We are submitting this credit interpretation for an Elementary School currently under construction. Our construction team has developed both a detailed Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan (for Credit 3.1) and a 2-week Building Flushout Protocol (for credit 3.2), but as we begin to implement the Plan, the primary contractors have requested a number of clarifications to ensure that the Plan is executed in strict accordance with LEED requirements: 1. Credit 3.1 requires that all filtration media be replaced immediately prior to occupancy, and Credit 3.2 requires that all filtration media be replaced immediately prior to the flushout. Shall we interpret this to mean that all filtration media in the facility needs to be replaced both before AND after the 2-week flushout in order to capture both points? Or is there an optimal time to replace filters only once in relation to the flushout and building occupancy? 2. Our building is comprised of several wings, which can be separated from each other physically and whose mechanical systems can be run independently. Is it acceptable to flush out sections of the building as they are completed, rather than waiting until the very end to flush out the entire building (this will be important because the administrative areas will need to be used before the classroom wings, and we have scheduled construction such that that area will be completed and ready for flushout several weeks earlier)? 3. Because our facility is a school, and must open on a certain non-negotiable date, our construction team would like to allow certain, non polluting, activities to occur during the 2-week flushout period (examples include: finishing the building commissioning, completing minor punch-list items, and allowing teachers to move belongings into their rooms but not regularly occupy those spaces). Are these and similar activities permissible during the flushout period? Are there any strictly forbidden activities that we need to expressly prohibit during the flushout period?
1. The new filtration media replaced immediately prior to building flush out may be used as the same filtration media required by EQ credit 3.1, for filtration media that filters incoming air only. -- *NOTE (Nov 1 2007): Per errata posted in Fall 2007, there is no LEED or ASHRAE 52.2-1999 requirement for MERV 13 filtration during construction. LEED-NCv2.1 EQc3.1 requires MERV 8 filters on return air grills during construction, and for all filtration media to be replaced with MERV 13 immediately prior to occupancy/at the end of construction. LEED-NCv2.1 EQc3.2 (option one) requires MERV 13 filtration media at 100% outside air during flush out. -- 2. If the wings are separated physically during the phased completion of the project and the mechanical systems can be made to operate separately, then it is acceptable to flush out the wings of the building as they are completed, assuming no additional construction work will be required in those wings. Once the completed wings have been flushed out, maintain separation from areas under construction per SMACNA Guidelines for Occupied Buildings. 3. Punch-list items are part of construction and must be completed prior to building flush out. Commissioning is not part of construction and, as long as the process of commissioning does not introduce any additional contaminants into the building, may occur during flush out. Moving items into the building such as furniture may add a chemical sink to the interior of the building. Porous items can absorb VOC\'s and chemical vapors and may defeat the purpose of the flush out. Non-porous items such as metal furniture, however, are acceptable. Specific activities forbidden during flush out include any construction work.