NC 2009 IEQc8.2: Daylight and Views—Views

  • NC, CS, CI IEQ8.2 Views Diagram
  • Easy credit for most buildings

    Buildings that provide views to the outdoors have proven to enhance productivity, testing performance, and overall occupant comfort and well-being. This credit is easy to achieve if you also plan to design for open space planning, placing occupied spacesOccupied Spaces are defined as enclosed spaces that can accommodate human activities. Occupied spaces are further classified as regularly occupied or non-regularly occupied spaces based on the duration of the occupancy, individual or multi-occupant based on the quantity of occupants, and densely or non-densely occupied spaces based upon the concentration of occupants in the space. near exterior windows with...

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169 Comments

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Sharlene Angeles IBI Group
Nov 23 2011
Guest
7 Thumbs Up

How to define vision glazing

I have a question related to the idea of "vision glazing." For our project, the users want to have a little bit of privacy from visitors looking through to the inside, but can we still achieve this credit if we implement a one-way perforated glazing film such as the Solyx-Oneway product? The users should still be able to see through this film to the outside views and vegetation. So although the view is slightly obscured, could this still be argued as being vision glazing? Any comments in this thread are appreciated, thanks.

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Todd Reed Daylight Designer, 7group Nov 23 2011 Guest Expert 806 Thumbs Up

Sharlene, You state that the occupants should still be able to see outside. First i would confirm that they can before considering this product.
I would say based upon the intent of this credit that an obscurred view is not acceptable. I would refer you to read the Heschong and Mahone study referenced in the Reference Guide to get a better understanding about the intent of the credit. Using the standards in the study as basis as to what an acceptable view is, i would say anything less than clear glass would not be acceptable.

I looked at V2.2 and 2009 LEED Interpretations and there is nothing related to this. However, the rulings in two interpretations state there needs to be a quality of view to meet the intent. So based on that statement, is it really a quality view.

If you were to attempt this, i highly suggest you take pictures of what the view would look like with this product.

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Mike Halcom Principal Halcom Consulting LLC
Nov 17 2011
Member

Regularly Occupied vs. Unconditioned

The review team stated the regularly occupied space listed on the supplemental spreadsheet for Daylight-Views does not match the regularly occupied space listed on PI Form 3 Occupant and Usage Data which in turn also did not match what was listed on Space Usage Types for EA pre2 form.

PI Form 3 only gives two options for space: 1. regularly occupied 2. unconditioned. All of our spaces are conditioned however they are not all regularly occupied (i.e. corridors, storage, RR). How am I to get the forms for the credits to match up if my spaces are conditioned and non-regularly occupied? There doesn't seem to be an option for such spaces nor do I want to mess up the EA credits. Any direction is much appreciated!

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Emily Catacchio Sustainability Specialist, Wight and Company Nov 17 2011 Moderator

HiMike,

Submitting a narrative seems like your best bet here. The forms do have limitations.

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Todd Reed Daylight Designer, 7group Nov 21 2011 Guest Expert 806 Thumbs Up

There are limitations to the forms. I would also say that the reviewer did not examine the documentation very well. If table PLF 3-1 has corridors, and your supplemental spreadsheet does not include corridors for the views credit, i see no reason for that to be questioned.

Double check your calculations and submit a narrative response explaining why there is a difference. If it is denied again, i would contact GBCI about the issue.

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Suzanne Allerton Architect W2A Design Group
Nov 15 2011
Member
29 Thumbs Up

Views Credit

Hi
We are working on a community library project with expansive glazing.
There is a community room in the plan that will be used for community events and conferences. Should we include this space as regularly occupied?
Also - As the library stacks are moveable furnishings - are
we required to reference them in any way?

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Jill Dalglish President, Dalglish Daylighting Nov 16 2011 Guest Expert 717 Thumbs Up

In the last library I submitted on I included the community room. The project is still under review so I'm afraid I don't have any info on it yet. However, know what I know now, I would advise that it NOT be included in the ROS because it is not a place where people from the library are working.

