LEED certification without heating and cooling systems

It is possible since 90.1 does not dictate comfort. The process to do so can get quite invoved so spelling it out is beyond answering a question here. We worked on one in the recent past, not sure if it was submitted for LEED yet or not.

One follow-up question: For an unheated/uncooled building, does the building have to meet ASRAE 90.1 minimum insualtion requirements? (IE: to be a LEED certified building can an unehated building be uninsulated?) ASHRAE 90.1 states that a metal building in Zone 5 would need R19 in the roof and R13 in the walls. It would seem that to be LEED certified you would have to have that insulation in the building even though it is not heated.

The building we worked on that was not heated or cooled was in a tropical climate. I am guessing that an unheated/uncooled building in climate zone 5 would also be unoccupied, insulated or not, and therefore does not comply with the MPR regarding occupancy?

ASHRAE 90.1 only applies to the envelope of buildings provided that the enclosed spaces are heated or cooled. (see Section 2.2 of the standard) The LEED BD+C reference guide does not acknowledge Section 2.2, it states on page #269 "Both heating and cooling must be modeled in all conditioned spaces of both the proposed and the baseline building, even if no heating or cooling system will be installed." To comply with Appendix G, insulation as outlined in Section #5, is a mandatory prerequisite of the Performance Rating Method. See section G1.2 of ASHRAE 90.1. I would argue that a new building that does not meet the insulation requirements of ASHRAE 90.1 can not become LEED certified as this standard is a prerequisite. I would also argue that buildings that are not heated or cooled should not use ASHRAE 90.1 to measure their energy efficiency since this standard explicitly states that it is not meant for these types of buildings. If you really want your LEED plaque here's what you could do: Build the shell, then register the building for LEED certification. Since this is an existing structure your baseline envelope values are the existing conditions rather than the requirements as outlined by ASHRAE 90.1 section #5. Social Responsibility is one of the three concepts of the Triple Bottom Line, so rather than chase LEED points and manipulate the LEED rating system make sure you do the right thing. . . that's my two cents. Also, a building with less than 1 annual FTE occupant does not exclude it from LEED certification, it only excludes the project from earning optional credits in the IEQ category.

Thank you both for the input so far. The option to build and then certify as an existing building is a good one. As a clarification - the building indeed has FTE's. The building has equipment in it that discharges operational heat that can keep the interior sufficiently heated (based on previous installations). The owner is looking at using supplemental radiant heaters above the occupied working areas for winter, and mechanical ventilation for cooling. Taking a second look at this, once we put radiant heaters in this building, we are officially "heated", and we must meet ASHRAE 90.1 and insulatie the building. For now, I think we will model the building with baseline heating and cooling equipment with minumum insulation and earn compliance by using higher efficiancy radiant heaters and increased insulation.