Our project scope is unique in that the building owner is currently seeking certification under LEED Core & Shell for the overall base building tower, while also requiring all tenants to attain LEED for Commercial Interiors certification. Due to this unique scenario it is unclear exactly how to address certain credit requirements for the Commercial Interiors projects when the space will be located within a Core & Shell building concurrently pursuing the same related credits, effectively making a LEED NC project. The below grade parking structure (for both LEED projects) is intended to serve the entire masterplan (not just our building) with a total of 2,115 parking spaces. To meet the LEED CS credit requirement for the office tower, a maximum of 1,500 spaces (not to exceed) can be "allocated" (demonstrated operationally and via parking passes) to the total project, such that the remaining 615 spaces will serve the additional masterplan facilities. While we understand that there is no requirement in LEED CS to provide preferred carpool parking spaces we would like to ensure that all tenants will be able to provide the appropriate number of preferred carpool spaces. LEED CI credit requirements for Case A (projects occupying < 75% of building gsf) state that the project shall not exceed minimum local zoning AND provide preferred parking for carpools for 5% of the occupants. Requiring the calculation to be based on occupancy rather than the number of parking spaces, such as in LEED NC, does not effectively address the ratios between the number of employees and the total amount of provided parking. For this project if we assume all tenants will pursue this credit, a default occupancy of 5944 would require 298 preferred carpool spaces or 20% of total spaces. Because the CS and CI calculations and requirements vary greatly, we would like to suggest meeting the alternate equivalent NC v2.2 Option 1 compliance path, whereby all of the registered projects can reasonably achieve the credit. In this scenario, we would provide preferred carpool parking for 5% of total parking capacity (1,500 spaces per local zoning), or 75 carpool spaces, which would be allocated among all of the tenants based on their total allocation of parking spaces in the deck. With this, please confirm that all registered projects will be able to earn the credit.
The project is asking if providing preferred carpool parking for 5% of total parking capacity is an acceptable alternative compliance pathway for achieving SSc3.3 under LEED CI. The answer depends on the amount of parking available to employees. Per a previous LEED CI SSc3.3 CIR ruling dated 1/27/2007, based on a scenario with limited parking access for employees, using LEED-NC v2.2 SSc4.4 Option 1 as a compliance path to determine the number of preferred parking spaces for carpools is reasonable for the LEED-CI project. "Limited parking access for employees" is defined as 20% or less of employees having access to parking. If more than 20% of the parking is available to employees then the requirements of SSc3.3 as defined in the LEED CI reference guide need to be met Project teams will need to adequately demonstrate how parking is restricted to employees to pursue this alternative compliance pathway. Applicable Internationally.