Credit Interpretation Request Credit SS-4.4 The project, located in New York City, is a 480,000 SF office building with 90,000 SF retail. We are applying under LEED Core and Shell v.2.0. The FTE population is 2100 persons; 3% of this amount is 63 spaces. The project has 52 valet parking spaces consisting of mechanically stacked parking. As this is less than 3% of the FTE population, we seek to achieve Credit SS-4.4 through Option 2, providing preferred parking for 3% of the spaces (2 spaces total) for vanpools or carpools. Because of the valet parking, the usual approach to preferred parking (locating it conveniently and reserving the spaces) is not straightforward, and we seek your guidance on how to proceed. 1. The approach that most closely approximates that used for self-parking is for the preferred spaces to be at grade level and close to the valet station, thus shortening the wait 2. A second form of preference would be that the operators of carpools or vanpools would be served first if there is a line for valet service. 3. A third approach is to offer a discount to operators of vanpools or carpools, up to the number equal to 3% of the parking spaces - in our case 2 operators. We assume that the discount would be 5% of the value of the parking fee. We request your judgment as to whether any or all of these approaches would achieve the Credit.
The applicant has requested clarification of three different approaches as acceptable substitutes for preferred parking for carpools or vanpools. 1. Locating the preferred spaces so as to provide the shortest wait does meet the intent of preferred parking. 2. Allowing owners of preferred spaces to move to the front of the valet line is *not* an acceptable alternative to preferred parking. 3. Providing discounted parking rates is an acceptable approach. In order to establish a meaningful incentive in all potential markets, the parking rate must be discounted at least 20%. The discounted rate must be available for all building occupants (not limited to the number of customers equal to 3% of the vehicle parking capacity). Applicable Internationally.