LEEDuser expert
Tristan Roberts
LEED AP BD+C, LFA
Vermont House of Representatives
Representative
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© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
All rating systems
All LEED projects must be designed for, constructed on, and operated on a permanent location on already existing land. LEED projects shall not consist of mobile structures, equipment, or vehicles. No building or space that is designed to move at any point in its lifetime may pursue LEED Certification.New Construction, Core & Shell, Schools, Retail – New Construction, Healthcare
LEED projects must include the new, ground-up design and construction, or major renovation, of at least one commercial, institutional, or high-rise residential building in its entirety.Commercial Interiors, Retail – Commercial Interiors
The LEED project scope must include a complete interior space distinct from other spaces within the same building with regards to at least one of the following characteristics: ownership, management, lease, or party wall separation.Existing Buildings: O&M
LEED projects must include at least one existing commercial, institutional, or high-rise residential building in its entirety. See all forum discussions about this credit »What does it cost?
Cost estimates for this credit
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Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »Frequently asked questions
See all forum discussions about this credit »Addenda
Since the Energy Star Portfolio Manager allows exceptions for K-12 schools, hospitals, hotels, resorts, and resort properties to be evaluated as a campus or plaza rather than as a single structure, may the same exception be applied for LEED project certification? More specifically, can a school, hospital facility, hotel, resort, or resort property be considered a "single building" for the purposes of LEED project submission?
Clarification is requested regarding whether K-12 schools, hospitals, hotels, resorts, and resort properties may be submitted as a "single building" submittal for the purposes of LEED project certification.K-12 School projects, hospitals (General Medical and Surgical), hotels, resorts, and resort properties, as defined for ENERGY STAR building rating purposes, are eligible to include more than one physically distinct structure in a single LEED project certification application without having to utilize the Application Guidance for Multiple Buildings and On-Campus Building Projects (AGMBC) in accordance with the following requirements:1. The buildings included in the LEED certification must be a part of the same identity. For example, the buildings are all part of the same elementary school and not a mix of elementary school and high school buildings together in the same certification.2. The project must be analyzed as a whole (i.e. in aggregate) for all Minimum Program Requirements (MPRs), prerequisites, and credits in the LEED rating system.3. The buildings included in the LEED certification must share a common site/campus that can meet the requirements of MPR 3 for defining a single, shared, and reasonable site boundary, as explained in the LEED 2009 MPR Supplemental Guidance.4. The submittal documentation for the certification of these projects must include all of the square footage for all of the buildings as well as all land area defined in the LEED project boundary.5. There is no specific limit on the number of building structures but the total aggregate square footage of gross floor area that can be included in a single project shall not exceed 1 million.6. Any single building structure in such a complex that is larger than 25,000 square feet must be registered as a separate project, or treated as a separate building in a group certification approach using the AGMBC. EXCEPTION: For LEED EBO&M group certification of K-12 schools, hospital (General Medical and Surgical), hotels, resorts, and resort properties projects with single building structures exceeding 25,000 square feet, a single Energy Star Rating may be used to document compliance with EA Prerequisite 2, and the AGMBC requirements for EA Prerequisite 2 do not apply. However, the AGMBC requirements do apply to building structures larger than 25,000 square feet for all other relevant credits and prerequisites described in the AGMBC.While these projects are also allowed to register and certify each structure as a separate building--where it individually meets the MPRs and other rating system eligibility criteria-- this LEED Interpretation allows them to be treated, for all intents and purposes, as a single building with one LEED project registration and one LEED project certification without having to utilize the group certification requirements of the AGMBC. Applicable internationally.
May parking garages pursue LEED certification?
Parking garages may not pursue LEED certification. More specifically, buildings that dedicate more than 75% of floor area (regardless of whether or not they are covered, enclosed, and/or conditioned) to the parking and circulation of motor vehicles are ineligible for LEED.UPDATE August 12th 2011: Parking garages for cars and trucks may not pursue LEED certification. More specifically, buildings that dedicate more than 75% of floor area all square footage, to the storage and circulation of cars and/or trucks are ineligible for LEED. Square footage should be considered even if it is not covered, enclosed, or conditioned. This LEED Interpretation does NOT apply to vehicle maintenance shops of any kind, airport hangers, border facilities, car salesrooms, transit centers, or other buildings that deal with cars and trucks in a capacity other than parking, OR with vehicles other than cars and trucks.UPDATE October 1, 2012:So as not to penalize projects for consolidating parking in garages, and to make this LEED Interpretation more consistently applicable across a broad spectrum of project types, please note that the specific limit on the amount of parking a project may include is hereby removed. Instead, the USGBC wishes to clarify that parking areas themselves are not now, nor have they ever been eligible for LEED-certification. It is the "gross floor area" of a project (which, by definition excludes parking areas) which is the basis for determining LEED certification fees and the focus of the certification analysis. Like other features of the site or location, parking, whether structured or at-grade, has an impact on certain credits, but it does not actually receive LEED certification.Applicable internationally.
