Our project is a 68,000 s.f. office / warehouse or light industrial building. It is designed to house 2 tenants, one of which has already had its space upfitted to potentially achieve certain LEED 2.1 credits and occupies over half of the building square footage. The entire site and building shell have been designed and constructed to potentially achieve various LEED 2.1 credits. The remaining tenant space has not been leased or fitted out and it is unknown when it will be done so.Based on several previous CIR rulings, we would like to craft a future tenant space \'fit out guideline\' that will support the LEED credits that we have attempted to secure in the constructed space. This guideline will include "specific performance goals, information, and resource leads, as well as required elements where applicable". Some of the credits that we are pursuing will require us to assume a hypothetical maximum or minimum (whatever is most restrictive) occupant load to calculate usage rates for the entire building. (Example: Innovative Waste Water Reduction WE Cr. 2 sewage conveyance reduction requires an assumed fixture count for the future tenant space)Our project was registered in May 2004 and under LEED 2.1. We are trying to confirm that the approach we are proposing will be acceptable for a LEED certification submission in the near future.
The approach you propose is consistent with prior Administrative CIR Rulings that allow for buildings with a partial shell and core element to meet LEED-NC requirements. These buildings have demonstrated that tenant fit-out guidelines have been established to insure that future build-out areas can also meet LEED prerequisites and requirements for the credits pursued. Your approach to utilizing the most restrictive hypothetical case for credits associated with occupant loads is reasonable, and should be documented clearly. For further guidance and details, please refer to Administrative CIR Rulings dated 10/4/2004, 5/24/2004, and 5/17/2002. Note: this ruling does not apply to Core and Shell projects. Applicable Internationally.