INpc155 - Design for Indoor Air Quality and Infection Control

Under v4, the ASHRAE 62.1 standard is still the 2010 version, and this pilot credit brings it up to 2016 or later. As for filtration, whether you're using v4 or v4.1, you have many options under Enhanced IAQ Stratgeis, so this would mean choosing a specific one to meet this pilot credit, I guess? Maybe their idea is that you could achieve this pilot credit without also going for a full point under Enhanced IAQ, which requires multiple strategies?

I had just formulated the same question; I’ll use this thread instead. What am I missing, it seems too easy.

I’m looking through the first tab in the calculator trying to see any air flow differences in v4 and v4.1 (2010 vs 2016). They look really similar!  

#1a says ventilate according to ASHRAE, which we are already showing in the prerequisite. Possible we will have to check the ventilation operating hours and submit them too.

#1b says have MERV 13 filters in recirculated air. We never have any recirculated air in Sweden. And we have more than MERV 13 in outside air filters (old F7 now in ePMx XX % instead in the EU).

Are we compliant just by showing operating hours then? (And the prerequisite in EQ).

I just got preliminary design phase review comments back for a project pursuing this credit. They had no issues with our documentation. It felt like an "easy" credit to achieve, especially if you are pursuing Enhanced IAQ Strategies. I only provided ventilation calculations and filter schedules as documentation. You may need to submit ventilation operating hours too (this project is a 24/7 building so I did not do so). They also referenced our O&M plan and Cx plan IAQ sections as part of the review comment. 

I am currently working on project that is pursuing this credit, and similarly found that it is a very simply credit. This chain was helpful clarifying what reviewers have said in repsonse. 

Somebody I know got these review comments back, (I have yet not submitted), can somebody explain how this is relevant?

“The required documentation has not been provided. Provide the following: a) Copy of facilities requirements and operations and maintenance plan and b) Updated commissioning plan communicating the purpose and intended performance of IAQ related building systems.”

And remember that we in Sweden have 100 % outside air, have at least as much ventilation as ASHRAE requires, and no recirculated air (so 1b, the filter requirement, is irrelevant).

I was recently awarded this credit on a project in the U.S. for a lab with office and warehouse spaces. I had to provide:

• Equipment Schedules with filter requirements noted
• vent calculations, including an additional room-by-room spreadsheet showing the spaces met the 5 air changes per hour of clean air
• The Current Facilities Requirements and Cx Plan which were already part of the Fundmental and Enhanced commissioning credits.

The 5 ach of clean air in the office area was a challenge for us, even though we were exceeding ASHRAE, but the facility had portable HEPA air purifiers in the office areas that were able to be included in the calculation and contributed to the clean air requirements. To calculate the 5 ach in the warehouse, I was able to use the bottom of the supply duct for the height and not have to go all the way to the bottom of the roof deck. 

The comments I received are below:

1)Provide: the description of ventilation strategies implemented by the project; Calculations for air changes per hour for occupied spaces as needed; and a copy of the facilities requirements and operations and maintenance plan and updated commissioning plan communicating the purpose and intended performance of IAQ related building systems. Ensure that the minimum required outdoor air for ventilation is provided during all occupied hours including when the building is only occupied by cleaning/facility personnel.

2) A 100% outside air make-up air units do not have recirculation. As a result, requirement 1.c. must be met (e.g. the occupied spaces must achieve at least five clean air changes per hour. Any combination of outside air, filtration, and air cleaning HEPA filtration to achieve the clean air change rate).

The last comment you got, number 2, seems very strange to me.

If you have recirculation – you have good filters. No requirement of how much air, as long as you follow ASHRAE.

If you have 100 % fresh air – then 5 exchanges per hour is a lot! A lot lot more than ASHRAE. We have MERV 13 (equivalent) filters in our fresh air intake, but that doesn’t count...

Do you understand the reasoning behind the varieties 1b and 1c? I thought we could dismiss them because we had no recirculated air.

What is an OM plan ?Is there a certain template ?

Hi,

No, I decided against this Pilot credit because of the point 2) Diann describes above. This credit seems absolutely ridiculous to me, and not made for 100 % outside air systems. Something is wrong.

I decided to go with the “Comprehensive composting” instead in my projects. Composting is required by law in Sweden since Jan 1^st, and I guess in the rest of europe too since it is some EU directive.

We've successfully pursued this credit a number of times. It's particularly easy when IAQ is already a priority for the project.

We attempted this and got similar comments back around the Cx element...

Those who have achieved it, what actual elements need to be in place earlier in the project in order for Cx to include what's needed for this credit? The single sentence of guidance in the credit language isn't of much help.

I also agree for the 100% outside air projects - we similarly have many projects with that in place. Do we need to address this with LEED Coach / GBCI directly?

We did achieve this credit and did not have comments related to Cx for it.

We have developed our Cx documents, especially our Table of Contents to align with the LEED reference guide. Regarding the Cx comments: a)the CFR/O&M plans - we included a section for Minimum Outside Air Requirements with a breif description and screenshot of the Min IAQ calculator summary. The O&M included the typical filter type and recommended changing frequency. b) The Cx Plan included the the IAQ systems as part of the larger system descriptions meaning the OA and filtration was included with the AHU/DOAS units. 

My project had fan powered sensible cooling boxes that only had MERV-8 filters on the recirculating plenum opening and not enough OA supplied from the primary unit to meet the 5 ACH requirement so they included portable HEPA filtration units throughout the space to meet the 5 ACH requirement. We had a spreadsheet that documented each space, the required 5 ACH cfm, the primary OA, the rated CFM from the portable units and total provided clean air. We also submitted a few photos of the portable units in the spaces. 

Hope that helps someone! 

In case anyone else encounters this problem with registering for pilot credits - https://www.usgbc.org/pilot-credit-registration DOES NOT WORK.

Select a pilot credit from the dropdown menu under "Innovation", in your project's LEED Online page.