Gross area v. net area in PI Form 3 and IEQ8.1

It still works to enter gross sf here - frequently, even the net sf is larger than the "regularly occupied space" that is used to calculate your percentage of daylit space. For an office, the v2009 IEQ Space Matrix.xls http://www.usgbc.org/resources/environmental-quality-space-type-matrix indicates we can exclude lobbies, copy rooms, and break rooms from the areas that need to be daylit for IEQc8. It's always been confusing to coordinate and explain these different area totals (gross, net, regularly occupied, area to be daylit...). You'll probably need to use the Special Circumstances box to explain any discrepancies. I think this confusion and the difficulty of using the right area totals across different credit forms in all circumstances drove the decision to abandon linked data fields in the latest (the v06) version of the credit forms. There are other forum threads on the version 6 form changes at http://www.leeduser.com/strategy/leed-online-status-updates and the full announcement at http://www.usgbc.org/articles/new-forms-online-leed-2009-and-leed-v4-projects Hope that helps.

James: I'm not sure if I follow your question. The most current form at LEEDonline for EQc8.1 and 8.2 states "Provide the completed Daylight and Views Calculator (found under credit's "Resources" tab in the Credit Library)" but I don't see your reference to the gsf from PI Form 3 linked to the IEQc8.1 or 8.2 forms. Further, daylight and views only apply to "regularly occupied areas."

That's a common error/issue with the older versions of the forms. The way I get around it is to make sure that I use Net Area values in the Regularly Occupied columns of that table in PIf3 (so that the linked value is correct for your IEQc8.1/IEQc8.2 calculations). That's the only spot in LEED Online that the value is auto-linked into, so it makes sense to update that to net (as you cannot physically occupy or light the walls that have to be in the GSF). I then will also update plans to PIf3 that highlight which rooms I've included in my Regularly Occupied calculations to confirm that I did include everything (as you sometimes will get questions about making sure everything is included). As long as you are clear, it's definitely an issue that is easy to get around.

You may also submit a request for USGBC to update to the most current version of the form using the feedback function at LEEDonline.

Dear James, We would like to know, how did you end up submitting the floor areas (net or gross) for PI3 and IEQ 8.1 Daylight? Thanks in advance