Date
Inquiry

Our inquiry is a request for clarification regarding the commissioning prerequisite and additional point in to our LEED 2.0 application. Our project is a medical facility consisting of a 153,773 sf Hospital and 67,124 sf Out-patient Service Building (OSB). The Hospital is a complete build-out of new construction while the connected Out-patient Service Building is a Core and Shell project with both concurrent and future Tenant Improvements. LEED v. 2.0 does not specifically address this situation and, in general, was not originally written to apply to hospital facilities. Our overall goal is to earn LEED certification for the entire project consisting of all construction activities (site work, buildings, central utility plant, core and shell construction etc.) with the notable exception of the Tenant Improvements in the Out-patient Service Building. In other words, we are planning to organize our application to certify the entire project minus the Tenant Improvements. We request verification that our approach towards commissioning is consistent with this goal. The entire Hospital and the Core and Shell of the OSB are being thoroughly commissioned. The project does not, however, include commissioning for the Tenant Improvements. The Tenant Improvements that are being completed concurrently with the Hospital are believed to meet the same standards as the Hospital and Core and Shell of the OSB, but will not be commissioned. There are no stipulations regarding commissioning of future tenant improvements. Is this acceptable to the USGBC to earn LEED certification for the entire project minus Tenant Improvements?

Ruling

No. Any project certified to LEED v2 must document achievement of ALL prerequisites for all aspects of the building certified. This means that the project will need to provide documentation that commissioning has been or will be completed on all parts of the the building. Furthermore, it must be demonstrated that the future build-out will meet the same LEED standards applied to the completed building. See the Administrative CIR dated 5/17/02 for more detail.

Internationally Applicable
Off
Campus Applicable
Off