We have a project on a military base that must achieve LEED Silver and we are off to a rocky start with the recent return of our design credit submission. The project is New Construction (replacing an older building elsewhere on the base). there is no new parking provided with the project. All existing campus parking will be utilized by occupants. However, we will be taking (10) spaces from an adjacent lot and designated them for LEFE vehicles for our building. So, our project boundary includes the building and surrounding grounds, but excludes all parking since it is existing and not required per code or jurisdiction. We received comments stating that it is unclear how (10) parking spaces will support the occupancy of 320 peak users and why that parking has been excluded from the project boundary.

Has anyone experieced this on a similar project? What is the best way to address this...through a narrative, and additional site map showing all parking areas within the base (or campus). If none of the parking is new, is it wrong for us to exclude it from the project boundary?

Looking for some ideas, as this required form and boundary issue has a rippling affect throughout many LEED credits.