issues.
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Adrienn Gelesz
LEED AP
ABUD Engineering Ltd.
LEEDuser Basic Member
34 thumbs up

Wed, 09/12/2012 - 12:25

Many thanks, Ben.Your comment was really helpful. As you wrote the EAp2 is a big concern of ours, but similar to your situation the building is not that old (1994). An energy modelling will be conducted in case it comes clear that there is a possibility to try CS. We are trying to determine whether it makes sense to invest in a modelling or we will be excluded from CS because of non-eligibility.

Fri, 09/21/2012 - 20:10

Adrienn, Realistically, you will not be able to tell if the project can qualify until you run an energy model and assess compliance with the minimum energy requirements.

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