The program requirements for our project (a county juvenile courthouse facility) call for all high volume copiers, printers and fax machines to be located in dedicated copy/print rooms (each with deck-to-deck partitions, self-closing doors and the required separate exhaust strategy to remove contaminants from the building). All janitor rooms and housekeeping areas will also be physically separated using the above strategy. That said, there are some areas of the building (three small open office areas within the judges suites, one alcove in Intake and an open office area on the ground floor with seven workstations) where it is impractical to create a separate copy/print room. We are proposing that these areas share small convenience copiers and printers. For these areas, the Owner has agreed to purchase copiers and printers with low ozone and contaminant emissions that meet or exceed the office equipment that has been tested by the GreenGuard Environmental Institute. Based on the above, our question is as follows: What is your definition of a small "convenience" copier and printer, are these devices exempt from all of the requirements listed in IEQ Credit 5 (deck-to-deck partitions, self-closing doors and a separate HVAC exhaust strategy) and if the above strategy is implemented would we meet the requirements for achieving IEQ Credit 5 as it relates to housekeeping and copy/print rooms?
From the description of the strategies incorporated, it appears the project satisfies the credit requirements. As outlined in CIR EQc5 ruling dated 09/24/01, a point can be earned if the building design incorporates a copy/print space that isolates high-volume copy/print equipment and exhausts the space in conformance to the credit requirements. Ultimately, the definition of a convenience copier or printer is left at the discretion of the design team, but they are generally the smaller printers and copiers shared by many office personnel for short print and copy jobs. Page 281 of the LEED-NC v2.1 Reference Guide simply refers them as "small" copiers and printers. It is recommended that the project consider the intent of the credit to "avoid exposure of building occupants to potentially hazardous chemicals that adversely impact air quality" when selecting the equipment, estimating the equipment\'s usage and designing the spaces. Applicable internationally.