Building Reuse Calculation, please clarify?

John Ida

President

Urban Works, Inc.

LEEDuser Basic Member

54 thumbs up

June 1, 2010

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Tristan Roberts

Representative

Vermont House of Representatives

LEEDuser Expert

7780 thumbs up

Tue, 06/01/2010 - 20:00

Can you give a more specific example? My initial response is that it would be a matter of degrees, i.e. after a certain point if you alter the assembly it does not count as reuse. Can you quantify how much of the assembly is being replaced?

John Ida

President

Urban Works, Inc.

LEEDuser Basic Member

54 thumbs up

Tue, 06/01/2010 - 20:24

Perhaps the best way to approach it would be if you touch it, it is not considered reuse. For instance, if we are placing a window into a wall without openings that is metal stud assembly (exterior envelope) we would count only the untouched portions of the exterior assembly (larger that just the SF of the window opening). Thoughts?

Anne Nicklin

Executive Director

Building Materials Reuse Association

LEEDuser Basic Member

116 thumbs up

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 05:38

Hi John, It's always a safe bet to go with the intent of the credit, and with this credit, the calculation is geared towards the area retained. So, I would lean towards counting only the untouched portions of the exterior assembly. That said, there is an old CIR (ruling dated 9/19/2005) that allows for calculating the percentage of a wall section retained based on weight. If it gets down to the line, you could submit a CIR based on the same logic.