My question is regarding private vs. public lavatories which I know has been addressed to some extent already in this forum. However, on another LEED forum I came across the following which I will post here. We are working on a number of office buildings where lavatories have keyed entry for personnel only. My first inclination was to call this a 'private' lavatory. Sorry for the length, but I would be curious as to your response. I'm digging into CIR's to see if this perhaps was addressed recently. Prior to submitting our own CIR, it would be wonderful to hear thoughts on the following which I pulled from another LEED Forum:
The definition of Private and Public is where your attention should be directed. It doesn't matter what LEED or the USGBC suggests as "types of private uses" - the fact is that they are saying be 20%(or 30, 40, etc) better than code.
So we dig into code...
The definition of public and private was set resulting from concerns about the classic "general public" using a lavatory faucet and burning themselves with hot water. They separated the two to protect the "general public" - the definition was set to guide the temperature at which hot water is allowed to be distributed to the faucet. It has nothing to do with usage, consumption or being eco.
So, knowing that information the facts guides the intent. The definition of "public" faucets are "lavatory faucets are those intended for the unrestricted use of more than one individual."
The 9th floor French Consulate bathroom in a building that has key-card access and a guard is not a facility intended for unrestricted use. Nor is an office space where the approximate water use based on FTE calcs is known on a daily basis. Furthermore, a school where students have to ask for a hall pass to go the bathroom is certainly not "unrestricted."
Again reiterating my piece that I agree with the intent of LEED, sadly the devil is in the details on this one.
Most recently it was for one of our projects - they were a defense contractor that mandated a passport and finger scanning for individuals entering the campus. I'll let you know what the LEED reviewer says...
Jason Franken
Sustainability ProfessionalLEEDuser Expert
608 thumbs up
July 1, 2010 - 10:03 am
Daycia, there is always a lot of confusion around this issue, so it's good to see it supported in yet another forum. To answer your specific question, a restroom in a commercial office building is considered a "private lavatory" if it is used on a daily, exclusive basis by the same occupant (i.e. an executive with their own private restroom). The scenario that you're describing for your project where "lavatories have keyed entry for personnel only" would not be considered private lavatories because any building occupant with access to the entry code is able to use those restrooms on a regular basis. Yes, it's true that they are not accessible to the general public off the street; however, they are being used by multiple occupants throughout the project building so they are considered "public lavatories" for LEED purposes.
Alice Cook
76 thumbs up
July 6, 2010 - 5:13 pm
Jason, Thanks for your response. What is the source for your information on this issue of public vs. private? Is their a CIR on this? By what process within the USGBC was this decision made on public vs. private? Why is this information not available on the USGBC website or in errata to the reference guides? Perhaps it is and I missed it? Thanks!
Jason Franken
Sustainability ProfessionalLEEDuser Expert
608 thumbs up
July 13, 2010 - 12:36 pm
This information is located at the top of page 88 in the LEED for Green Building: Operations and Maintenance Reference Guide (2009 Edition). Creation of the the LEED Rating System and Reference Guide language is a consensus-based process whereby multiple subject matter experts collaborate on, review and revise the language before publication. USGBC also makes draft versions of future editions available for public review/comment - check with the USGBC or your local Chapter to find out when balloting will take place for the 2012 edition.