PI Form 3 occupancy question, transient student vs retail

Mike - I ran into the same problem. For space types where Appendix 1 provided default occupancies, I divided the GSF by the LEED SF per occupant to get the Daily Average occupant load. For the Peak Occupancy, I divided the GSF by the building code SF per Occupant, since code allows for much less square footage per person than LEED. For space types that were not listed in App 1, I used the building code SF for peak, and a "best guess" for daily average. With the lack of guidance here, this is the best I could come up with. We are not even close to submitting for review, so I'm not sure how this method will be received by the LEED Reviewer. I'll post an update when I find out....

Erica, was your approach accepted by the LEED reviewer in the end?

Hi Erika - we are no where close to submitting for review yet (at least a year away), but I will definitely post an update once we hear back. My approach described above is intended to be very conservative, so I do fully anticipate it being accepted.

Erica and Mike, Wanted to post an update on this: We had the same case as Mike, multi-family residential with retail on ground floor. We used CS Appendix 1 for Peak values and for the daily average we took the peak value and multiplied it by the hourly schedule and expected occupancy used for the energy model. The schedule varied from weekday to weekend so we accounted for this as well, obtained a total yearly value of occupants and then divided by 365 days to obtain what the average daily value would be. Our justification in the narrative was as simple as saying that we used the values from the energy model to maintain consistency across credits. We received the final review and it was accepted. Also I might note, that the final values we obtained we not that different from looking at code values (which we looked into as an option as well) I think either of these methods would work.