Hi,
Can you please help me confirm how we verify LEED ND: Built Project as the suitable rating system path to follow, and set the boundary to accommodate this?
The guidance states that:
a. p12 Select Rating System - 'LEED ND: Plan' applies where a project 'has constructed less than 75% of its total building floor area'. Inferring that where 75% or greater of the total building floor area is constructed LEED ND: Built Project is applicable.
b. p57 LEED for Neighbourhood Developement - 'It is recommended that at least 50% of total building floor area be new construction or major renovation.'
It has been suggested this be applied as 50% of 75%. Can you confirm if that is acceptable (and the requirement is not the opposite)?
If the case, firstly the boundary is set so that 75% of the buildings within it are already constructed (a). Then of those buildings it is calculated how many need to comply with ND new building prerequisite requirements to supplement the total non-constructed floor area and satisfy the 50% new construction criteria (b). This then sets the LEED ND project start date (pre-dating the date of occupation of the eldest constructed building that must comply with prerequisite requirements). The remainder of constructed buildings are then regarded as existing for the purposes of LEED.
I hope my query is clear. Your advice would be welcome.
Eliot Allen
LEED AP-ND, PrincipalCriterion Planners
LEEDuser Expert
303 thumbs up
May 28, 2015 - 2:37 pm
Philippa, the percentages used in selecting an ND rating system and satisfying the new construction requirement are not mathematically related. Generally, a project will occur as follows for a private developer that acquires land for a new ND development:
1. Acquisition of the property, whose legally platted boundary becomes the ND boundary. The acquisition date becomes the ND project start date.
2. Design of new buildings and any major building renovations, and confirmation that the new + renovated floor area equals at least 50% of the total building floor area in the project boundary (which allows for pre-project buildings on the property to remain unaltered). Note that the 50% is a recommendation, not an MPR.
3. The developer may then choose to submit under ND Plan at any point during project construction, or under ND Built Project upon completion of construction. In either case, the date of cert submission becomes the 'existing conditions' date cited on page 24 of the Reference Guide, and buildings are categorized per our previous exchange on that item.
Regarding the selection of a rating system, I believe the '75%' on page 12 of the v4 Reference Guide may be a typo that should be read as '100%' in order to be consistent with the definition of a Built Project as being fully built, i.e. 100%, and for consistency with the page 57 definition of Plan as 'under construction' without reference to a percentage of construction completed, and Built Project as 'completed,' i.e. 100% constructed.
Eliot