We are designing a high-rise residential tower with a school and retail area at the base. There is some entry and service space serving the residential tower on the cellar and ground floor levels. The second through ninth floors are occupied by the school, with the remaining floors (10-35th) occupied by the residential tower.
We are designing the core and shell for the school and retail, and the entirety of the tower portion. The school interior is being designed by a separate team. The building will be built by a single contractor but the school will be managed and operated by the local school construction authority.
In this scenario, is it possible to only certify the residential tower portion of the project?
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5909 thumbs up
July 24, 2015 - 11:28 am
Maybe. You might be able to do so but I would question why you would do so? If the same contractor is doing the vast majority of the project it would not be hard to combine the construction documentation. You would need to get on the same page with the school designers for the design credits. You would then treat the retail as shell space and certify the whole building.
Ilana Judah
28 thumbs up
July 24, 2015 - 11:33 am
Thank you Marcus. The reason for doing so is that the local public school construction authority has their own internal green standards which they self certify to. So there would be some bureaucratic logistics involved in certifying the school component since it would be an "exception" to their standard process.
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5909 thumbs up
July 24, 2015 - 11:39 am
You will have logistical complexities with either approach. I would pick the one that gave you the best overall green outcomes.
Could this simply be a core and shell project instead of NC? Are the residential units to be sold or rented?
Ilana Judah
28 thumbs up
August 4, 2015 - 11:04 am
We are doing the interiors for the residential portion and they will be sold as condos, so I don't think we would fall under LEED CS. Other than separate documentation, I don't seen any advantages to combining the buildings as the School Construction Authority has specific standards they adhere to, which may disadvantage the residential portion from achieving certain points.
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5909 thumbs up
August 4, 2015 - 2:03 pm
Since you are doing the CS and the residential fitouts I think it could qualify as CS. The condo owners are buying the interior spaces and the "owner" will be left with the core and shell.
Personally I always try to figure out a way to certify the whole building. Trying to certify a part of one is confusing to the market, especially when it is not a separate and distinct addition or something similar.
I also tend not to think in points. This is one of the major failures of the way LEED is structured IMO. It encourages this type of thinking which is just simply non-integrated, fractured and siloed. What approach would produce the best outcomes? Are the school standards more or less stringent than LEED? Could your project influence them or visa verse? Inclusion and collaboration transforms markets. Exclusion is a force of the status quo.
I am, of course, speaking in generalities since I am not familiar with all of the particulars of your situation so I am open to the possibility that I am full of it. Good luck.
Ilana Judah
28 thumbs up
August 5, 2015 - 10:32 am
Thanks Marcus! Given the construction responsibilities and schedule which vary between the tower and the school interior, we have agreed to proceed with LEED NC and treat the School project as a Core & Shell.