Julie,
It would be better to flush out the altered areas as the work is completed for each area. That way any odors from a floor build-out are mitigated before that space gets occupied, rather than waiting for projects in other parts of the building to be completed.

Thanks, David. That makes sense.The Owner's representative is not happy about flushing out the building after every small project but it sounds as if that's the requirement.

Julie,
It might depend on how well the vestibule work is isolated from the adjacent lobby. If there is work on the side of the vestibule walls that is being done by workers in the lobby space, then the lobby may be affected by project dust, odors and contaminants. It might be necessary to provide an "airlock" or some barrier between the vestibule and the lobby to properly isolate it from the rest of the building. If that's done, then it makes sense to only flush out the vestibule work area.

Many thanks, David - that is our plan so hopefully it will meet the requirements.

An alteration/addition must occur for the receipt of MRc3 and MRc9. IEQc1.5 can be achieved without an alteration/addition, just uploade the IAQIndoor air quality: The quality and attributes of indoor air affecting the health and comfort building occupants. IAQ encompasses available fresh air, contaminant levels, acoustics and noise levels, lighting quality, and other factors. plan that will be implemented if a future alteration/addition occurs.

Thanks David. It seems my inquiry was not clearly stated. Allow me to try again. It is understood that alterations/additions are a must for the receipt of MRc3 and MRc9 as well as development of an IAQIndoor air quality: The quality and attributes of indoor air affecting the health and comfort building occupants. IAQ encompasses available fresh air, contaminant levels, acoustics and noise levels, lighting quality, and other factors. Management Plan is a must for the receipt of EIQc1.5. My question is should these alternations/additions be carried out according to procedures in the IAQ Management Plan to claim credits MRc3 and MRc9? In other words, should we “implement” IEQc1.5 plan, in addition to their specific requirements, in order to get the credits of MRc3 and MRc9?

Thanks.

The implementation of IEQc1.5, or the non-implementation of IEQc1.5, has no impact on the receipt of MRc3 and MRc9.

SMACNA Chapter 3 doesn't have specific directions for the example you raise about carpets, but here’s my understanding of that statement.
Even low-toxicity paints, sealantsA sealant has adhesive properties and is formulated primarily to fill, seal, or waterproof gaps or joints between 2 surfaces. Sealants include sealant primers and caulks. (SCAQMD Rule 1168. )Sealants are used on wood, fabric, paper, corrugated paperboard, plastic foam and other materials with tiny openings, often microscopic, that may absorb or discharge gas or fluid. and carpets may have some initial odors or off-gassing, so you can use measures such as separating work area from occupants with plastic barriers, using local ventilation fans, depressurizing the work area, scheduling the installation at off hours, and using different application methods (i.e. rollers vs sprayers). What methods you choose will depend on the particular materials, the job site conditions, proximity to occupants, etc. Protection of materials also refers to protecting them from moisture, odors, dust.
This is where your IAQIndoor air quality: The quality and attributes of indoor air affecting the health and comfort building occupants. IAQ encompasses available fresh air, contaminant levels, acoustics and noise levels, lighting quality, and other factors. Management Plan can really help. If it’s revised to address the specific conditions of your jobsite and the scheduling, separation and ventilation methods that make sense for your project, you can reduce confusion and uncertainty among the subs, especially if you include those specific methods in your safety briefings & orientations.
To your question about carpets, you probably don’t need to unroll and air offsite if they are CRIColor-rendering index, or CRI, is a scale of 0 to 100, used by manufacturers of fluorescent, metal halide, and other non-incandescent lighting equipment to describe the visual effect of the light on colored surfaces. Natural daylight is assigned a CRI of 100. Green Label plus and you take some other steps mentioned above for ventilation.
Does that answer your question?

Michelle,
Your assumptions sound correct. The ductwork in the construction area should be sealed off, even if the HVAC is not used, to keep dust and sandwiches from getting in.

With sealed vents on return air ducts, there is a possiblity for dust and fumes to enter the return air if the ducts in the construction area have any leaks, since the duct will be at a negative pressure in comparison to the work area.

It would be reasonable to include instructions in the IAQIndoor air quality: The quality and attributes of indoor air affecting the health and comfort building occupants. IAQ encompasses available fresh air, contaminant levels, acoustics and noise levels, lighting quality, and other factors. Management Plan for the contractor to check for leaks in any return ducts and airhandlers that are exposed to the air where construction activity is happening.

David, this is our first piece of advice under the Bird's Eye View, above. Implement in this case means "have in place." You do not have to have a project during the PP.

Thanks, Tristan. I saw the advice above, but wondered if 2009 submissions were being treated differently from 2008 submissions (by the reviewers). We'll try it and I'll let you know.

Oh, sorry. I was reading your post in a hurry and thought it was the other way around. Is the language any different in 2008? If not I would be surprised if there is any difference with the reviewers. We wrote the advice above with EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. 2008 experience very much present in our minds.

