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.

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

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.

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.

Yes, all pesticides and pest management practices conducted at the project building and site should comply with the credit requirements 100% of the time.

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.

Although there is not an explicit approach for this situation, it is best to evaluate each area separately and meet the credit requirements using the appropriate compliance path for each area.

To date, we are not aware of a project using LEED 2009 being able to achieve the credit requirements by allocating open space outside of the LEED project boundary. This is also not allowed as an exception under MPR3, although campus settings with no local zoning requirements do have an exception noted in the LEED Reference Guide. The credit requires the open space be adjacent to the building and within the project boundary. However, this approach has been used to meet SSc5.1 credit requirements. This approach has also been used successfully on LEED-NC v2.2 campus projects.

Yes, interior courtyards, if vegetated, can contribute to the open space requirements as long as they are open and accessible to all occupants. Additionally, if your project is achieving SSc2, any pedestrian-oriented hardscape within the courtyard can likely contribute to the credit as well.

There is not a clear and explicit approach for calculating how permeable paving contributes to SSc5.2. However, it is reasonable to count some of the permeable paving if it is an open grid system that is predominantly open-grid/vegetation. To calculate the permeable paving contribution, consider using a percentage of the total permeable paving area as vegetated—for example, if you have 1,000 ft2 of open grid, consider 500 ft2 as vegetation.