Hello,
For our office project, we are providing permanently installed grilles,on the floor at the 2 main entrances and at the car parking floor before the elevators hall.
1-Do we need also mats for the fire / emergency staircase entrances at the car parking floor?
2-Also we have 2 roof terraces/ gardens. One opens on the wooden deck area, the other opens directly on the vegetated roof garden. Is it required to install grilles?
Thank you in advance
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Helen Kessler
PresidentHJKessler Associates
51 thumbs up
June 14, 2013 - 7:11 pm
Ebru - if the additional "entrances" are actually emergency exits and don't have a door handle on the outside, you do not need to install grilles. You may need grilles at the roof terraces/gardens if those are regularly used entrances into the building. It could depend on how they are used.
Kathryn West
LEED AP BD+C, O+M, Green Globes ProfessionalJLL
154 thumbs up
June 28, 2013 - 5:26 pm
There should really be a LEED Interpretation/Addendum addressing this. This questions comes up on MANY projects.
the unofficial word is that terraces do not need walk off mats if they are on an elevated floor and don't lead out to ground level.
If anyone wants to go in on a LEED Interpretation that better defines "regularly used" entrances I would be interested.
Erin Holdenried
Sustainable Design DirectorBell Architects
45 thumbs up
May 15, 2018 - 1:44 pm
Has there been a LEED Interpretation for elevated roof decks/terraces with no direct connection to the ground?
Deborah Lucking
Director of SustainabilityFentress Architects
LEEDuser Expert
245 thumbs up
November 16, 2018 - 5:39 pm
Still looking for some definitive direction on this question. Found nothing in LEEDv4 except that the requirement now applies to "regularly used exterior entrances" as opposed to "high traffic exterior to interior access points".
Definition on page 654 of the Reference Manual states: "Regularly used exterior entrance a frequently used means of gaining access to a building. Examples include the main building entrance as well as any building entryways attached to parking structures, underground parking garages, underground pathways, or outside spaces. Atypical entrances, emergency exits, atriums, connections between concourses, and interior spaces are not included."
Does anyone have updated information regarding entryways to/from upper level terraces?
Helene Lefkowitz
Sustainability ConsultantAmbient Energy
14 thumbs up
December 26, 2018 - 1:36 pm
I posed a similar question to GBCI for a LEEDv4 project with an outdoor terrace on a second floor. This was not a formal CIR or LI, just a question submitted to customer service. I received the following response from GBCI's technical team:
It appears that the project would likely need to provide entryway systems at the terrace entrance in order to meet the requirements of this credit.
The intent of providing entryway systems is to reduce the amount of contaminants tracked into the occupied space. Outdoor terraces, balconies and decks are directly exposed to outdoors and will therefore collect dust and contaminants. If the building entrances from such spaces will be regularly used, then these entrances must have entryway systems for credit compliance.
According to the LEED glossary (https://www.usgbc.org/glossary/39#letterr), 'regularly used exterior entrance' is defined as 'a frequently used means of gaining access to a building. Examples include the main building entrance as well as any building entryways attached to parking structures, underground parking garages, underground pathways, or outside spaces. Atypical entrances, emergency exits, atriums, connections between concourses, and interior spaces are not included.