The City of Charlottesville is currently in the process of planning a multi-use transit center for which we are pursuing a Silver LEED accreditation. The multi-use facility in design will include the shell for installation of a restaurant on the upper floor of the building. Locating a restaurant at this site is ideal in marketing terms due to the popularity of the surrounding areas and the high quality of restaurants already in the area. The restaurant space will, of course, be required to comply with all credits pursued by our organization, as described in our application. With a grand total of 23, 295 sq ft of enclosed space in the multi-use facility, 15,795 sq ft of that will be designated non-smoking and the remaining portion, confined to the restaurant\'s enclosed space will be isolated through the use of negative pressure ventilation and an isolated HVAC system that effectively eliminates any contamination of restaurant air with air circulated through the rest of the facility. The fidelity of the isolation measures will be tested in compliance with methods described in ASHRAE Standard 129-1997 (Smoking Room Testing). Will the ratio of 15,795 sq ft enclosed non-smoking space : 23,295 sq ft total enclosed space be sufficient to qualify for the ETS pre-requisite? In other words, will a smoking room that comprises a fair percentage of the building\'s total floor space be within the letter of the pre-requisite given full compliance with isolated ventilation requirements?
The prerequisite requires, "Zero exposure of nonsmokers to ETS by prohibition of smoking in the building, OR, provide a designated smoking room designed to effectively contain, capture and remove ETS from the building". The CIR narrative implies that the entire restaurant is being treated as a smoking room. While this approach will prevent building occupants in other spaces within the building from tobacco smoke exposure, it does not protect non-smoking restaurant patrons from smoke within the space. If smoking cannot be prohibited in the restaurant, the project team and owner may wish to consider creating a fully contained smoking section within the facility that meets the requirements set forth under the prerequisite. Applicable Internationally.