On the movable furnishing, all of our stacks were lower than 42", so I can't use experience to guide us there either. But, there was an addenda issued on 5-9-11 that states: "moveable furniture and partitions are those that can be moved to provide access to the view by the user without the need for tools or assistance from spacial trades and facilities management." So I would go by that.

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Jean Marais b.i.g. Bechtold INGENIEURGESELLSCHAFT MBH
Nov 11 2011
Member
2361 Thumbs Up

What are reviewers looking for in the section views

I have provided plan views where it is assumed that one can't see over the shown case work, etc. I have provided elevations where one can see the height and size of windows. Still it is required to submit sections. I have 12 very different regularly occupied spacesRegularly occupied spaces are areas where one or more individuals normally spend time (more than one hour per person per day on average) seated or standing as they work, study, or perform other focused activities inside a building.. What are reviewers looking for in the section views? Do I need to beg my architect to provide me with 12 sections?

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Jill Dalglish President, Dalglish Daylighting Nov 11 2011 Guest Expert 717 Thumbs Up

I would use whatever sections the architects are providing in their drawing set. I haven't had a problem with it yet. Then I draw a line from the top of the window, the bottom of the window and the 42" point on the window back to the furthest part of the section where these lines go without being obstructed to show the views.

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Jean Marais b.i.g. Bechtold INGENIEURGESELLSCHAFT MBH Nov 14 2011 Member 2361 Thumbs Up

Ha ha, that's my problem. There are and will most probably be no section views. This is an extra ask for a really small project 7141 ft². That is why I need to know which sections are wanted and what is important on them so I can ask for the bare minimum.

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Jill Dalglish President, Dalglish Daylighting Nov 16 2011 Guest Expert 717 Thumbs Up

Are you trying to show areas that comply where it isn't obvious on the plans and elevations that they do? I think this is the reason they ask for sections. For example, if the lines you have drawn on the plans to show access to a view is drawn through something on the plans and a reviewer might not know how tall that object is, show them in section that it is not over 42" tall. I don't think sections are mandatory if they aren't adding information to the submission.

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David Posada Sustainability Manager, GBD Architects Nov 21 2011 Guest Expert 4569 Thumbs Up

Jean,
This is one of those times where providing a little more information in the submission may save time and trouble later, since a reviewer is very likely to ask for a section drawing. At the very least, you could do a hand drawn section on graph paper that shows the window heights, view angle, and the height of any partitions or obstructions. Just do one that represents a typical condition, and add a note explaining why the construction drawings didn't include sections.

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Andrea Anderson Architectural Designer
Nov 07 2011
Guest
96 Thumbs Up

Regular Occupied Spaces in an Animal Facility

Our project is an Animal Resource Center associated with a University, in which animals are kept in holding rooms, and transferred to separate surgery, exam or treatment rooms for research purposes. Would any of these rooms be considered as regularly occupied spacesRegularly occupied spaces are areas where one or more individuals normally spend time (more than one hour per person per day on average) seated or standing as they work, study, or perform other focused activities inside a building.? Humans would not be in the animal holding rooms other than to feed and check on the animals.

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Nov 17 2011 Moderator

Andrea, I don't think these spaces would be considered regularly occupied based on the LEED definition. If the human time in the room per day were one hour or more, and it sounds like that's not the case, then that would be different.

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Jill Dalglish President, Dalglish Daylighting Nov 18 2011 Guest Expert 717 Thumbs Up

I have had reviewers specifically state that the amount of time spent in an area has nothing to do with it being regularly occupied.

In this case, I would look more toward arguing for an exception based on use. In my one-time experience with animal labs, control over the animal's sleeping patterns, lighting, and noise were critical to the research being done and windows would impede this. Is this something that applies in your case? Or, you could argue that this is basically an animal storage area but because they need to feed and check in on the animals, that might be a harder sell.

