Our project is a new institutional two story 6,200 square foot convent located within the campus for the Sisters of Saint Dominic in San Rafael California. The program for the building includes office space, a chapel, as well as a common kitchen, communal dining and communal gathering space. Sleeping quarters are also included. We are currently registered under LEED 2.1 and would like confirmation that this institutional dormitory type building within a campus setting will be eligible for LEED 2.1 submittal. Assuming that we can submit for LEED 2.1, we are requesting a USGBC credit interpretation for Energy and Atmosphere Credit 1: Optimize Energy Performance. As a residential occupancy under the California building code the energy calculations under California Title 24 fall under the mult-ifamily residential criteria. We are requesting confirmation that the use of the California Title 24 multi-family residential criteria is acceptable for establishing the energy performance for EA Credit 1.
Your building is eligible for submission under LEED-NC v2.1. The California Title 24 multi-family residential criteria are appropriate for establishing the energy budget for this project. It should be noted that when modeling this facility, the appropriate guidelines should be adhered to for residential applications, such as lighting. The lighting within the living quarters is considered to be a non-regulated load. This means that the assumed light power density and schedule must be the same between the simulations for the energy cost method budget and design cases. The common areas, including common kitchen, dining, and lounge areas, are regulated and can be modeled with energy efficiency measures that reduce the light power density. The regulated and unregulated lighting energy consumption should be separated and treated differently in the energy cost budget worksheet.