Hi,
I have a question regarding an existing building that will undergo a major renovation. There is a separate parking garage that is not connected to the building however it was included in the purchase of the lot. The parking garage had a fire a few years ago and is in need of renovation and large part of the garage is closed off due to it is deemed too unsafe for usage. The owner has plans to renovate the garage, however the renovations of the garage is not planned to be included in the scope of work for the major renovation of the main building. Is it possible for us to exclude the garage from project boundary and from the LEED certification?
Ralph Bicknese
PrincipalHellmuth & Bicknese Architects
20 thumbs up
September 25, 2020 - 10:41 am
Yes, if the garage is not included in the scope of the project it would not be included in the LEED boundary. The team has the some latitude to determine what a reasonable boundary is and excluding the garage makes perfect sense.
You have not described the extent of site work. You would need to include any site work that is included in the project even if it surrounds the garage, unless there is a good reason to exclude it. But it would be hard to justify excluding it if it is within the design & construction scope under the initial project.
September 25, 2020 - 11:12 am
Hi Ralph,
Thank you for such a quick reply! I am sure that I have read somewhere that exact text that you have written, that we can exclude buildings and other areas from the LEED boundary including parking, if its not included in the scope of work. However, I am not able to find that text, could you possibly give an official reference to where LEED states this?
We plan to include the adjacent area between the main building and garage as that area consists of off-street parking and bicycle parking outside the garage that serves the building. There is some pathways that surrounds that garage that I am not sure if we need to include, as they are most likely just pathways that serve to and from the garage for the staff and visitors who park in the garage. Could we exclude this area as well?
Summer Minchew
Managing PartnerEcoimpact Consulting
LEEDuser Expert
164 thumbs up
September 29, 2020 - 9:01 am
You will find guidance on shared facilities in the Reference Guide MPR Must Use Reasonable Site Boundaries.
Ralph Bicknese
PrincipalHellmuth & Bicknese Architects
20 thumbs up
September 29, 2020 - 11:00 am
I just reread the Reference Guide to confirm my understanding. It is not entirely clear on the issue but you have some latitude in what you include and what you do not. A requirement is that the boundary must be reasonable. That can mean many things. One thought is that if the pathways are constructed as part of the contract for your project they should be included. If they are not constructed as part of this project you could choose to exclude them. However, there could be some good reason to include them if you wish; for instance if the paths serve this project as well as the garage or other buildings. Generally the safest route would be to exclude areas if they are not constructed as part of this project. There can be exceptions for that, for instance if you use the existing parking garage for your project you could potentially include some features of the garage (reduced parking footprint, and green or electric vehicles, and shaded parking come to mind) without including the garage in the LEED boundary.