Hi, We are working on a medical research facility that has copper-lined MRI rooms. These room assemblies are factory built and are in the 13000 section of the specs, so the material should be exempt from MRc4 & 5, but there is some plywood included in the factory assembled product. Does this wood cost, FSC or not (probably not, since we didn't even know wood was in there) get counted for MRc7 purposes? MRc7 ...

Be sure to use the Updated version 8/1/2011. The required features are in line with the California Building Code Accessibility requirements. PC34 ...

Perhaps we LEEDuser members can show our support of this concept through agreeing with Tristans open letter. This kind of information can help us understand what works and what does not. We just finished the second year of a very comprehensive M&V process, and even though the building is out performing the model, we are learning a lot about what our tools tell us, and what we can and cannot depend on. Energy modeling is a tool that we use to make decisions, and we need to understand the limitations of any tool so we can then use it better the next time. I learned that in all my Habitat work!...

We are working on a project that consists of 2 buildings: office building and workshop building. The owner wants to certify only the office building. The land is all owned by the same entity and there is no property line to divide the 2 buildings. The buildings have a shared parking lot, pedestrian hardscape, roadways around the buildings, and utilities area (with separate meters). Can we draw a boundary line directly through the pedestrian hardscape where the office is separated from the workshop? If so, how should we include the shared parking lot, hardscape, utilities area in the LEED project boundary? Thank...

The project in question is being constructed on an urban medical campus. I see from this forum that "Based on the MPR Supplemental Guidance for MPR #3, your boundary has to include all land that will be disturbed for the purpose of undertaking the LEED project." When we define our LEED boundary to match our construction limit line, we are including area where a future building is planned (dense urban campus- this project involves improvements- including parking- that are on land that will someday become another building). Because of this we feel the project is not meeting requirement 4 of the Must Use...

I do a lot of work with a large university that has "optional" sustainability requirements. This is frustrating for contractors- what happens if they miss, say, 75% construction waste diversion? At the same time, an Owner wants to know the Contractor will perform the actions that result in a LEED rating. Of course we can say "Contractor SHALL do this and that" in the specs. But have you worked on a project where there were teeth in the LEED specs- what if the contractor misses a construction waste diversion threshold, or brings a jug of high VOC paint onto the job- have you...

Dear All, We have a potential hospital outside the US which needs to be registered under LEED. The building will be a fully functioning hospital (including surgery rooms and ~400 inpatient beds). I learned that LEED for HC 2009 is available for international projects. My questions are: 1) are such projects obliged to go for HC, or they have the choice between NC & HC? 2) would you consider certifying under LEED HC easier than NC (given the type of building)? Or are there many complex additional requirements whereby the design team would need to do "a lot" to achieve an equivalent score...

Are utility trenches such as sanitary service lines required to be within the Project Boundary? We're working on a school addition and a new sanitary line will be installed from the addition to the existing holding tank. The route stretches out a fair distance, do we need to extend a finger of the Property Boundary out as well? MPR3 ...

Hi, We are working with some great clients in a city anxious to test-drive a zero-waste program. We have 2 CI-2009 projects with these clients. In terms of how to optimize all that good will, I was wondering if it would be acceptable to go for 2 ID credits in the garbage zone: composting of food waste and recycling of e-waste, on each project. Anxious for feedback. IDc1 ...

We are developing an existing Historic building. The building and parking are already set up on the site and the parking lot is on the side of the building but fronts on the street. There is a non contributing building located between the LEED project building and the street. There is an entry plaza designed in front of the LEED project building. Since the project is historic, we are hoping we can still get credit for the extensive on site sidewalks which connect to the public sidewalks. Additionally, we comply with the plaza requirements, the street trees and the sidewalks do not cross the parking lot...