Meeting the LEED ventilation prerequisite is not likely to require substantial building upgrades, although it is likely to require some adjustments, such as altering minimum damper settings on existing equipment.

An in-house engineer or a third-party vendor can help you measure outdoor air flow in each air-handling unit and compare their performance against ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2007 requirements. ASHRAE and USGBC provide calculators for determining the required rates of outdoor air flow for your building based on floor area, actual occupancy, and other characteristics of the space and ventilation distribution system. Buildings that employ older ventilation equipment or unique ventilation solutions may have one or more air handling units that are unable to meet the ASHRAE 62.1-2007 requirements. In this scenario, you can still achieve this prerequisite by showing that these air handling units provide at least 10 cubic feet per minute per person of outside air under normal operating conditions.

Achievable for naturally ventilated buildings

Naturally ventilated buildings must document compliance with a special section of the ASHRAE 62.1-2007 standard, and complete some specific measurements, but this should still be highly achievable for buildings with lots of windows or a well-designed engineered natural ventilation system.

Maintain good air quality along with energy performance

Reducing mechanical ventilation and outdoor air intake are easy ways to reduce energy consumption, but can compromise indoor air quality if not thoughtfully executed. This prerequisite and EAp2: Minimum Energy Efficiency Performance are often seen as being in conflict with each other, but IEQp1 is designed, in part, to ensure that energy efficiency in LEED-certified buildings does not come at the expense of good indoor air quality.

Consider these questions before pursuing this credit

• Is the building mechanically ventilated, naturally ventilated, or mixed-mode? ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2007 addresses natural and mechanical ventilation systems using different guidelines and criteria.  Mixed-mode systems must demonstrate compliance while operating in mechanical mode only.
• Do you have a building automation system (BAS) that measures outdoor air? If your building does not use a BAS to monitor the rate of outside air flow through the ventilation system, manual measurements of outside air flow must be taken at each air handling unit.
• Have the ventilation systems been tested or balanced in the last 2 years? If yes, do you have documentation on the measurements of outdoor air flow? Recent testing reports, which include ventilation rate procedure (VRP) calculations, may be used to compare measured outside air flow to the ASHRAE 62.1-2007 requirements.
• Do occupants and building maintenance staff feel that the building is well-ventilated? Does the air seem fresh? Stuffy? Odorous? Occupant feedback is a valuable early-detection tool to know if your ventilation system is operating properly and complying with ASHRAE 62.1-2007 standards.
• Do you have mechanical drawings that are helpful for managing ventilation systems and maintaining outdoor air flow calculations as required by ASHRAE? Do you have an HVAC preventative maintenance program? A set of accurate mechanical drawings will help you to determine where outside air flow measurements should be taken and provide manufacturer product information that can be useful in developing an ongoing preventive maintenance program to ensure proper system performance.
• Are your engineers trained and equipped to take outdoor air flow measurements? If not, is there an engineering firm that you can use to help with these tests?