We would appreciate some clarity regarding the calculation of FTE. We recently submitted for a v2009 O+M project which is a factory with a Ten Hour Shift and a 6 days a week working. We submitted calculations for FTE using the 10 hours per day divided by 8 as per the formula given for FTE calculation in the BD+C guide. We checked in O+M guide, it is the same. We received a query asking us to revise our calculations for considering a 60 hour work week. As per our calculation our 750 occupants became 750 X 10 /8= 938. Now as per reviewer, 750 X 60/40 = 1125.
The only part where this affects us the most is the Water Performance Calculations for Indoor plumbing and fitting efficieny. If we go by what the reviewer says, we feel that occupants will get double counted. As there is already a column asking us for the Total number of Annual Working days and that value is included in the calculations.
There is no other credit where the FTE is used. The Award of the Indoor Plumbing Fitting efficiency credit is also on hold due to this. I saw an earlier discussion where Tristan has said the we should go with per day FTE calculations and not the weekly method. We went through various addendas and still couldn't find anything with clarity on this. What do you think would be the best way to proceed.
Thanks
Dave Hubka
Practice Leader - SustainabilityEUA
LEEDuser Expert
495 thumbs up
November 2, 2020 - 3:49 pm
I've had discussion with GBCI on this issue.
FTE should be listed as a daily number because it fits better in the water calculation.
can you post the exact review comment? curious why they might want this shown against a 60-hour work week.
Krithikha Muthukrishnan
PartnerGreen Sketch Consultants
2 thumbs up
November 3, 2020 - 4:42 am
Thanks a lot David. Here is the Review
Under PI form 3:
It is unclear that the total full-time equivalent value has been calculated correctly. The building operating plan provided in EAp1 indicates that employees work for 10 hours per day, 6 days per week. As full-time equivalency is based on a 40-hour work week, each employee working 60 hours per week counts as 1.5 FTE. Thus, it would appear that there are 1,157 FTE. Provide a narrative to confirm hours per week that each employee works. Revise the LEED Form as necessary, and ensure that the number of FTE is consistent across the application.
Under Water Performance:
It is noted that an issue has been raised in PIf3 concerning the calculation of FTE occupants. After
addressing the issue in PIf3, provide revised calculations that reflect the accurate number of occupants. Ensure that occupancy values are reported consistently across all credits.
That's it. None of our other credits have query with respect to FTE.
Dave Hubka
Practice Leader - SustainabilityEUA
LEEDuser Expert
495 thumbs up
November 3, 2020 - 9:28 am
Your project's LEED reviewer is wrong in this instance.
I had this identical issue on a factory project. I calculated the FTE based on a 40-hour work week.
LEED reviewer said it should be based on an 8-hour day rather than a 40-hour work week....so I simply resolved per their direction.
Water calc requires a 'daily FTE' to be entered, so a daily FTE should be determined when completing the Project Information forms.
David Posada
Integrated Design & LEED SpecialistSERA Architects
LEEDuser Expert
1976 thumbs up
November 3, 2020 - 1:53 pm
It's also worth noting the Indoor Water Use Reduction Calculator asks for the "Annual days of operation." This would support calculating the FTE number per day, as David H. describes, and not based on a 60-hour work week.
Since the staff in this situation are working 10-hour days instead of 8-hour days and using more water each day, the daily FTE number will be slightly higher to reflect the higher daily water use per person.
The water use for the "extra day" per week (the sixth day) gets calculated when the Annual days of operation number is multiplied by the water use per daily FTE in the spreadsheet.
Krithikha Muthukrishnan
PartnerGreen Sketch Consultants
2 thumbs up
November 3, 2020 - 11:52 pm
Thanks for the Clarification. We have counted the Extra hours of working per day. I guess we will just write out the explanation that David H. and David P. have given here for the WE credit. And for the PI form, we could simply do what the reviewer has asked and have both the FTE calculations. Just in case.