This project is a new City and County Courthouse in Denver. Courtrooms and jury deliberation rooms have unique space requirements that require the need for privacy and controlled lighting. It might be possible to provide daylighting in some of the courtrooms but the area of glazing and the depth of the space make it nearly impossible to meet daylighting requirements for LEED compliance. Additionally, if glazing is provided, it will be at a high level height for security purposes. This credit applies to both 8.1 and 8.2 though only submitted under 8.2. Also, courtrooms and jury deliberation rooms have a highly fluctuating schedule. Some courtrooms are not used for several days for example so whether they are considered regularly occupied or not is questionable. Also, holding cells are used to hold prisoners in for just a few hours of the day and are often located in interior zones with no daylighting or views for security purposes. Can these room types, specifically courtrooms, holding cells, and jury deliberation rooms, be excluded for views and for daylighting?
This CIR is inquiring if courtrooms, holding cells, and jury deliberation rooms can be excluded from compliance with the requirements of EQc8.2 based on intermittent occupancy schedules and security purposes. The LEED NCv2.2 Reference Guide defines "Regularly Occupied Spaces" as, "areas where workers are seated or standing as they work inside a building." Spaces that may have intermittent or infrequent occupancy, such as court rooms, conference rooms, etc., may not be excluded from consideration solely based on the duration or frequency of occupation. All rooms that are considered regularly occupied must be considered for compliance with the credit requirements. The second issue posed by the CIR deals with specific security issues relating to court rooms and holding cells. The CIR indicates that these spaces, for security reasons, cannot be designed with low level glazing to permit direct, line of sight, access to views, as required by this credit. Projects may exclude certain regularly occupied spaces from compliance with the credit requirements if specific functional requirements exist that prohibit the incorporation of glazing for direct access to views. Project teams must provide a detailed narrative explaining the reasons for exemption of spaces. Applicable Internationally.