Is there a required frequency for pest service site visits in order to be considered integrated pest management? How frequent and how rigorous should the inspections be in order to comply?

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There is no minimum required frequency for pest management and based on your building's individual pest management needs. That said, the intent is for the program to be proactive—utilizing integrated pest management practices beforehand in order to avoid the future need for pesticides. Often, a pest management log will include inspections, cleaning, maintenance and monitoring activities, as well as logging any pesticide applications.

What do I do if have a project outside the U.S. where many of the pesticides listed on the San Francisco Reduced-Risk Pesticide List are not available?

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The best thing to do is to compare the active ingredients of your products to those listed on the San Francisco Reduced-Risk Pesticide List. Brand availability varies around the world, so when that isn't the most effective way to monitor these products, check the active ingredient and concentration to determine which tier the product would fall under based on pesticides listed on the San Francisco Reduced-Risk Pesticide List.

If I’m only applying pesticides to one floor in my building. Am I required to notify all tenants, or can I just notify the occupants on that floor?

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Universal notification requires that all tenants be notified. One approach is to post signs in common areas, such as elevators and lobbies. Another is to provide email notification to tenant representatives in a multi-tenant building.

We have notified the tenants 72 hours prior to the pesticide application but now the pest control vendor needs to refill the toxic pesticide. Do we need to use universal notification for a refill?

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Yes, occupants need to be notified at each instance of a pesticide application.

Most of the chemicals being used for my project are not listed in the San Francisco Reduced-Risk Pesticide List. Does this mean that the credit cannot be achieved?

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It's always good to look into non-chemical and least toxic options prior to applying conventional pesticides; however, many pesticides, including insecticides and herbicides, that are not classified as Tier 3 products on San Francisco's list can be used in and around a project building so long as you issue universal notification prior to applying the chemicals.

In a multi-tenant building, some tenants have their own cleaning contractor. Does their equipment need to be included in the calculations for this credit?

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Yes, all vendor equipment and leased equipment is included in this credit. That said, for multi-tenant buildings, up to 10% of the floor area may be exempted from almost any credit if the area is not under management control. If you do not control the cleaning in more than 10% of your building, you will have to work closely with your tenants in order to achieve this credit.

The credit requirements state the open space area must be ‘adjacent’ to the project. Does the designated site area need to be right next to the project building?

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Although the credit requirements state the open space is to be adjacent to the project building, most projects simply make sure that the designated areas are near the building, and certainly within the LEED project boundary.

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