I am working on a healthcare facility project that has a single story below grade parking garage. This garage is Valet parking for patients/visitors only, the staff of the facility are required to park in an offsite existing parking lot that is not within the project boundary. In order to achieve SSc4.3 and SSc4.4, would this project need to include both the valet parking garage and the offsite parking? How would you designate "preferred" parking with a valet system?
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Allison Smith
Sustainable Design LeaderHKS, Inc.
42 thumbs up
November 22, 2016 - 10:03 am
Yes, you will need to include both the onsite valet parking and the offsite parking to document the credit, however you can take different approaches for each parking area to meet the credit requirements. From your description, using an alternative method, such as discounted parking, is a better approach for the valet parking garage. The discount must be at least 20%, apply to all LEFEV parked in the garage (no limit), apply for at least 2-years, and be publicly posted. Preferred parking signage can be used for the offsite garage (however if the parking lot is paid, discounted parking is an option).
For more information, look at LEED Interpretations 10202 and 2516.
Annalise Reichert
Project Managerstok
5 thumbs up
November 22, 2016 - 12:05 pm
Allison, thank you for the clarification. This project is debating whether the Valet parking will be free of charge for patients. If valet parking is free for patients, then the discounted parking rate would not apply. How would we apply preferred parking in this situation?
Also, do we need to ensure that the offsite parking lot has 5% of total spots designated as "LEFE" and "Carpool" for the building FTEs? Does this lot need to have stalls reserved specifcally for this building, since several other buildings will be using the lot as well?
Allison Smith
Sustainable Design LeaderHKS, Inc.
42 thumbs up
November 22, 2016 - 12:55 pm
Annalise,
Free valet parking would be a great service for patients, however it does not meet the credit intent. If you are providing free valet parking, I don't believe you will be successful documenting via Option 1.
I would hate for you to charge patients for valet parking just to meet this credit! You might want to explore other options for this project. Option 3 requires providing preferred parking for 3% of the FTE. Another option is Option 2, providing alternative-fuel fueling stations for the project (3% of parking spaces). Option 2 will require charging stations in the valet garage and the FTE garage.
If the off-site parking lot has reserved spots for this building, then you can provide 3% (or whatever the threshold is for that option) of those spaces marked for LEFEV or charging stations AND for that building only. However, if the parking garage does not distinguish spots based on building then the 3% will need to be for the whole garage. This can get complicated fast, for example, if looking at Option 3 then you will need to provide 3% for the FTE of the buildings that can park in that garage.
LEED-NC projects do not need to provide carpool spaces (however, LEED for Schools projects do), the requirement is for LEFEV only.