An office building that is being certified under LEED C&S will have 80% of its gross floor area without a complete interior fit-out at time of construction work completion. These areas will be left as open-spaces. Future tenants may add partition walls to customize the open-space layout. Tenants can create meeting rooms and it is not reasonable to include a requirement forbidding additions (such as these type of spaces) in the tenant lease agreement. Ventilation rates for meeting rooms are much higher than for general office spaces due to higher occupancy. The following ventilation strategy is foreseen:
a) assume that meeting rooms will not occupy more than 20% of leasable area;
b) provide outdoor ventilation rates to the leasable spaces calculated based on the above mentioned assumption;
c) install air dampers in each outdoor supply air diffuser, to allow an accurate balancing of outdoor air flow in each diffuser;
d) include in the Tenant Guidelines instructions on how to balance the air distribution system in each tenant space in order to guarantee compliance with IEQ C2 outdoor air flow rates in all occupied spaces.
Do you think that this strategy complies with LEED Requirement? If not, what are the alternatives?
Michael Brown
Energy Analyst & Energy Systems Design EngineerHKS
LEEDuser Expert
9 thumbs up
July 22, 2016 - 9:54 am
All approach is correct. Comment (d) is the key for complying with IEQp1. The leasing agreement should also reference the standard for which the tenants must design the ventilation for their spaces (....must comply with the minimum ventilation rates for each applicable space type referenced in ASHRAE 62.1-2007, if using v2009); a chart of the anticipated space types would be a plus. Please note that the tenant leasing agreement must be signed by the owner/developer as an official enforceable document and uploaded to LEEDOnline. Are you also including other applicable C&S credits in this agreement such as water and materials & resources?