my experience

where is this stated? "The LEED guidelines states that in a core and shell building that the owner cannot occupy more than 50%", we would like to backup one of our projects with this info. Thanks

Victor, I am not sure whether or not that is stated, but the place to look is USGBC's LEED rating system selection guidance document, and/or guidance on USGBC.org.

We found this to be stated in the Core and Shell v2 but I have not found any related information for v2009. I know that in order to be NC, tenant space can not be more than 40% of the total gross SF, but also what does tenant mean? Tenant for commercial purposes or residential or both? Its a bit confusing.

Victor,

I've actually had a conversation with USGBC about this, as we had a very tricky project that had an Owner occupying 50% of the building space as a Core and Shell project. We had originally found two documents, one which stated guidance regarding a 60/40 ratio of Owner to Future Tenant spaces, and one with a 50/50 ratio. Here are the references we found that apply to v2009 projects: The 60/40 rule is found in the USGBC Rating System Selection Guidance document (page 8 - http://www.usgbc.org/Docs/Archive/General/Docs6667.pdf), and the 50/50 guidance is found on page xv of the LEED Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction, 2009 edition.

The result of the discussion with USGBC was that the project team can ultimately decide which rating system to pursue when the space is at a 60/40 or 50/50 occupancy ratio, regardless as to whether the project is 60% Owner occupied versus 40% Owner occupied.

Hope that helps!

Thank you this info is very helpful, However I'm a bit confused on the future tenant concept. Is it to residential tenant, commercial tenant or both? Is a building owned by a person and leased to future tenants be considered for core and shell or new construction?

The tenants can be residential or commercial, though I typically see apartments as NC projects, since the building Owner is responsible for the full scope of the project. To confuse you even more, the tenant can already be identified and the building Owner could build out the Core and Shell as well as the Tenant spaces all at the same time and still be considered a Core and Shell certification project.

I like to think that the way in which you decide between Core and Shell and New Construction is based on the scope of work. Since BD+C certification is based on a "snap-shot in time," a building Owner could have future tenant spaces and apply under NC, so long as the Owner plans to complete the full fit-out of the spaces as they pertain to the prerequisites attempted during certification (i.e. mechanical systems and IEQp1). Or projects with incomplete spaces could also attempt NC certification without including the full fit-out of the spaces, though this is when you would want to reference LEED Interpretation 10102 for the incomplete spaces as they applied to each prerequisite and credit. Even if there was a possibility that the tenant would move out in 10 years and a renovation would take place, the project could still be considered NC, so long as the Owner included the majority of the systems in the original project scope (hence the "snapshot in time" piece). Does that make sense at all?

wow a lot to take. Thanks a lot.