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Eligibility for LEED - existing building structure

Agnieszka Rylska

GO4IT SP Z OO SP K

LEEDuser Basic Member

26 thumbs up

Project location :

Poland

March 6, 2015

Our client would like to certify a building that had its structural components and facade built a few years ago. The building however was never finished, there are no HVAC instalation and there are no interior finishes. Now they want to finish the building which means that there will be some internal works and instalation of HVAC systems. The envelope of the building won't be changed. Is this building eligible for LEED CS certification? Can we define the building as major renovation even though it was never used and there won't be any changes made to the building envelope?

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Dave Hubka

Practice Leader - Sustainability

EUA

LEEDuser Expert

510 thumbs up

Fri, 03/06/2015 - 13:26

You could pursue CS if you don't build out the interior during this next phase.

Agnieszka Rylska

GO4IT SP Z OO SP K

LEEDuser Basic Member

26 thumbs up

Fri, 03/06/2015 - 13:41

Thank you for your reply. So do you think we can define this building as "major renovation" eventhough we are not going to change anything in the building envelope?

Dave Hubka

Practice Leader - Sustainability

EUA

LEEDuser Expert

510 thumbs up

Fri, 03/06/2015 - 13:45

since the building was never complete it would not meet the definition of "major renovation".

Agnieszka Rylska

GO4IT SP Z OO SP K

LEEDuser Basic Member

26 thumbs up

Fri, 03/06/2015 - 14:04

Then should it be defined as a new building? The problem is that it was constructed a few years ago by a different company and I'm afraid that there would be problems with documenting the Prerequsite (SSp1) connected to construction activities which probably were not conducted according to LEED requirements.

Dave Hubka

Practice Leader - Sustainability

EUA

LEEDuser Expert

510 thumbs up

Fri, 03/06/2015 - 15:49

you are correct, documenting previous activities from different companies is difficult and in most cases impossible. most notably the documentation of an ESC plan (SSp1) and the OPR/BOD review of EAp1. The best plan may be to contact the USGBC and see if you could "reset" this project prior to moving forward. It would be benificial to all if you could post the USGBC response on this forum. Good Luck!

Melissa Merryweather

Director

Green Consult-Asia

LEEDuser Basic Member

171 thumbs up

Sat, 03/07/2015 - 02:09

For what its worth, we had a similar situation and we decided to take the slow train: finish the building, wait 18 months and certify under LEED EBOM. The strategy worked, and knowing we were going to certify under LEED EBOM really helped focus the remaining construction work so that we could maximise the outcome of the future certification.