We are currently assessing office building which has 2 underground floors. On level -2 there are only: parking, storage, mechanical rooms etc. On level -1 there are similar spaces but additionally there are cloak rooms with showers, and social room. The total area of the -1 level is approximately 35,000 sf and the area of the rooms mentioned above is 3,200 sf (so 9% of the total -1 level area). In our opinion these occupied areas should be included in the gross building area, but what about the rest of the floor?

1. Can we count in (for GBA) just all floors above the ground level + these few occupied spaces on the -1 level (excluding whole -2 level and the rest of the -1 level)?

2. Does it mean that with respect to the LEED certification process our building has 0 underground floors (or maybe just one (level -1))?

3. What about the FTE calculations - building in question has retail space on the ground level. Office spaces start from the 2nd floor. Can we count cloakrooms on -1 level as Office Area in the FTE calculations? These spaces will be mostly used by the FTEs working in the offices.

Thanks for help!