First off, I have had a very hard time finding information to help complete this Credit's documentation. There are terms that are undefined or have one meaning in regards to this Credit but other meanings in the Architectural realm. Are there any examples that a first time documenter could look at to reverse engineer the process that is required to correctly document this credit?
With that said, I have a question regarding the Floor Area. At first I assumed that it would be the actual floor area but after calculating many of my rooms, I found that most of them were not meeting the requirements that determine if those rooms would apply to the Regularly Occupied Daylighted room area. So I read further into the other options for documenting this credit and I found that the Simulation Option requires that you record the light levels at 30" AFF. So my question is just that, Can we/ should we determine the Floor area at a certain height AFF, or does this number need to come from the Floor Level. If I take the area at 30" AFF, Most of my rooms are applicable.
Thank you in advance for your time and attention to this matter.
Regards,
TODD REED
Energy Program SpecialistPA DMVA
LEEDuser Expert
889 thumbs up
March 14, 2016 - 2:09 pm
Michael,
Lets go in reverse, by answering your second question first. Why, because you need to have your regularly occupied area established before starting any of the options with the credit.
Make sure your regularly occupied space is established. This is different than your gross area. It is determined at the floor, not 30", and is the floor area between the walls. the 30" is for where the one should set their calculation grid or take their hand measurements from. Circulation areas, or areas within a space where permanently mounted equipment may be placed does not count. Refer to the Regularly Occupied Space Matrix which can be found in the resource tab of the credit in the credit library on the USGBC website.
Now that you have the regularly occupied area established, you need to establish the daylight zone. The daylight zone is the distance from the window wall which will or may receive adequate daylight levels. If there are no exterior overhangs or interior surfaces that are below the head height of the window, then you use times the window head height to establish the daylight zone depth. You should show this is in a section and on a plan. Note the daylight zone in the calculator. Then complete, the rest of the calculations.
Daylight zones should be established in a room when the window size or properties changes. In a space with more than one window wall, a daylight zone needs to be established for each wall.
I do not know of any publicly available examples for you to review.