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Susan Drew Principal Gruzen Samton Architects
Nov 07 2011
Member

Seated height and systems furniture

Given that systems furnitureSystems furniture includes panel-based workstations comprising modular interconnecting panels, hang-on components, and drawer and filing components or a free-standing grouping of furniture items designed to work in concert. is now included in the calculation scope for IEQ8.2, does using industry-standard 42" high panels qualify as a 42" high line of sight?
And, if higher panels are used, would one follow the office method of calculation -- i.e. if there is a line of sight (through the ws opening) for 75% of the workstation, its SF applies?
Guidance appreciated. Thank you,
Susan

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Udana Ratnayake
Oct 13 2011
Member
127 Thumbs Up

Credit compliance for a building obstructed by another building

We are working on a factory project where the building meets all the requirements stated in the LEED NC Guideline to prove credit compliance. but the building is right next to another building and the views through windows are obstructed by that building. is it possible to show credit compliance with a situation like this? is there a minimum distance between two buildings that we need to comply with to earn this point?

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Emily Catacchio Sustainability Specialist, Wight and Company Oct 13 2011 Moderator

I'd say this may be a bit of a grey area, since "view" may not be well defined. However, giving your occupants a view out to a brick wall, is perhaps, not meeting the intent of this credit. The credit specifies that you give the occupants a "direct line of site to the outdoor environment" which may not be met with a very close view of an adjacent building. How close it is?

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Susan Walter Sr Project Architect, Wilmot/Sanz Oct 14 2011 Guest 1456 Thumbs Up

I think this is an interesting topic and one that is very grey. You could argue that a view of a brick wall is better than no window view at all and back it up with a study (Hamilton, 1984). LEED HC has attempted to clarify by phrasing it 'quality views' which is also undefined and untested but this isn't LEED HC. So, while I agree with Emily, I think you could argue the point with a reviewer.

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Udana Ratnayake Oct 22 2011 Member 127 Thumbs Up

Thanks emily and susan. the distance between the two building is about 30ft. so its better than having no windows at all. feel like it would get through. will update you all after submission and receive comments from the reviewer. thanks again.

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Oct 26 2011 Moderator

In other situations I have focused on the phrase "views to the outdoor environment" in the credit language. In this case I do think it falls into a bit of a grey area, but I would go for it and see what happens.

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Nadav Malin USGBC LEED Faculty, President, BuildingGreen, Inc. Nov 01 2011 Moderator

I would be VERY surprised if this were rejected. The exterior of another building is part of the "outdoor environment". There is no requirement that it include view of nature, etc.

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Emily Catacchio Sustainability Specialist, Wight and Company Nov 01 2011 Moderator

Udana, 

30 feet sounds fine. I was thinking it was something like 6 inches!

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Stefania Minotti M.Arch, LEED AP
Sep 09 2011
Member
50 Thumbs Up

Clarification on vision glazing between 30'' and 90''

Hi,

I have a question regarding IEQ credit 8.2 for a new building which we plan on certifying under the LEED 2009 rating system for NC. Our building is a 76 unit residential apartment building on 5 storeys. The fenestration is either patio doors (from finished floor to 6’-10 ½’’ (82.5’’)) or windows that are 25’’ from finished floor to 82.5’’ high. Since our fenestration does not reach the 90’’ indicated in the credit description, does this mean that we cannot attempt to attain this credit?

Please clarify. Thank you.

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Stefania Minotti M.Arch, LEED AP Sep 13 2011 Member 50 Thumbs Up

Hi Stefania,

The requirement for EQc8.2 in LEED Canada Building Design and Construction 2009 is that there be a direct line of sight to the outdoor environment via vision glazing for building occupants in 90% of all regularly occupied areas. The definition of vision glazing is the portion of exterior windows between 30” and 90” above the floor that permits a view to the outside.

