I have a project at hand with a high LEED ambition. They have the opportunity to connect to a future district cooling system (high efficiency). Both the building (hospital) and the district cooling designs are in the conceptual stages. It happens that the district cooling system has a longer planning so that the hospital needs to have an intermediate solution for the cooling untill the connection can be made. Does anyone know how LEED deals with temporary solutions? Can we take credit for the future system in for example the energy reduction credits or do we have to assess the situation at hand-over?
The complex thing is that the hospital is a key customer for the district cooling system because of the large cooling load. If they decide not to connect, the district cooling will not be realized. On the other hand the hospital is in doubt because of this LEED issue. I'd like to clear things up so that both can continue.
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5907 thumbs up
March 31, 2015 - 10:42 am
How long is temporary?
You can sometimes stake credit for future activity (Core and Shell projects can claim savings related to future activities). The district cooling plant would have to have design completed and some sort of assurance that it will be built. Then your project owners would need to commit to hooking up.
You can always wait until the district cooling system is up and running to submit your LEED documentation.
If you do proceed I would suggest that you file a LEED Interpretation to make sure there will not be issues later on. The Interpretation should not just ask a question but should suggest a methodology and seek approval for it.
Jeroen Sap
LEED AP BD+CDeerns Nederland B.V.
3 thumbs up
April 1, 2015 - 4:21 am
Thanks Marcus for your quick response. I agree that these are the only two options. Do you know if there is a maximum period after occupancy for submitting LEED documentation? I read somewhere that you can submit untill 10 years after launch date of the rating system but I am wondering if this is still valid when the building is already in use.
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5907 thumbs up
April 1, 2015 - 7:32 pm
A rating system version is available for use up to 6 years after it closes. For example LEED v2,2 projects must submit for certification by June 27, 2015 or upgrade to LEED 2009.