I just did what I could have done before: looked up the 2009 language. The 2009 language also says, "Develop and implement..."

We'll give it a try. Thanks.

I hope you took advantage of our posting of the 2009 credit language, above in the Credit Language tab!

While it is definitely possible to successfully draft the IAQIndoor air quality: The quality and attributes of indoor air affecting the health and comfort building occupants. IAQ encompasses available fresh air, contaminant levels, acoustics and noise levels, lighting quality, and other factors. plan using this website and the USGBC reference guide, I do recommend that you also read the SMACNA guidelines to get a more holistic view of all of the air quality problems that guidelines are trying to prevent.

Seems like you could argue it either way. Is the suite being isolated from the rest of the physical building during construction? If so, it would seem to qualify as an alteration, even if you are not worried about isolating from occupants.

But to that point, it's being isolated from occupants by way of doing the work on a weekend, so it does seem like you meet that criterion.

I would agree that it could be argued both ways, but lean more toward it counting as a facility alteration. Since users could not occupy the space during the work, the isolation is being done by schedule rather than physical barrier, which is very common in commercial offices and schools.

Even if done after hours, this kind of work can have huge impacts on occupant health and comfort - thus we have IEQ credits for low emitting carpet and paint.

Seems like the intent of setting a criteria for significant alterations is to avoid tracking the minor ones with little impact on IEQ and track only the ones that do, which would seem to be the case here.

While there is logic to using a homes-specific protocol here, it looks to me like the approach you are proposing is less stringent, i.e. unless my math is off, less air volume will be introduced in the 48-hour period than the 14,000 cubic feet required by the credit. This may raise a flag for reviewers.

Can you be more specific about why the EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. requirements don't work for your project?

Tom,

I haven't seen any projects attempt substituting Homes criteria for multifamily EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems., but that may be in part because there doesn't seem to be many EBOM-certified multifamily projects. In generally, seems like you might be pioneering an idea here, and a 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 may be the only way to get assurance if this proposed alt compliance path would fly.

Thanks for the responses.

The issue with the requirements for flush out in a commercial building in our case is that when an apartment unit is turned over, typically there is enough work done to meet the requirements of a LEED EB Alteration or Addition because at least 2 trades are doing work. So it would be virtually impossible to flush out each unit individully per the LEED EB requirements every time this happens. The other piece of this is that the building doesn't have mechanical ventilation (the building is over 50 years old), so the windows are the way the building gets natural ventilation. And we couldn't evacuate the other units or common spaces for the duration of the flush out. And since LEED EB doesn't allow for testing like LEED NC does, we are basically left without an option in the LEED EB system for meeting the credit requirements.

So we are looking for an approach that is more feasible in a multi family residential setting for the typical turnover activities for apartment units. We feel that the LEED for Homes criteria is much more applicable in our project's case. This is why we thought of the idea of substituting Homes criteria for multifamily EB. We are hoping to take this approach on several credits and still haven't been able to get any definite answers as to whether this approach will fly with the LEED reviewers or not. We have not yet submitted a 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 on these issues, and are trying to avoid doing so if possible due to the response time and cost.

Thanks again.

It would appear that doing a flush out of just the unit being turned over and not any common spaces or other units is all that would be required since that is the only "affected space."

The question then is whether the unit itself can be ventilated at the 14,000 cf/ sf using supplemental exhaust fans, such as ones placed in windows. Depending on the climate/ location, if this is a multi-family apartment building with a common hallway & core, drawing make--up air from the common areas might meet the temperature and humidity requirements, whereas if these are apartments with external access & circulation, that could be harder.

A CIR is likely needed, but it might be useful to clarify when submitting it which criteria of the EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. requirements are most difficult or impossible to meet: air volume, filtration, temp, humidity, etc.

Full details on recertification performance periods can be found in the LEED v2009 Reference Guide Introduction (pages xix-xx), but in a nutshell - yes, you'll need to provide documentation showing ongoing credit compliance from the date the initial LEED certification was awarded up until the date of the recertification application. The recertfication process is streamlined, so documentation requirements for individual credits may be less demanding during recertification than they were during the initial project. So, for IEQc1.5, you'll need to show, at a minimum, that the IAQIndoor air quality: The quality and attributes of indoor air affecting the health and comfort building occupants. IAQ encompasses available fresh air, contaminant levels, acoustics and noise levels, lighting quality, and other factors. management plan was observed for any FA&A projects that occured during the performance period; the best way to do this is with photos and a written narrative confirming compliance. For credits that require more detailed tracking, like MRc1 - MRc5, it's a good idea to implement ongoing tracking protocols as part of standard operating procedures, and store that data annually in preparation for recertification.

However, the important thing to remember is that a certified project has 5 years to recertify that building, and the performance period essentially starts the day after initial certification is awarded. You can recertify once a year or at any time during that 5-year period. If you don't recertify within 5 years, any new LEED application for that building will be treated as an "initial" application, meaning that full documentation will be required for all prerequisites and attempted credits.