Hi, I will be leading a LEED project and I am struggling to identify the rating system I should use, I requested some information from the project managers and I got this answer:
Hi Ricardo – Refurbishment of an existing building. Mainly the 2 floors for the manufacture of a pharma company
anybody could give me some pointers on what is the the rating system in this case?
David Posada
Integrated Design & LEED SpecialistSERA Architects
LEEDuser Expert
1976 thumbs up
November 27, 2019 - 4:13 pm
If it looks like a "major renovation" of the building, with significant upgrades to building HVAC systems, and/or the envelope you would use Building Design & Construction for New Construction (BD&C NC). This also applies to Major Renovations.
If it's only part of the building, or doesn't upgrade all the HVAC systems or the envelope, it might be better to use Interior Design & Construction for Commercial Interiors (ID&C CI).
It's possible a project like yours might be able to use either of those rating systems. It really depends on how much of the building is being affected,and how extensive the upgrades are. You can always email USGBC customer service and ask for them to confirm which would be most appropriate.
I've seen a project where an existing building was getting an addition for a research lab and USGBC required the project to use ID&C CI.
Hope that answers your question.
Ricardo Filho
1 thumbs up
November 28, 2019 - 5:40 am
Thanks for the detailed explanation;
the project manager informed me that today:
The split refurbishment will be as follows
New process equipment to basement and ground floor: HVAC & Piping
Since it is going to affect all the envelope, I'd say it is a major renovation, right?
Regards
Ricardo
Ricardo Filho
1 thumbs up
December 2, 2019 - 2:09 am
Hi all,
In addition to the information I got last week, I was told today that the existing building has 6 levels (basement + 5 levels);
The project will involve the complete refurbishment of the basement and the 1st level, which account for 41% of the total building area, including new AHUs, mechanical, electrical and plumbing peripherals. In addition to the works on the first 2 levels, we will also be upgrading 100% of the building envelope to achieve compliance with local code. the question is now, can we draw the project boundary around the floors that we are refurbishing only and treat the project as ID+C ?
thanks to all
Ricardo
David Posada
Integrated Design & LEED SpecialistSERA Architects
LEEDuser Expert
1976 thumbs up
December 2, 2019 - 3:29 pm
Yes, ID&C sounds most appropriate here since you are only renovating two of the occupied floors. BD&C is definitely for the "whole building" and needs to document the energy performance, occupant count, site, plumbing & HVAC systems, and interior spaces of all the occupied areas.
You can draw the project boundary on both plan and section drawings to show the floors being renovated (basement & 1st level). What' matters for certification is that you document the energy performance and buildings systems of those floors. If there's additional work being done to other floors, for envelope or mechanical systems, for example, it doesn't change your project's performance, so you don't include them. If you are using an energy model for energy credits, just model the basement and 1st level floors; if you are following the prescriptive path for energy, it's also just those floors.
For any materials credits based on cost, such as % recycled content, it would probably make sense to exclude the cost of envelope upgrades to other floors above the 1st floor from your total materials costs. This may be hard to calculate precisely, so it's probably fine to estimate. The cost of HVAC isn't included in those MR credits, so you don't have to worry about calculating costs of HVAC equipment hat doesn't serve your renovated floors.
Hope that helps!