Under the credit language for this credit, option 2 – there is NO MENTION of the words “public transportation.” It is clearly identified under options #1 & #3.
Our project at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, Africa is a military installation /campus. We clearly illustrated 2 campus buses circulating throughout the military base, with more than 2 bus stops for each of 2 bus routes within ¼ mile of our project dormitory.
I’m aware of LEED addendum published 4/1/12, which states "provide direct access to transit facilities within 2 miles of the project site, approximately a 5-10 minute drive, and must be available to all project occupants." However, it doesn’t clearly denote that this addendum is applicable to all 3 options. The addendum was added to the second paragraph on page 43 with regard to “private shuttle buses.”
I don’t consider our buses to be applicable “private shuttle buses.”
Is it fair to be denied this credit under option 2, on a military installation for not denoting a “public transit facility?” I don’t want to pay $500 to appeal this credit if the reviewer is wrong. Djibouti is not the kind of place that has public buses or rail lines.
Ironically, the Djibouti International airport is directly adjacent to / connected to our military base, Camp Lemonier. This airport has international flights - in/out daily. Do I need to pay $500 in protest, to merely point out the location of the international airport, and the fact that most residents on the base or others visiting who desire to fly internationally would likely be flying for “free” on military flights using the same airport?
6 points is too many points to lose at the end of a project! Ouch! Any thoughts would be most appreciated.
Peg Manuel
Tetra Tech4 thumbs up
September 28, 2015 - 2:34 pm
I submitted an inquiry to USGBC and was told twice they'd provide a response, which I was hoping...could have been more/less independent from the review. They never specifically did. In the meantime, I submitted additional documentation for Construction review. The response was further denied, "Because there were outstanding issues with the submitted
strategy after the second review, an appeal will be necessary if the project wishes to pursue this credit." "issues" ...would have been nice to know a little more. I surrender, and throw in my white flag. It's not worth the effort, project was contractually required to receive Silver, we got it...I'll let go. We could have received Gold - - given a little understanding about "transit" (local buses and trains) in a war torn area such as the Middle East. The TPLF regime bombed the railway in 2011.
Peg Manuel
Tetra Tech4 thumbs up
November 18, 2015 - 7:53 pm
On 11/12/2015, I received the following response from GBCI: "We deeply apologize for the delay in responding to you. This ruling has been a topic of intense discussion by our GBCI subject matter experts over the past several weeks. Our experts have agreed that this project was not a good candidate for achievement of SSc4.1. For future projects that may share characteristics with this project, the team may wish to request a project-specific Credit Interpretation Ruling (CIR) prior to submission for review of a proposed alternate compliance path to meet the requirements of this credit."