who has to pay for the renewable systems?

I'm confused—is the project a LEED-CI or LEED-CS project? For CS, you could apply it here. For LEED-CI, it would fall under SSc1.

Hi Tristan,
I have a similar project set-up, and we are looking to confirm what systems we can claim under our CS project. We are working with the building owner/mgr on the CS portion. They will have a single tenant (a company that provides solar systems, among other things) who is pursuing CI on their own. The tenant is paying for, and will own, solar installations on the site, though the systems are shown on our CS drawings, since they are considered in the site design of the CS contract. The tenant is also planning on installing solar on the roof; similarly, the installation is shown on our plans, since the CS building must plan for the weight and systems. Additionally, there will be a CHP system installed on the site, similarly owned/operated by the tenant.

Is the CS project able to claim energy produced from the solar systems under EA Cr 2? Similarly, can the CS project claim any energy savings from the tenant-installed/owned systems? There is no lease language addressing these items, since they are the tenants. If the CS project is able to claim EA Cr 2 and/or savings under EA Pre 2, can the tenant similarly claim these items under their related credits?

Typically the owner of the system can claim the renewable energy. It can be sold but the RECs must be retained. The same renewable power cannot be claimed by both the CS and CI projects.

Dang. That's what I thought, but figured I should ask to be sure. Thanks!

I think you need to be a bit more creative. In a 'build to suit' situation (which this sounds like) base building costs are often shared between the developer and the tenant. If the PV is going in as part of the base building project, and it's on the base building plans, I would consider it part of the CS project, and would take full credit for it. The CI project would then take credit under Site Selection for being in a building equipped with solar.

But don't sell the RECs.

Interesting. The most recent version of the tenant's CI checklist shows that they're targeting the SS Cr 1 option for being in a certified building (and therefore not getting specific with the other SS Cr 1 sub options), and plan on pursuing an ID credit for on-site renewable energy. I'm wondering if it would be reasonable (and if the tenant might agree) to split the systems so that both projects can benefit. Perhaps the CS project could claim the site solar, and the CI project could claim the rooftop solar...

Sounds like playing LEED games to me. If the tenant owns the system then the CS project cannot claim the PV power. I suppose you could play some sort of ownership game and make it work technically.

Does anyone have any experience with the Exemplary Performance option for renewable energy under Core and Shell? It states that the 1 point is available if the tenant is required to achieve 5% on-site renewable energy. It also states that any EP credit must also be achieved first by the base building, but in this case, the tenant is the only party responsible for the PV. 

If the tenant owns the PV the core and shell project can't claim it.