Hello everyone,

We have a project that has two office towers and one residential tower on a single site, with the same owner. One of the office towers and the residential tower are connected with an above-ground retail podium and below the ground basement parking area. 65%, 30%, and 4% of the GFA are office, residential, and retail space, respectively.

  1. In the LEED V4 reference guide for BD+C, it has been mentioned that the “Group Approach allows buildings that are substantially similar and are in a single location to certify as one project that shares a single certification.“ what does “substantially similar” mean and can we register all the buildings with a group approach?
  2. On the LEED Campus Guidance April 2014, page 10 it says “All buildings or spaces within a group project certification must use the same rating system and must use the same compliance paths for all credits and prerequisites pursued.” What does the same rating system apply to? For example, does it apply to “building design and construction” as a whole rating system, or does it apply to its subsystems like Core & shell, or New construction?
  3. In the case we have to register the residential separately as a single building on the top of a retail podium, what would be the reasonable LEED project boundary? Can we register the retail below the residential with the office tower and separate the residential?

Thank you,