An exterior window that spans from 25’’ to 82.5’’ above finished floor that permits a view to the outside is between 30” and 90” and therefore is considered vision glazing. Please continue to calculate whether occupants in 90% of regularly occupied areas have direct line of sight to the outdoor environment.

Thank you,
Sarah Miller
Client and Member Service Representative

Canada Green Building Council

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Maria C C
Aug 17 2011
Guest
70 Thumbs Up

Foyer as occupided or unnocupied space

Hello,
Anybody knows if a Foyer in a Hotel (mainly a hall to access 3 meting rooms with a "coffe and cookies" table for the meeting room users) would count as occupied space?

Anyone knows as well for a Laundry?

Thanks for your help

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David Posada Sustainability Manager, GBD Architects Aug 17 2011 Guest Expert 4569 Thumbs Up

If it's primarily a circulation area, the foyer would not be considered regularly occupied space. As for the laundry room, it would depend on whether it gets sporadic use, like a storage room, or if there are laundry staff who do most of their work in that room and would thus be their regular "workstation."

See comments below on the definition of "regularly occupied areas" from May 2011.

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Sara Sweeney
Aug 12 2011
Guest
37 Thumbs Up

Varying sill heights

I am working on a project - a preschool, and the architect has windows with varying sill heights. Some windows have a sill height of 48 inches AFF and other windows have a sill height of 6 inches AFF with a head height of 48 inches AFF. These windows never stack, but are staggered. I know I cannot use the windows with the sill height of 48 inches, since they would be above the 42 inch minimum for view. However, I am wondering if I can use the windows with the 6 inch sill height / 48 inch head height towards this credit. The children would encompass the majority of the users in each space, and the Reference Guide does make mention of lower sill heights for children (but does not specifiy a height persay, just to consider lower sill heights). A teacher sitting would also have a view out at 42 inches, although admittedly a sharply cut off view since the head height is 48 inches. Thoughts from anyone? Thank you very much in advance.

PS As to why the sill heights are as they are, it is an aesthetic consderation based on panel sizes and working within a module. There used to be numerous windows in each classroom but the project went through an extensive VE effort, resulting in what we have today. Working with the module and making the windows smaller saved a good amount of money. This was also a compromise in an effort to keep the large sawtooth clerestory windowsPronounced and sometimes spelled "clear-story," these are vertical, or close-to-vertical, windows high in the wall of a building that bring daylight deeply into the building and, if operable, can help ventilate the space. in each classroom, which afford a lot of natural light into each classroom.

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Heather Appell LEED Project Manager, SEQUIL Systems, Inc. Aug 15 2011 Member 7 Thumbs Up

Sara, you can certainly use the windows with the sill height of 6 in. As long as there is a direct view at 42", there is not a requirement for how high the window can be for this credit as long as there is some access to viewing between 30" and 90" above the finish floor. This credit is more concerned with the room area rather than window area as opposed to credit IEQc8.1 which is concerned with window area.

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SUNG SU KIM Engineer HanmiGlobal
Aug 03 2011
Member
24 Thumbs Up

Definition of View

In our builing, some regulary occupied spacesOccupied Spaces are defined as enclosed spaces that can accommodate human activities. Occupied spaces are further classified as regularly occupied or non-regularly occupied spaces based on the duration of the occupancy, individual or multi-occupant based on the quantity of occupants, and densely or non-densely occupied spaces based upon the concentration of occupants in the space. are located in B1~B2.
To earn this credit 8.2, we decided to make sunken beside B1~B2 wall.
So, I wonder that whether or not sunken area is a opening view. Is it possible to include the window area that open to sunken area.

Thank you ~ Guys

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Sep 03 2011 Moderator

Sung, the credit language calls for "direct line of sight to the outdoor environment." I would say it may be up to interpretation whether what you are describing can truly be considered the outdoor environment, or if they will just have a view of a concrete retaining wall.

