Date
Inquiry

Our project, a Central Utility Plant or CUP, is the building and site for a district heating and cooling plant. The building houses chillers, boilers, pumps, compressors, and related equipment. Chilled water, steam, and compressed air (for building controls) will be generated within the building and piped to 23 existing buildings through underground piping. The building which houses the equipment will also have administrative office areas. Therefore, there are 2 distinct areas within the building: One area is industrial in nature, and the other is an office area. The industrial areas which house the equipment will be occupied when necessary for maintenance and operation procedures, while the offices will be occupied as typical office occupancies. We seek approval for treating the industrial portion of the project as a non-occupied area, thereby not applying the requirements of the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) category of points to that portion of the project. With intermittent occupancy and reduced flexibility in the choice of (equipment component) materials, the requirements of the IEQ category appear to be inappropriate for the industrial space. ASHRAE 62.1-2004 lists many occupancies, but none of them similar to the equipment area of the CUP in type.

Ruling

The CIR is asking whether the requirements of EQ category of LEED applies to areas that are not occupiable (per ASHRAE Standard 62.1 2004 definition) or non-occupied (per LEED v2.2 EQc8 definition). The requirements of EQc1, EQc2, EQc6.1, EQc6.2, EQc7.1, EQc7.2, EQc8.1, and EQc8.2 are only applicable to occupiable or occupied areas; non-occupiable spaces that meet either the ASHRAE Standard 62.1 2004 or LEED v2.2 definition can be excluded from compliance with these credits. The requirements of EQp1, EQp2, EQc3.1, EQc3.2, EQc4.1, EQc4.2, EQc4.3, EQc4.4, and EQc5 do not differentiate between occupied (LEED definition) or occupiable areas (ASHRAE definition) and must be applied to all spaces within the building envelope. These credits and prerequisites affect adjacent spaces that might be occupiable and will also ensure that the construction team is not adversely affected by poor Indoor Environmental Quality. Applicable Internationally.

Internationally Applicable
On
Campus Applicable
Off