CI 2009 IEQc6.2: Controllability of Systems—Thermal Comfort

Haven't tried this but it might work. The form allows you to select "Air Speed" as the control. A fan would quality for air speed but it doesn't allow for temperature control (not sure if that is necessary too).

Similar to IEQ6.1 you would need to show that they were purchased by the owner with the intent to install them at half of the desks. A receipt or purchase order would work.

A colleague used this product on a project and got the point: http://hermanmiller.com/Products/C2-Climate-Control. That unit can heat and cool as well.

There is an interpretation ruling (#1722) that states that thermal controls must be hardwired into the building in order to qualify for EQ6.2. Desk-top fans won't work. I did have a project successfully install ceiling fans though if that helps.

Pongthon,
This is an interesting question. Thank you for sharing the CIRCredit Interpretation Ruling. Used by design team members experiencing difficulties in the application of a LEED prerequisite or credit to a project. Typically, difficulties arise when specific issues are not directly addressed by LEED information/guide ruling, Ellen. I have seen projects successfully achieve the credit through desktop fans. However, I guess it's technically not allowed. It seems slightly odd to me that a project team can satisfy the individual controllability of lighting requirements with desk lights (which aren't hard wired) but can't for EQc6.2 with desk fans.

Has anyone else seen a team achieve the individual controllability requirement with desk top fans or heaters? I'd be interested to hear from others on this.

LEED Interpretation #1722 predates LEED-2009 and according to the Interpretations database, it hasn't been considered for this rating system. So I think that leaves the hard-wired requirement up in the air. Anyone else have experience with this?

I couldn't find any objection on this strategy since the requirement has been met.

You could consider connecting the fans to power strips with occupancy sensors. We have evaluated using those products on projects with task lights as a means to allow for automatic shut down of those lights when the occupant is not around.

Dylan,

That's a good idea in terms of efficiency but just as a quick reminder it's important that the fans have individual controllability to meet the intent of this credit. Occupancy sensors will not in and of themselves meet the credit requirements.

It's possible, but not common: EQc 6.2 is difficult to achieve. Usually this would require an underfloor air system (UFAD) with one controllable vent for every two work stations. It may also be possible in a small office where the majority of work spaces are along the perimeter and close to operable windows.

It's definitely possible to get both credits as I've done it many times. However, EQc6.2 is tricky as David notes. Remember that EQc6.2 can be achieved with a combination of thermostats (manual controls) as well as operable windows. EQc6.2 can be particularly tricky when you have an open office space area but if you have individual offices with controls it's a little easier. EQc6.2 can also be achieved by controlling any of the thermal comfort criteriaComfort criteria are specific design conditions that take into account temperature, humidity, air speed, outdoor temperature, outdoor humidity, seasonal clothing, and expected activity. (ASHRAE 55–2004) (air temperature, radiant temperature, humidity and air speed).

Rick,

The credit requires you to provide controls for "building occupants" and doesn't provide details on different requirements for the public vs. employees of the space. The closest guide I've seen that helps to clarify differences that may exist has been in LEED for Retail (http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=7956) whereby EQc6 is revised to state that you need to provide thermal comfort controls for 50% of retail employees in office and administrative spaces (and none for the public).

I'd assume you have some areas with FTEFull-time equivalent (FTE) represents a regular building occupant who spends 8 hours a day (40 hours a week) in the project building. Part-time or overtime occupants have FTE values based on their hours per day divided by 8 (or hours per week divided by 40). Transient Occupants can be reported as either daily totals or as part of the FTE. Residential occupancy should be estimated based on the number and size of units. Core and Shell projects should refer to the default occupancy table in the Reference Guide appendix. All occupant assumptions must be consistent across all credits in all categories. in order to meet the Minimum Program Requirements of LEED. I'd prioritize those areas with controls and then either provide a clear narrative of why the public spaces cannot be reasonably assumed to have controls or find a way to also provide the public with some degree of controls.

I am working on one coffee shop where I am providing controllability for patrons to suit their needs; in this case I am providing reading lamps for visitors to the space.

To update my previous comment, I received a response from the review team stating "the exhibit hall is considered to be a regularly occupied, shared multi-occupant space...." In short, the public space, being the exhibit hall, needs to be included in the template as a shared multi-occupant space. Writing a narrative describing the situation did not suffice.

Hi Jason,

Yes, you are all set for the private offices with the individual thermostats.

In terms of the open office area, is it the case where you have 3 occupants that you could argue in each different zone? Are the zones distributed in such a way that one occupant from each zone could realistically go to the thermostat and just change the temperature of their zone and not the others?

If so, I think you can make an argument for achievement through your narrative. I would provide a clear floor plan showing where occupants are in the open floor plan area and how 3 people, in 3 different zones, could control their temperature.

Good luck!

Hi Jason,

I agree that this Credit Form and its table is confusing! However, no matter what number you put into "Quantity" the ratio always come out 1:1. The reason they did the Template like this was just to try to make things easier for project teams so that if they have, for example, one open office work area with 20 individual occupants they wouldn't have to write down a row for each occupant but could instead group them.

I think your assumptions are correct in that it is really based on your number of controls and not your number of occupants because you could have occupants with no controls which would have to be listed separately with a "quantity" of zero.

Hope that helps a bit.
Lauren

Are you relying on thermostats as the only user controls or in combination with other controls such as diffusersIn an HVAC context, diffusers disperse heating, cooling, or ventilation air as it enters a room, ideally preventing uncomfortable direct currents and in many cases, reducing energy costs and improving indoor air quality (IAQ). In light fixtures, diffusers filter and disperse light. or operable windows? The temperature range might be okay, but thermostats alone may not meet the requirements.

We've only seen this credit achieved in commercial buildings with underfloor air systems that provide control of individual diffusers in the office areas, or small projects with many operable windows. We've understood the credit as having to provide 50% or more of the occupants with individual controls for *each* person. Thus, for 100 people you would need 50 controls, each of which can be individually adjusted.

With a UFAD system, this has been achieved when the number of adjustable floor diffusers in the office areas is equal to or more than 50% of the number of occupants in those areas. With operable windows, we've seen a small, open office along a perimeter with 10 occupants and more than 5 operable windows along the length of the space.

It is also possible to pursue this credit with a VAVVariable Air Volume (VAV) is an HVAC conservation feature that supplies varying quantities of conditioned (heated or cooled) air to different parts of a building according to the heating and cooling needs of those specific areas. system if you provide a large number of VAV boxes and add controllable ceiling grills (such as "thermafusers") so that the number of VAVs plus controllable grills is equal to half the number of occupants. This is not a common approach, but we have tried it with small projects that have a lot of meeting rooms and not many offices.

You could do this (thermafuser) also in an open office I would say.