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Lauren Fakhoury Research Assistant Sustainable Design Consulting, LLC
Jul 14 2011
Member
138 Thumbs Up

Views through Sliding Doors

I'm working on a residential project with a deep footprint, so not all of the bedrooms have windows. They do have sliding doors (not glass) and when the doors are open there is a view to the outdoors through the living room. With normal swinging doors I know you can't count a view through it unless it's glass, but does anyone know if there is a different case for sliding doors? These windowless bedrooms are only in 1BR units, so I feel like the doors will be open most of the time besides when the occupant is sleeping.

Thanks!

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Sep 03 2011 Moderator

Lauren, to quote the credit language, "The line of sight may be drawn through interior glazing." I would say that means your glass doors are okay.

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Jill Dalglish President, Dalglish Daylighting Dec 20 2011 Guest Expert 717 Thumbs Up

Lauren,
I would say, unfortunately, that they would be counted the same was as swinging doors. There are a lot of cases where swinging doors will be left open most of the time too. I guess the point of this is not to limit the occupant from their views by their decision to have their doors closed.

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Renee Shirey
May 24 2011
Member
977 Thumbs Up

Calculating views with casework in the room

In the example (Mt Healthy school) in the Documentation Toolkit section of this credit, the only thing that seems to limit the views is the window locations and the walls. Why is the casework not taken into consideration? I'm assuming some of the casework in a classroom would be tall storage cabs, cubbies or even just regular casework - do we not have to subtract that area from the View calcs?

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Allison Beer McKenzie Architect, Director of Sustainability, SHP Leading Design Sep 06 2011 Guest Expert 2194 Thumbs Up

Typically, we will exclude areas as view areas if they are blocked by high cabinets or upper casework, but not if low casework (below 42") is in the way. This calculation/documentation for this credit is always very far from an exact science, so we always aim to just get as close as we can.

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Renee Shirey Sep 28 2011 Member 977 Thumbs Up

What about the footprint of the actual casework? If upper and lower casework are along the back wall, and the windows face them on the opposite side wall, the casework isn't obstructing anyone's view in the room, but how can you get a view within the footprint of the casework or a tall cabinet, etc? We do have tall cubbies shaped in a U, with a leg that sticks into the space - it will obstruct a view if standing within the U. I am assuming I have to deduct the area obstructed from a view by the leg of cubbies plus the footprint of the entire cubby - yes?

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Diane Mansfield Architect Chiodini Associates
May 09 2011
Guest
9 Thumbs Up

Exemplary Point - Views

Does anyone have experience achieving the exemplary point for views. For the 1st option where multiple lines of site are required 90 degrees apart, does that mean that the windows have to be on separate walls (north and west for example) or can I have multiple windows on the same wall to achieve the point (I typically have one whole wall of windows in many rooms)? Also on option 2 (2 views of vegetation, human activity, or objects 70 away), can this work on a multistory building where one would have to look down for vegetation and human activity?
I saw examples in another post on documentation for the standard point, but does anyone recommend anything beyond that for the exemplary point?
Thanks,

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Susann Geithner Director of Sustainability, HSB Architects & Engineers May 10 2011 Guest Expert 2222 Thumbs Up

We tried and achieved the EP credit with option 1. Our building allowed for views 90 degrees apart through two different walls. We only had very few areas, where we need to use the 90 degrees and one wall. We interpreted it the same way as you did.
I can't say anything about option 2, but I would think that as long as you can see the human activity in the other building, you should be fine. But that's just my opinion on option 2.

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Christi Mosher ZGF Architects
May 09 2011
Member
100 Thumbs Up

regularly occupied areas

I am trying to confirm what is considered a regularly occupied area:

copy room?
storage room?
mechanical rooms?
conference rooms?

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Susann Geithner Director of Sustainability, HSB Architects & Engineers May 09 2011 Guest Expert 2222 Thumbs Up

Storage and mechanical room NO; conference room YES
We always include the copy rooms in the regularly occupied areas, but you could however argue that they don't get used more than 4 hours.

