This CIR references the provisions for appropriate air filtration media for an office and warehouse distribution facility, as per EQc5. The intent of this credit is to minimize exposure of occupants to potentially hazardous particulates and chemical pollutants. We have accomplished this by traditional means in the office areas by: 1. Employing permanent entryway systems, 2. Exhausting areas with hazardous gases or chemicals sufficiently, 3. Providing proper filtration media: a. The main and warehouse offices will have MERV-8 pre-filters and MERV-13 final filters. b. Green cleaning strategies have been employed throughout the building. As stated on the USGBC website, "LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations is a green building rating system that was designed to guide and distinguish high-performance commercial and institutional projects, with a focus on office buildings. Recognizing that the warehouse is a "LEED challenged building type" and clearly and systematically differentiates from commercial office buildings, there have not been any specific requirements developed to consider this building type. Therefore, to design for minimizing exposure of occupants to potentially hazardous particulates and chemical pollutants in this building type, we referenced ASHRAE Standard 52.2-1999 that provides specifics to warehouse efficiency requirements. The following recommendations were implemented: 1. Selecting the highest recommended filter efficiency for warehouses (MERV-8) based on ASHRAE Standard 52.2-1999. a. ASHRAE recommends 10% (MERV-1) to 35% composite average particle size efficiency for warehouses (MERV-8). b. Typical applications for MERV-13 filtration according to ASHRAE are for high end Commercial Office buildings and healthcare areas such as surgical suites/operating rooms. Based on following ASHRAE\'s requirements, MERV-8 filtration (35%) is considered high end for warehouses. 2. Green cleaning strategies will be employed throughout the building. 3. Trucks are not permitted to idle. 4. No propane fork trucks are permitted or combustion vehicles in the interior. Although we have been awarded this credit for several of our projects using MERV-8 filters in warehouse buildings we wanted to clarify it for other design teams.
The applicant is asking if the warehouse spaces of the project can be exempted from the MERV-13 filtration requirement of this credit. No, based on previous LEED NC 2.2 CIRs, dated 8/13/2008 and 2/12/2008, all air (ventilation and return air) supplied to occupied areas of the building must pass through MERV-13 filtration and therefore the warehouse areas cannot be exempt from this credit requirement. Applicable Internationally.