NC v2.2 EQc3.2: Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—Before Occupancy

Mark- it is either or, not both.

Thanks Allison, I have a specification where the design firm has not indicated which option we are to include. We are a bidding general constuction firm. Is it standard practice to leave both options in the sustainable design requirements specification section and leave it up to the contractor to decide which option to use?

It varies widely. We always specify which we expect to be use because each has unique time constraints and costs, but I have certainly seen others leave it to the contractor to decide.

Allison- Our specification calls out for both options (flush and test). Since our project is made up of few different buildings, is it possible to choose flush out for some and 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. testing for others to pass the credit?

This seems like an approach that should be acceptable, however, since it varies from the accepted credit language, this may be a case where is would be a good idea to use a LEED Interpretation to clarify that this is acceptable, since it would be too late to go back and do it a different way if your reviewer doesn't agree. Are you using a group certification for the buildings? You may want to check the AGMBC (application Guide for Multiple Buildings and Campuses) that was just release in October to make sure it doesn't help clarify things. It can be found here: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=2326

The entire building set is submitted as it is one building. But we have 7 new buildings stacked one another. Thanks for the link. AGMBC is for campus though, which doesn't apply to our project type.

Curt, I think the options in these situations are a) testing, b) get 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, or c) use temporary equipment (unlikely, I know).

If the test failed and the building is occupied prior to the required flush-out + successful retest then the credit will not be achieved.

Sorry for the bad news.

I agree that finding a company can be hit or miss and I don't have a great direct answer to your question. What I can tell you , though, is that recently it seems that a lot of the companies we go to for commissioning and environmental site assessments are now starting to provide 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. testing as well. So, you may be able to begin with your search with that type of company.

Hi Nadja,
I work for 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. company called Healthy Buildings (www.healthybuildings.com). We work nation wide and have offices throughout the country. Healthy Buildings helped develop and routinely performs IAQ testing to meet LEED EQc3.2 requirements. Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to give us a call (917-775-0215).

I work for ENPRO Environmental who routinely performs 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. testing for LEED EQc3.2 requirements throughout the country, the Pacific Asia Region and the Caribbean. You can call me at 808.748.2121.

I work for Centek Labs in Syracuse NY. Our laboratory has done 100’s of samples and has helped develop an easy and cost effective way to sample 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. to meet LEED EQc3.2 requirements. We have done work all over the world because our sampling equipment doesn't need short term holding times. We have a standard 5 day turn around time and do many same day TAT for those last minute RUSH jobs. We can do your TVOCThe sum or total of all volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from a product or measured in a space under certain defined conditions., formaldehyde1. Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring VOC found in small amounts in animals and plants but is carcinogenic and an irritant to most people when present in high concentrations, causing headaches, dizziness, mental impairment, and other symptoms. When present in the air at levels above 0.1 ppm, it can cause watery eyes; burning sensations in the eyes, nose, and throat; nausea; coughing; chest tightness; wheezing; skin rashes; and asthmatic and allergic reactions. 2. A known carcinogen with no known safe exposure level. Formaldehyde occurs naturally, but appears in unnaturally high concentra­tions in many buildings because it is an ingredient in binders used in many building materials and furnishings., CO, 4-PCH and PM10. Call me at 315-431-9730 ask for Russ

Donna- I think that you are going to have a very difficult time getting GBCI to accept a flush out of only spaces that were renovated unless you can document that the "untouched" spaces are served by separate HVAC systems and were completely isolated from construction areas to prevent particulates, off-gassing, etc. Even if you can document the above, I do not think credit award would be guaranteed, because there is nothing in the credit language or in published CIRs that indicate you can not do a flush out in existing spaces. You could consider 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. testing if you want to avoid a flush out in the renovated spaces.

Option 1a and 1b would both require a narrative describing how minimum temperatures and maximum relative humidity levels were maintained during flushout periods or when ventilation rates are set to 0.3 CFM / sqft.

David, thank you for your response, but I can't find the language in the reference guide that describes the minimum temperatures and maximum relative humidity levels for option 1b. Do you mind pointing me to it so I can reference it in our narrative?

The language is included on page #326 of the LEED NC v2.2 reference guide. The details listed on this page apply to both options of the flushout.

Failing to provide verification of the temp / humidity levels during either option of the flushout will trigger a technical advice comment from the LEED project reviewer.

Hope this helps.

Wow -- Did not realize that was for both 1a and 1b. I thought we only had to mention this in our narrative though? We have to upload docs on verified temp and humidity levels as well?

Thank you so much for your help!

David- Do you know if USGBC accepts BMS reading as a proof of providing temperature and humidity recording? or does it need to be recorded manually with a hygrometer or equivalent?Thank you.

Yes, non-fixed furniture does not have to be in place for testing, so you could proceed as you describe.

Is this the case for a flush out as well? I thought furniture needed to be installed since in may be a source of VOCs1. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are carbon compounds that participate in atmospheric photochemical reactions (excluding carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, metallic carbides and carbonates, and ammonium carbonate). The compounds vaporize (become a gas) at normal room temperatures. 2. A molecule containing one or more carbon atoms that tends to evaporate (volatilize) into the air at typical ambi­ent conditions. Some legal definitions of VOCs are restricted to those that react with sunlight to generate smog. Some VOCs are carcinogens, suspected carcinogens, or known irritants at typical levels..

