In Table 1 of the reference manual, there is a parenthetical comment next to furniture (include in calculations if part of scope of work). In the Step by Step guidance for Option1, one of the bullets says "furniture is considered part of the scope if it is installed at the time of occupancy, regardless of who specified or provided it." And even though Table 2 points for compliant categories begins with a section that indicates the number of points you can achieve without furniture, the following section with furniture in the table shows no additional pts for including the furniture category.
We cannot conceive of a New Construction project that would not have some furniture installed unless it's core and shell. So is furniture a "required" category that has to be included in the low emitting credit if you pursue it all? There is no other indication that furniture emissions for 90% by cost has become a prerequisite for compliance with this credit, but we are at a loss as to how to interpret this statement.
Brightworks Sustainability
Brightworks Sustainability LLC47 thumbs up
April 11, 2018 - 4:36 pm
Hi Michelle,
We have discussed this exact quote with GBCI and recieved the following guidance:
"I have confirmation from USGBC that there is an error in the current BD+C Reference Guide, under Option 1, Step 1, where it indicates that “Furniture is considered part of the scope if it is installed at the time of occupancy, regardless of who specified or provided it”. This is incorrect for BD+C projects. They should include furniture only if it is in the scope of work (meaning that the project team has control of the selection and installation). This will be corrected in a future Addendum."
Michelle Rosenberger
PartnerArchEcology
522 thumbs up
April 11, 2018 - 5:38 pm
Hi Leilanie,
Thanks very much for the response. So if the project did happen to have furniture as part of the scope and you were pursuing this credit, you would need to achieve an extra category to get the same amount of points as without furniture. So does that mean you have to pursue the furniture category or you just have to throw in another category for some reason because you have furniture scope?
Brightworks Sustainability
Brightworks Sustainability LLC47 thumbs up
April 11, 2018 - 6:31 pm
Our understanding is that furniture is not required to be one of the categories pursued. You can select the requisite number of categories from all of the listed product category options for Option 1.