I have a couple of questions under this credit and would greatly appreciate any feedback LEED User members might have.
Question #1: The credit states that "all freestanding furniture and medical furnishings, including mattresses, foams, panel fabrics, cubicle curtains, window coverings, and other textiles"...must comply with the one of the three options listed. My question is about the definition of "medical furnishings." Would a power exam table be considered a medical furnishing or a piece of medical equipment?
Question #2: In the Credit Requirements, it states that "build-in casework and built-in millwork items must be included in the base building calculations, even if manufactured offsite." BUT under the Calculations section of the same credit, it states that "built-in millwork and casework must be included in MRc3 under the base building calculations; it is excluded from MRc5." Can anyone make sense of this discrepancy?
Simon Sue
SL+A INTERNATIONAL ASIA INC.411 thumbs up
March 2, 2012 - 6:08 am
In answer to Question #2:
LEED attempts to separate *base building elements* from **non-base building elements** by addressing the two categories under separate credits.
Under MRc3, anything considered a part of the *base building* (ex: casework and millwork) should be included in MRc3 calculations; **non-base building elements** (ie Furniture or Furnishings that are Division 12 items) should be excluded.
Under MRc5, anything considered to be a **non-base building element** (ex: Division 12 items - Furniture and Furnishings) should be included in MRc5 calculations, the reference guide is letting you know that those *base building elements* (ex: casework and millwork) will be excluded, because the credit is addressing only Furniture and Medical Furnishings (Division 12 items), ie **non-base building elements**.
james moler, p.e.
mgr systems engineeringturner healthcare
46 thumbs up
March 2, 2012 - 7:25 am
First question is easy; the power exam table is movable medical equipment.
Second question is more challenging. Even though the statements appear to conflict, they are complementary. Built-ins are not eligible for consideration to achieve the 30% or 40% threshold for MR c5 because they are not "furniture and medical furnishings." The requirement directs users to account for millwork as base building. The calculation directs users not to use millwork as furniture and furnishings. Sometimes emphasizing a point introduces ambiguity!
Susan Walter
HDRLEEDuser Expert
1296 thumbs up
March 2, 2012 - 8:59 am
Do be careful on excluding any Div 12 built in casework. See other conversations in the NC board (MRc5, 7) regarding inclusion of Div 12 items in MR credits. The reviewers aren't kind when you try to hide things in Div 12.
Hernando Miranda
OwnerSoltierra LLC
344 thumbs up
October 4, 2012 - 11:51 am
Do not hide built-in casework in Division 12.
I have run into unscrupulous architects, contractors and LEED consultants who try to get away with that.
In one ugly case, the case work hidden in Div 12 was laboratory casework that was 95% of the value for all the installed casework. The Div 12 casework was: bolted to the floor, was hard wired, was hard plumbed, had flooring cutout to fit around the base, included flooring base. A permanent installation.
I was the LEED consultant for the owner. The LEED consultant I did battle with was hired by the general contractor and represented the GC's interest, not the owner's. The reason the battle got ugly was the GC had intention of paying for certified wood for the lab casework.
The architect --one that claims a high level of LEED expertise-- decided not to include FSC spec language in Div 12 for the lab casework because they decided it all lab casework belonged in DIV 12 and therefore was furniture, regardless if it was actually permanently built-in construction.