Our project is a university housing complex consisting of 2, 3, and 4-story apartment buildings. We would like to provide the indoor air quality benefits associated with this credit and have developed an approach to honor the credit requirements in a low-rise residential setting. The buildings are designed such that the apartment entries all face central courtyards. The only path for residents to enter the apartments is to pass through one of three entries into the central courtyard, then proceed to their "front door". We propose to install permanent grilles at each of the courtyard entrances, ensuring that everyone must walk over one to get to their apartment. This approach will be more effective than installing permanent mats at every door due to easier maintenance. Since there are no janitor closets, we will provide educational cards in each apartment describing environmentally preferable cleaning methods and products. Is this an acceptable approach to achieving the credit?
The credit requires that a permanent entryway system - grills, grates, etc. to capture dirt and contaminants - be incorporated at all high volume entryways. The goal is to prevent contamination of the building interior from outdoor contaminants. From the description given, it appears that the courtyard space is an exterior area, and walking across the courtyard presents opportunity to pick up contaminants. Each apartment or common entrance on the ground floor would therefore be considered a primary exterior entrance. These entryways should be installed with permanent entryway systems in order to capture this credit. For upper level apartments serviced by individual or common outdoor stairs, a grate at the bottom of the stairs would suffice to meet this requirement, as this would be the primary transition space between the exterior and interior space. The strategy for providing educational cards is applauded but would not be a necessity to meeting the requirements if there are no chemical use rooms. Any housekeeping spaces (such as common laundry rooms) within the project would however need to meet the requirements for chemical use areas. The LEED Application Guide for Lodging is available on the USGBC website and provides guidelines for low-rise lodging facilities such as these.