Open-plan office classification under Thermal Comfort controls

Hello Norbert -  The first thing to understand about this credit is the difference between Indivdual occupant and Multioccupant. I run into a lot of confusion from team members because it doesn't always align with how they view the terms. It is important to note that mulioccupant spaces include meeting rooms, breakout rooms, and other areas where a group of people are working together. An individually occupied spaces include private offices AND open offices. This is because people are working individually with distinct tasks. The EQ overview does a great job of explaining this in more detail and lists specific space types.  1. A private office with a single occupant will need one control. A small office with two occupants will need two controls.  2. Open-plan offices do not count as multioccupant spaces. The desks are individual occupant spaces. There may be multioccupant spaces within an open-office. Use the distinct work spaces (i.e. desks) to count individual occupants.  3. If an individually occupied space doesn't have indivdual controls, then it needs to have shared controls. For example, your small office with two occupants. If you don't have individual controls, then you need controls for the space at a minimum.  4. In general, yes. See the LEED credit form. Also, be sure to cross-reference with the Lighting Controls credit (if pursued) as your LEED reviewer will do this and comment on any discrepencies.  To meet the conrolability, you need to provide control of one comfort parameter. This doesn't always require a mechanical system response. For example operable windows, ceiling fans, plug-in desk fans (we recommend these for open office spaces) are allowed.  Cheers! 

Hello Allison, Going over your answers I have a follow-up question. You state If an individually occupied space doesn't have indivdual controls, then it needs to have shared controls. Lets say I have an open office space with 10 workstations and a single thermostat, how many of these count towards the 50% requirement? is it all 10 or just only 1?   Thank you

From a documention perspective in your scenario should count as one of ten. Per the standard, you cannot have an individually occupied space without some level of thermal comfort control that the occupants can adjust and still earn the credit, regardless of percentages met. 

Understood, Thx!