Hi,
We have a school expansion project to introduce a new middle school on a site which already has an existing primary and secondary school present. We wish to establish the most suitable certification strategy to recommend to the Client.
The new proposal introduces a number of separate new blocks as part of the same overall design. Some blocks are physically linked but some are not. All middle school teaching spaces (total 119,000sqft) are linked physically with internal space, however there is a new auditorium (26,450sqft) which sits separately nearby, as do two office and training blocks (31,800sqft + 33,800sqft) which function independently to the middle school.
In the MPR guidance it appears to suggest that independent blocks can potentially be considered as one building for Schools projects, however our blocks exceed the recommended 25,000sqft. Is there any flexibility in this? We would like, as a minimum, to consider the auditorium and middle school as one building for LEED purposes.
If considered as separate buildings, but under cover of a single registration, the rating system guidance also suggests that non-academic buildings can pursue Schools certification. Would we be better with one building under Schools (middle school and auditorium) and the two other office/training buildings under NC, or with the office/training buildings under Schools as well? Can we follow a Campus approach with three buildings under one registration, or would we require three separate registrations?
Thanks!