Hello!
We are involved in a project of a new headquarters of an architectural firm.
In this project, the owner will be the architectural firm. Of course, the design team will be also part of the architectural firm.
¿Can a disinterested employee of this architectural firm be the CxA of this project?
We know that this possibility is not a problem to achieve EAp1 but we are not sure with EAc3.
Thanks!
Ante Vulin
Sustainability ManagerYR&G
80 thumbs up
February 3, 2012 - 10:45 am
Based on Table 2 shown under the "Checklists" tab above, under the "Design Development" heading, in the item that begins "An Independent Consultant" (sorry I can't just give you a link), an owner's employee is permitted to be the enhanced CxA, assuming that person meets the requirement. I think that direct relationship is the most important factor, beyond the specific business of the owner.
Blas Beristain
19 thumbs up
February 6, 2012 - 4:22 am
Thanks Ante!
Nevertheless, based on this table, a disinterested employee of the arquitect can not be the CxA.
This question is not clear based only on this table. I hope someone has a similar experience and can help us.
Blas Beristain
19 thumbs up
February 10, 2012 - 8:42 am
I was looking for an official response in the LEED Interpretations and Addenda Database and I found it!
According to LEED Interpretation Ruling ID#5205 4/27/2009:
A qualified employee of the Owner can act as the independent CxA for EAc3 as well as EAp1 even though the Owner also controls the design, construction, and construction management.
Ante Vulin
Sustainability ManagerYR&G
80 thumbs up
February 13, 2012 - 5:49 pm
Glad you found that interpretation that confirmed my original answer. Clearly the intent of the credit is to ensure that the owner's interests are represented in the commissioning process.
Scott Bowman
LEED FellowIntegrated Design + Energy Advisors, LLC
LEEDuser Expert
519 thumbs up
March 23, 2012 - 4:57 pm
Just a confirmation that I was the CxA for our firm when we expanded one of our owned offices. We hired an architectural firm, we did the SMEPT, and had a local contractor build it. I do not reside in that office fo was not involved in the design, but did all EAp1 and EAc3 tasks, and we gained LEED Silver on the project.
It was kind of interesting to critique our CFO on what we should include in the project, but we are both Principals, so we were friendly about it!