Historical Buildings with Protected Facades

Jean, I can't speak to other LEED systems, but for ND it may not be an impossibility. The first ND question is whether a majority of the total building floor area inside the project boundary is new construction or major renovation. Major renovation was defined in an Aug 2011 addenda to be: "extensive alteration work, in addition to work on the exterior shell of the building, and/or primary structural components, and/or core and peripheral MEP and service systems, and/or site work. Typically, the extent and nature of the work is such that the primary function space cannot be used for its intended purpose while the work is in progress and where a new certificate of occupancy is required before the work area can be re-occupied." If a majority of the total building floor area inside the boundary meets this guideline, then for any credit that is problematic because of historic constraints, you can submit a "special circumstances" explanation of how the credit is being achieved through an alternative path. As always, it's best to first run such an approach past ND staff to confirm acceptability. Two footnotes: ND 2009 isn't subject to Minimum Program Requirements like other LEED systems, so eligibility guidelines are flexible; and ND guidance on historic preservation is at http://www.usgbc.org/resources/leed-neighborhood-development-and-historic-preservation. Out of curiosity, how does the German DGNB - Urban Districts rating system deal with this issue? Eliot