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Do bike racks have to be within the LEED project boundary?

My project type serves visitors who can reasonably be expected to not be using bikes, e.g. hotel, airport, assisted living facility. Can I exclude them from bike rack requirements?

Is a general storage room that is accessible to residents acceptable for covered bike storage?

Do I round up or down? What if the calculations show that I need 0.5 showers?

Our building is mostly residential. Must we provide showers and changing rooms for the nonresidential portion?

Does LEED have any requirements on spacing or the type of bike racks used? What about security?

Are there specific requirements for the changing rooms, such as size?

Based on my FTE calculations, I am only required to provide 1 shower to meet this requirement. Since both males and females will have access to this one shower, and it will be in a single room, does this satisfy the credit requirements? Can I use an exist

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NC-2009 SSc4.2:Alternative Transportation—Bicycle Storage and Changing Rooms

Electric bicycles in Asia

We are starting to get projects in Asia and have learned that they use both standard (human operated) bicycles and also something we don't have in the US: electric bicycles. These are not motorcycles, but really do look like bicycles just with a small electric motor. These are used to travel distances that would be a little far to get to by peddling, but are used in lieu of automobiles. My question is this: could these be considered to be bicycles for the purposes of SSc4.2 since they technically are bicycles, and since they are an alternative means of transportation reducing fossil fuel use (carbon emissions), or would this not meet the true intent of this particular credit? Thank you.

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Profile picture for user tristanroberts
Tristan Roberts
Representative
Vermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
7780 thumbs up

Mon, 01/31/2011 - 19:13

Kris, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the type of bicycle used by the building occupants has a bearing on SSc4.2. It's the responsibility of the building to provide bike racks and changing facilities.

Mon, 01/31/2011 - 19:18

Tristan, good point. However, we were nervous that if the drawings call out "eletric bicycle storage" - which they do - that the GBCI reviewers might balk at that and deny us the point for somehow missing the "intent" of the credit. We prefer to stick with full disclosure in our submittals, but perhaps in this case it doesn't matter since as you stated, the owner need only provide the bicycle storage. Thank you! Much obliged.
Profile picture for user tristanroberts
Tristan Roberts
Representative
Vermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
7780 thumbs up

Mon, 01/31/2011 - 19:25

I would think that as long as the bicycle storage is also suitable for human-powered bicycles, and there is adequate space for everyone, then you should be fine. My only question is whether bicycle use is so prevalent that you should provide more than the minimum LEED requirement to provide enough space for everyone. Something to consider.

Mon, 01/31/2011 - 19:32

You raise another valid point. And in this case, we have a total of 192 secure bicycle spaces - or 195% FTE + Peak!! (yes, that number is one hundred and ninety five percent) Obviously an unprecedented number and not realistic for the typical US project. For Asia projects, it seems they provide these regardless of the LEED point which makes it an easy point (one of the few). Thanks again.

Tue, 02/22/2011 - 04:21

I'd like to pose another question re: projects in Asia. Has anyone submitted for this credit where the owner uses security guards and a ticketing system--what used to be the parking opportunity in the US--instead of bike racks? Our projects are large--typically 2,000 to 8,000 persons parking at any one time--bike racks are never used, nor would the owner agree to the expense since there is a full-time security guard--obviating the need for people to buy locks. This system works and its trusted. The guard house is shown clearly on the plan. Do you think we'd need some kind of further evidence, and if so, what? thanks for any feedback
Profile picture for user tristanroberts
Tristan Roberts
Representative
Vermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
7780 thumbs up

Thu, 02/24/2011 - 00:36

Where are the bikes parked or stored? Are there racks for them or space you can show on the plan? In terms of security I think that would work.

Thu, 02/24/2011 - 15:16

Thanks Tristan, In one project the bikes are under cover; plans show a parking area for bicycles and another for scooters in a dedicated shed. In another project only office workers have covered parking; factory worker's bikes (and scooters) are open-air, though the bicycle parking area has been moved to be convenient to both the exit and to the main factory worker's entrance, within LEED-prescribed distances--the various parking zones, for bicycles, electric bikes, scooters and cars, are all shown on the plans. I've been counting electric bikes as bicycles but requiring sockets in the parking areas to encourage more people to use them, so it actually makes sense to zone everything as far as the owner is concerned too. We'll probably use signage or signage & colour both to demarcate the areas.

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