We are requesting an interpretation of how to meet this credit in an airline terminal building. The terminal's public spaces serve a large volume of transient occupants (airline passengers), plus a significant number of workers who work in locations that are not able to be served by individual controls, including airline ticket counters, boarding gate podiums, and retail concession stands. However, the terminal also contains a significant number of office spaces for airport and tenant airline staff (airlines rent the office spaces from the airport) that are furnished as typical workstations and where lighting controls can improve the quality of the space for occupants. Office space is approximately 13% of total floor area. Because the usage of the public spaces is similar to that of a retail space in terms of the relationships of transient and regular occupants to control over the space, we propose an alternative compliance path using the standards of LEED for Retail (current ballot draft version). This would require providing lighting controls to 90% of employees in office and administrative spaces, enabling adjustments to suit individual task needs and preferences AND providing lighting system controllability for all shared multi-occupant office and support spaces to enable lighting adjustment that meets group needs and preferences. Please confirm whether this approach would be an acceptable means to meet the intent of the credit for airport terminals and other buildings with large transient public occupancy, retail and retail-like transactional areas, and small but significant office support spaces.
The applicant is requesting confirmation on if the lighting controllability requirements of IEQ Credit 6 under the proposed LEED for Retail for New Construction Rating System can be used in lieu of IEQ Credit 6.1 for an NC v2.2 project based on the retail-like nature of the public space. While this degree of controllability may be more appropriate for the project, it is not considered to be of equivalent stringency in that it only addresses administrative and support spaces. Therefore, the alternative compliance path as proposed is not acceptable. However, an alternative compliance path of IEQ Credit 6 under the proposed LEED for Retail for New Construction Rating System (both lighting and thermal comfort controllability requirements) is acceptable for projects with significant retail space in lieu of the existing IEQ Credit 6.1 requirements. To be eligible for this alternative compliance path, projects must forego eligibility for IEQ Credit 6.2. Applicable Internationally.