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NC-v4 EQc4:Indoor air quality assessment

Flush Out for "During Occupancy" Case of a Major Renovation proj

Our project is an office building undergoing major renovation. The building will remain operational while the renovation is ongoing. The building occupancy will be phased to move the employees between various floors, as required, while keeping the relevant floor undergoing construction as unoccupied. The office building has a central atrium with open office spaces at its periphery looking into the atrium without any physical air barrier. My questions are- 1. As the individual floors are planned to be occupied immediately after the floor-level renovation, can we do a separate flush-out for each floor ? 2. If yes then, since the building will remain occupied throughout the construction stage, in such a case even if "during occupancy" option is selected, how effective is that flush out process going to be for individual floors as the atrium allows for the leakage of contaminants to other floors? Thanks in advance for your responses!

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Fri, 09/01/2017 - 18:02

Hi Shabari, 1. The requirement for the during occupancy flush-out is that the space may only be occupied after a delivery of a minimum of 3,500 cubic feet of air per square foot. So I do not believe you will be able to immediately occupy the floors until this requirement is met. The reference guide is not clear if a floor by floor flush out is allowable, but they do state that "if multiple, discrete HVAC systems operate independently, the team may flush out portions of the building as work is competed in each area served by a given system." So if your floor by floor approach aligns with this, it should be okay. 2. This is a valid question. Seeing that the RG states different HVAC zones can be flushed out as work is completed hints to me that this is okay, even with the risk of contaminants moving between floors. I cannot speak to the effectiveness of the flush out if contaminants can leak between floors. However, flushing out the spaces will be better for occupants than performing no flush out at all. I hope this helps!
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Sikander Nawaz
Electrical Engineer
Greenfield Trading LLC
LEEDuser Basic Member
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Sat, 10/28/2017 - 05:53

Hi @Kimberly. We are working on Commercial Building G+5 in LEED V4, BD-NC. According to LEED requirements, Total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) should be tested using ISO 16000-6 and ISO 16000-3, also Formaldehyde should be tested using ISO 16000-3, My questions are; 1) Can we use any other part of ISO-16000 to test the TVOCs & Formaldehyde as the local govt is accepting the results using other testing methods for these two. 2) What other impurities should be tested in TVOCs as chemical analysis is not possible for the client. 3) What testing method should be used for carbon dioxide? Thanks & Regards;

Thu, 11/02/2017 - 18:12

Hi Sikander, Great questions.  1) Unfortunately, the testing methods listed in the Reference Guide must be used to test for TVOCs and Formaldehyde, no substitutions are allowable, yet. GBCI has not published any interpretations or other gudiance to allow project teams to use other methodologies. I would recommend using a Credit Interpretation Ruling to inquire GBCI if an alternative testing method may comply in your case. 2) I am not sure I understand this question. Are you wondering what specific VOCs or other contaminants could be measured to substitue for a  TVOC test?  3) Carbon Dioxide testing is not required by this credit, therefore there is no required testing methodology per the LEED requirements.  I hope this helps!

Tue, 04/24/2018 - 09:14

Hi Kimberly This is a bit delayed but thank you for answering my question back in 2017. Seems like I totally overlooked your response. Anyway, I am now busy with another project, which is a new construction, where the contractor would prefer to perform floor-wise flush out 'during occupancy'. And, I arrived at the same concern that I expressed in my previous query about possible contaminant trespassing between floors. In this case, however, the atrium is sealed from the work spaces and therefore, I have recommended the contractor to go ahead and prepare a strategy per floor as they wanted to. As far as this approach's alignment is concerned with regards to the 'discrete HVAC system' statement in the RG, it is not quite the same thing as their is a single rooftop AHU serving the entire building. So, I have decided to take a chance here by complying with the EQ4's volume and rate requirements and possibly drafting a narrative towards the end of the project explaining the floor-wise flush out approach.  Thanks again for your help!  

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