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Christi Mosher ZGF Architects May 09 2011 Member 100 Thumbs Up

Is 4 hours use/day a good rule of thumb to go by? thanks!

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Susann Geithner Director of Sustainability, HSB Architects & Engineers May 10 2011 Guest Expert 2222 Thumbs Up

That's more so a good rule of thumb. Some say it one hour or more. Me personally I would definitely include the copy room. You will have a hard time arguing your case with the reviewers otherwise.

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Carlie Bullock-Jones Principal, Ecoworks Studio May 10 2011 Guest Expert 429 Thumbs Up

Please note that LEED Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction, 2009 defines regularly occupied spacesRegularly occupied spaces are areas where one or more individuals normally spend time (more than one hour per person per day on average) seated or standing as they work, study, or perform other focused activities inside a building. as areas where workers are seated or standing as they work (or perform regular tasks) inside a building, and as such it is not necessarily the duration of time occupants spend in a space that determines whether or not a space qualifies as regularly occupied.

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Jill Dalglish President, Dalglish Daylighting May 10 2011 Guest Expert 717 Thumbs Up

Carlie is correct. I have had reviewers specifically state that the time spent in a space is not relevant to its classification as a regularly occupied space or not. (Despite what all of us might normally think the term "regularly occupied" would mean.)

I would include the copy room.

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April Ambrose Sustainability Consultant: Senior Project Manager, Viridian May 10 2011 Member 1273 Thumbs Up

Have any of you received comments from GBCI stating that you needed to add the copy room as a regularly occupied space? We have never included it as a regularly occupied space and they have never called us out on that.

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Jill Dalglish President, Dalglish Daylighting May 10 2011 Guest Expert 717 Thumbs Up

Interesting. No, I've never been called out on it either, but I've always included it as a better-safe-than-sorry method. I have heard that it might matter as to what type of copy room. For example, if it is a copy room that it available to all workers for their copies, it might not count as regularly occupied, but if it is a copy office where a person is regularly stationed as their job, it will count. I've never wanted to take the risk. Thanks for the info.

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Carlie Bullock-Jones Principal, Ecoworks Studio May 10 2011 Guest Expert 429 Thumbs Up

I agree with Jill - determining whether or not to include this space really depends more on the type of copy room provided for the project.

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Susann Geithner Director of Sustainability, HSB Architects & Engineers May 10 2011 Guest Expert 2222 Thumbs Up

I have worked a lot of LEED CS and CI projects and we always included the copy rooms in the regularly occupied spacesRegularly occupied spaces are areas where one or more individuals normally spend time (more than one hour per person per day on average) seated or standing as they work, study, or perform other focused activities inside a building., because for LEED CS you really can't tell what the actual use is going to be. For LEED CI it is more because the copy area/room is a mostly more so a work/copy area, open to the surrounding spaces and our clients tend to change things around even during construction, which means your really don't want to be to specific in case of changes. I suppose if you have a definite furniture layout, one might be OK with calling it non-regularly occupied. But I agree with Jill better-safe-than-sorry.

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Christi Mosher ZGF Architects May 10 2011 Member 100 Thumbs Up

The room is a combo print/copy room that is shared by multiple people. There are 3 per level. Worst case scenario if I don't include them and they question it, I could always go back and factor them in later. thoughts?

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April Ambrose Sustainability Consultant: Senior Project Manager, Viridian May 10 2011 Member 1273 Thumbs Up

I agree that it would depend on what type of room. Ours have always been a separate room (not open to other spaces) that is usually a combo copy/mail/recycling room. The room is open to all employees and does not have anybody stationed in it. Any given person would likely not stay more than just a few minutes in it each day. We saw it as more on par with a storage room than an office. In addition, these have all been for NC applications, not CI.

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Jill Dalglish President, Dalglish Daylighting May 10 2011 Guest Expert 717 Thumbs Up

Christi, If you can get the credit by including them and you think their ROS status is in question, I say include them. I would rather not offer the reviewer reasons to scrutinize my submittal (as one discovered error seems to invite more), than to factor them in later.