Our project consists of a new hotel in its entirety. It is a stand-alone building with its own separate entrance, restrooms, lobby, and amenities. The owner is considering connecting the hotel to an existing casino, where smoking is allowed. The Supplemental Guidance to the LEED MPR specifically mentions casinos and EQp2, and indicates there will be no exceptions to this MPR to allow for partial building certification. We do not believe this applies to us since we are building a new stand-alone hotel in its entirety, not a partial building. EQp2 indicates that if there is a smoking room within a LEED building, it shall be operated under an average negative pressure of 5 Pa, etc. We are seeking clarification on whether or not it is acceptable to connect our new hotel to an existing building with smoking, and if yes, what rules need to be followed regarding the connection. If a connection to a smoking building is allowed, we would prohibit smoking in the existing building within 25 feet of the new hotel building entrance. If a connection to a smoking building is allowed, can it have an open area, in which we maintain a high air velocity to eliminate smoke migration between the two buildings? Or does it require doors between the two buildings and maintenance of 5 Pa of pressure similar to a smoking room?
The applicant would like to confirm if a new hotel building pursuing LEED Certification can be connected to an existing casino that allows smoking. The project is a stand-alone hotel with its own separate entrance. The hotel project does not fall under the "no exceptions" for projects with IEQp2 conflicts found in the LEED 2009 MPR Supplemental Guidance as it is not an attempt to certify only a portion of the building, nor is it attempting to exclude a portion of the building from the LEED project boundary.It is acceptable to provide a connection between the new hotel building and the existing casino building, provided the applicable criteria for certifying Attached Buildings separately, from pages 14-17 of the LEED 2009 MPR Supplemental Guidance, revision 2, dated September 2011, are met. In addition, measures must be taken to ensure that Environmental Tobacco Smoke from the existing casino building does not enter the new hotel building. There must be self-closing doors and impermeable deck-to-deck partitions separating the hotel building from the casino. Furthermore, there must be an exhaust system sufficient to create a negative pressure differential between the hotel building and the casino building (or connecting corridor) of at least an average of 5 Pascals (Pa) and a minimum of 1 Pa when the doors between the hotel building and the casino are closed. Performance of the required air pressure differentials must be verified by conducting 15 minutes of measurement with a minimum of one measurement every 10 seconds. Note that we are essentially requiring isolation of the connected casino space with mechanical exhaust as if it were a designated smoking room with respect to the LEED-certifying building. Please refer to Option 2, Case 1, of IEQp2 for additional details on how to properly isolate, and verify the performance of, a designated smoking room. Smoking must also be prohibited within the existing casino building within 25ft of the connection to the LEED building. All other requirements of IEQp2 must also be met for the new hotel building pursuing LEED Certification. Applicable Internationally.
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© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
All rating systems
All LEED projects must be designed for, constructed on, and operated on a permanent location on already existing land. LEED projects shall not consist of mobile structures, equipment, or vehicles. No building or space that is designed to move at any point in its lifetime may pursue LEED Certification.New Construction, Core & Shell, Schools, Retail – New Construction, Healthcare
LEED projects must include the new, ground-up design and construction, or major renovation, of at least one commercial, institutional, or high-rise residential building in its entirety.Commercial Interiors, Retail – Commercial Interiors
The LEED project scope must include a complete interior space distinct from other spaces within the same building with regards to at least one of the following characteristics: ownership, management, lease, or party wall separation.Existing Buildings: O&M
LEED projects must include at least one existing commercial, institutional, or high-rise residential building in its entirety.LEEDuser expert
Tristan Roberts
LEED AP BD+C, LFA
Vermont House of Representatives
Representative
