Our project is the redevelopment of an historic masonry building that was previously used as a warehouse. More than 95% of the structure and shell will be retained, but a small portion is being demolished. The existing building had no interior elements that were not part of the structure and shell. The historic windows are being retained and restored, with storm windows added to the interior. We have reviewed the credit ruling dated 5/19/2004 and we understand that the current draft of LEED 2.2 modifies this credit requirement from the 100% of structure and shell down to 95%. Will this project meet the requirements of MRc1.2 outright, or in the absence of non-shell elements to retain, can the existing windows be considered equivalent to non-shell elements (since they are excluded by definition from the structure/shell) to satisfy the 95% of structure/shell and 5% of non-shell requirement described in the 5/19/2004 ruling.
No, historic windows cannot be considered equivalent to non-shell elements. Window assemblies are excluded from the building reuse calculations to discourage projects from retaining old, inefficient windows. This issue might be addressed through the application of storm windows in this project. However, even if windows were included in the calculation they would be considered components of the shell, and so the calculated percent of retained structure/shell/non-shell will not change. The draft requirements of LEED-NCv2.2 cannot be used until it has gone through the member balloting process. All projects submitting under LEED-NC 2.0/2.1 must adhere to the requirements of LEED-NC 2.0/2.1. Applicable internationally.