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Maria Porter Environmental Certification Engineer, Skanska Sweden Oct 06 2011 Member 94 Thumbs Up

More questions on regularly occupied spacesRegularly occupied spaces are areas where one or more individuals normally spend time (more than one hour per person per day on average) seated or standing as they work, study, or perform other focused activities inside a building.:
* In an underground supermarket under an office building – what areas do I have to include as regularly occupied? Cashier area? Deli area (fish, cheese, etc), where 1-2 persons work? Not the whole shop right?
* In a bowling-restaurant under an office building – Do I include kitchen and bar, but not guest dining area?
* Break room in office buildings – Do I include these areas where people sit down for 30 minutes for a coffee and maybe eat their brought lunchboxes?
Thank you!

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Achelles DSouza Sustainability Engineer, World Green Consultancy Oct 06 2011 Guest 6 Thumbs Up

Go by the meaning of Regularly occupied spacesRegularly occupied spaces are areas where one or more individuals normally spend time (more than one hour per person per day on average) seated or standing as they work, study, or perform other focused activities inside a building.. Any space occupied for more than one hour a day is regarded as a Regularly occupied space.
Better see yourself in LEED NC 2009 Reference Guide (Page 404), and accordingly judge which can be regularly or irregularly occupied spaces..

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Chen Shalita B. Arch., LEED AP BD+C Alfa Sustainable Projects Limited
May 01 2011
Member
40 Thumbs Up

75% calculation for Residential projects:

We have NC student's campus, with 1700 Residential units.
Credit language is as follows: For private offices, the entire square footage of the office may be counted if 75% or more of the area has a direct line of sight to perimeter vision glazingThe approach used to determine the calculated area of regularly occupied areas with direct line of sight to perimeter vision glazing. The area determination includes full height partitions and other fixed construction prior to installation of furniture.
Is a private residential unit for one student equal to a private office, for this purpose?
What about a unit for two students?

Thanks!

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Jill Dalglish President, Dalglish Daylighting May 05 2011 Guest Expert 717 Thumbs Up

Hello Chen,

I think this may be a stretch, but would love to hear what happens if you try it. Are you having trouble meeting the credit otherwise?

I'm not sure why they give this exception to a private office, but my guess is that in general only one person is in a private office and they are usually not sitting right in the corner of the office that doesn't have a view. I can see however that a student might put their desk in their dorm room in a corner and this is even more likely with two students in a room.

If you're going to try to make the case I would address in detail your reasons for it and I wouldn't hang my hopes of getting a certain certification level on it.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Jill

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Chen Shalita B. Arch., LEED AP BD+C, Alfa Sustainable Projects Limited May 06 2011 Member 40 Thumbs Up

Thanks for your reply Jill,
we'll try to document our single rooms the same as single offices, since they'll be occupied by only one person and hope to achieve the required area.
Chen

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Dana Murdoch Sep 07 2011 Guest 136 Thumbs Up

Chen, any luck with this? We also have several single dorm rooms that we'd like to consider as single offices. Thanks!

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Lauren Fakhoury Research Assistant Sustainable Design Consulting, LLC
Apr 25 2011
Member
138 Thumbs Up

Views for an Apartment Building

I'm working on documenting this credit for an apartment building but have a question about documenting it. Most of the floors are identical in terms of rooms square footage and layout. Do I have to document each room separately, or is it possible to combine similar rooms into one entry if they are identical on multiple floors?

Thanks!

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Carlie Bullock-Jones Principal, Ecoworks Studio Apr 25 2011 Guest Expert 429 Thumbs Up

Hi Lauren,

It will be easier for the review team if you list each floor, but understandably if you have a lot of the same/typical floor plans then it is acceptable to combine, or rather list "Floors 1 - x (typical)" as a line item in your views calculations with the results.

