Would an extended stay hotel be considered residential? I am trying to calculate the number of bicycle racks we will have to provide for a project, but I am unsure as to how LEED defines the term "residential".
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David Posada
Integrated Design & LEED SpecialistSERA Architects
LEEDuser Expert
1980 thumbs up
August 8, 2011 - 2:28 pm
Good question. In many countries, building codes often classify hotels as a "residential occupancy" though in LEED, hotels are usually considered commercial buildings. Thus FTE numbers and bike showering facilities are based on the hotel staff, whereas guests are usually considered transients. See LEED interpretations #2422, 2082, and 1698.
The Rating System Selection Guidance v2 document from Nov 24, 2010 defines Residential as "a space or building that is defined as a 'dwelling unit' by all applicable codes, and has a cooking area (comprised of sinks(s), cooking appliance(s), preparation spaces(s) and a bathroom." If the hotel doesn't have kitchens in all guest rooms, it's more clearly non-residential, but if it does have kitchens in all rooms it is less clear to me. If there is ambiguity, the LEED reviewer would probably look to how your building is classified by local codes, so you'll want to use that for guidance, but as we've seen, the codes may define the hotel as residential.
The intent of the different credit requirements is to provide better shelter and more storage for residential users. Since users of an extended stay hotel are possibly more likely to need and use bikes for transit than a short term hotel user, it would be safer to assume the residential classification. If this is a concern for your project, you might need a CIR to get a definite answer.