The audit must occur during a period of normal operations when occupant loads and building activities reflect normal levels and patterns (the holidays would be a bad time, for example). The audit can be performed at any time during the day or night: it doesn’t have to be within normal business hours.
No equipment purchases need to be made during the performance period in order to earn the credit as long as your current inventory is at least 20% compliant. Note however that any purchases made during the performance period must comply with the sustainability criteria.
A prescriptive frequency for equipment isn’t established within the credit requirements. So, it’s up to your team to determine the appropriate frequency. However, it is important to demonstrate that there is a maintenance program in place for all of the equipment in your documentation. For example, vacuums will need bag replacements or filter changes. Examples for other less frequent maintenance will include inspections of or replacement of electrical components of equipment.
Yes. A set of Regional Priority credits is available for projects located ouside of the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. The list can be found through USGBC's regional priority page (see Resources).
Yes. A project can earn an Innovation point for Exemplary Performance while also earning an RPc1 point for the same credit.
A project can receive a maximum of four points, even if all six possible Regional Priority credits are achieved.
Portable fire extinguishers are not required to be included in EAp3 or EAc4.
The project team must use equipment life values from the 2007 ASHRAE Applications Handbook as listed in the LEED Reference Guide. For equipment not listed in the ASHRAE Applications Handbook, the equipment life must be assumed to be 15 years—no estimates are allowed. An alternative equipment life may only be used if a manufacturer’s guarantee and equivalent long-term service contract can be provided.
While a phase-out is allowed in the prerequisite, EAc4 is like other credits where the credit should be achieved as part of the LEED scope of work. The work should be completed during construction.
The system capacity should be based on the outdoor units. If you have multiple interior devices connected to one outdoor unit, the cooling capacity should be for the outdoor unit, but the refrigerant charge must include all interior devices.