Just make sure your regularly occupied total square footage for IEQc8.2 matches the square footage listed throughout your project documentation and I would simply include a brief narrative for the reviewer confirming which floors have the exact same layout and square footage just to be clear.

Hope helpful!

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John Chyz Commissioning Authority The Cross Creek Initiative, Inc.
Apr 13 2011
Guest
66 Thumbs Up

Historic Renovation Sill Heights

Our project is a major renovation of a 2-story historic building. The existing window openings can not be changed without significantly altering part of the preservation. Sill heights on the second floor are 49" however the windows are huge (7 feet tall). Our LEED reviewer denied the credit in the preliminary review phase due to sill height exceeding 42". This seems a little unreasonable to me given the nature of this building. Share your thoughts? Is there any precedent that would allow me to pursue this credit? I don't believe that I could argue non-typical space usage however we may be able to demonstrate taller furniture. Either way this is not a new construction project whereby we would have the flexibility to design sill heights. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Jill Dalglish President, Dalglish Daylighting Apr 13 2011 Guest Expert 717 Thumbs Up

Can you raise the floor?

I'm curious why the windows only went down to 49" in the building in the first place? What will the new occupancy be? What does the occupant see out the windows?

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Rick Ferrara AIA, LEED BD+C, Gensler Apr 23 2011 Guest 439 Thumbs Up

You need to take a different approach. I've successfully (under NC 2.2) gotten a favorable 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 where we had a regularly occupied room with a STANDING population. Much like your space, these people did their task standing. As such, we argued and won that we should be able to increase the sill height from the prescribed distance to the change in eye level from a seated to standing position. Strongly suggest that you file a CIR.

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Norma Rosowski Sustainability Consultant The Beck Group
Mar 17 2011
Member
617 Thumbs Up

Dance studio views

this dance studio has windows that provide a "connection between indoor spaces and outdoors" with views to the sky. At the dance floor and the first tier of seating, the window height is above dancer head height, (the other tiers of spectators have views at 42"). Since all users of the space have views to the outdoors, can we utilize the exeption for an alternative view height for area with non-typical function?

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Carlie Bullock-Jones Principal, Ecoworks Studio Apr 14 2011 Guest Expert 429 Thumbs Up

Hi Norma,

From your description above it appears that users at floor level (dancers and those sitting at the first tier seating) will not actually have views to the exterior, since “views to the sky” do not contribute to credit achievement and the credit requires the calculations be taken from a seated position. It depends on how high up the “views to the sky” are that you describe – the credit requires views (vision glazing) to be between 2’-6” and 7’-6”, so anything above 7’-6” cannot be considered a view. However, based on your window height description it seems that achieving IEQc8.1 Daylight might be feasible.

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Regina Ng
Feb 15 2011
Member
346 Thumbs Up

Views for airport

Hi, has anyone attempt this credit for airport. For airport, the regularly occupied areas for staff is usually located away from the facade (example the customs, security etc). Can the areas with views to outside for passengers be used as an alternative compliance method since the airport cater to passengers more than staff?

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Carlie Bullock-Jones Principal, Ecoworks Studio Feb 15 2011 Guest Expert 429 Thumbs Up

Hi Regina,

I have not attempted this credit for an airport project, but in general the regularly occupied areas for the airport staff cannot be excluded from the calculations as the occupants that are working within these spaces of the building can benefit from views as well as daylight.

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Regina Ng Feb 16 2011 Member 346 Thumbs Up

HI Carlie thanks for your reply. Can I include the areas other than the regularly occupied areas for the staff but also the areas for the passengers which provide a view to outside as well?

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Mar 10 2011 Moderator

Regina, that is debatable—and by the letter of the requirements, probably not. You could try submitting it, or submit 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, and hope for the best.

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Sandra Silla
Feb 07 2011
Member
107 Thumbs Up

Window Sill Height

We are working on a project with 42" high window sills. Does this eliminiate any chance of achieving this credit? Must the sills be at 30"?

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