Non-fixed furnishings are encouraged to be installed prior to the flushout or air testing but this is not a requirement of LEED v2.2 or LEED 2009.

There is not a specfiic standard to meet in terms of record-keeping during flushout, but you do need to supply a narrative about this, so data like this that you record will be useful. I would monitor the levels at least that much.

This is only for option 1a, right? We pursued option 1b on a project that was recently submitted for its preliminary construction application review, and the reviewer has requested documentation describing the data regarding temperature and humidity during the flush-out process. This seems like an error to me, but maybe I'm missing something?

Just a narrative will do it!

I am not familiar with this section or where it came up with the 3 day format, but for LEED you can definitely do the testing all on one day.

The three day testing requirement is part of the EPA 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. testing specification and is much more thorough than LEED requirements. It includes testing outside air for comparison as well as averaging 3 days of test results.

Many design teams are adding this spec into their documents without knowing its more stringent and costly than LEED requirements.

Thanks for the clarification Thomas- that makes perfect sense. I love products like GreenSpec and other similar specification products because they are helping make sustainability much more mainstream, but this wouldn't be the first time I have seen them include potentially confusing or extraneous info!

is testing also required in separated plant rooms and naturally ventilated carpark?

I don't think LEED would require that the flush-out be restarted in the case of a small fire like this. If something was burning that was creating nasty smoke and it got spread around the building, it may be a very good idea, though.

Heather, I don't quite see how the Doc Toolkit is suggesting that your EQc3.1 and EQc3.2 plans should be separate, if you're pursuing both credits. I don't think these plans need to be separate. The Denver example shown in the Doc Toolkit above, for example, covers both SMACNA and flush-out measures, for example.

Let me know if I'm not understanding your question.

I'm sure it's just because I get confused easily! There is a different example of the plan under EQc3.1 and EQc3.2, but you're right -- They're for two different projects and cover both credits where applicable. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Trust me -- We all appreciate ample examples!

Kathy, I could imagine cases where all or nothing wouldn't make sense, but it's kind of hard to say for sure inthe hypothetical...can you make this more specific?

I would have some concern that if some occupants were in the building before flush-out, they could be exposed to chemicals not yet flushed... what are your thoughts?

It's really up to you. we generally do a "sustainable design requirements" spec in division on e that covers some of these things. I wouldn't put it in the commissioning spec unless you are having the commissioning authority do the testing.

Hey Allison,
Thanks a lot. I did do the SDR spec and 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. one to boot so didn't think there was a need for it elsewhere. I saw one example of someone putting it into the Commissioning spec so I wasn't sure. Again, thanks for coming back to this post! em

Based on the ability to flush-out portions of the building with independent HVAC systems, I would say it is acceptable as long as:
1.) The test results are acceptable
2.) The completed areas can be segregated from the incomplete areas in accordance with the SMACNA 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. Guidelines

Thank you very much, that is what I assumed, but it's good to get some confirmation.

The concept is definitely that the whole building should get flushed out. So if you can calculate this in terms of all systems and have assurance that the whole building will get an equal and effective flush-out, more power to you. If you have diverse spaces and systems and see the need to calculate it more individually, I could see that making sense.

Is this answering your question?

Thanks Tristan

So...

I have a building that is served by 3 make-up air units and 5 RTU, each of the make up air units serve a "separate" area within the building. The issue is that the one make up air unit only provides 2000cfm and serves a floor area of 20000sqft. So the flush required for that separate area is 40days prior to occupancy and 150 days after.

But when looking at the building floor area and HVAC systems as a whole, the way the letter template lays it out the flush-out time required is only 12 total days for the entire building.

So do I schedule the flush based on the entire building or layout each separate space with the HVAC system that is servicing it. Even though there is no provision to document this "separate" area breakdown on the letter template.

The LEED template does allow you to do a sort of "dumbed down" calculation that does not separate zones or account for the different outside air supply rates of different systems. So, technically, you could get by with just using this dumbed down calculation for LEED's sake. However, if you want to truly make sure that all of your spaces are adequately flushed out you may want to not use the template calculator and uplaod your area calculations as a separate document. To be quite honest, when we start getting really long flush out times like you are seeing in some spaces, we usually move away from flush put and do air quality testing instead.

Thanks for your help Allison and Tristan

I am pretty sure that the testing protocols don't specifiy who does the testing. So, it could be anyone.

I believe that the key measure in terms of the flush-out is the volume of air provided in the space—see the credit language. So yes, it could be broken up in time.

Hypothetically, I think that you could stage the flush out if you fully isolated each space and provided the full 14,000 cubic feet of outside air per square foot to all areas. As you have mentioned, though, it would probably be nearly impossible to use the permanent HVAC system and achieve full isolation. You may be able to do it if you have multiple air handlers or if you are in a climate where you have outside air that's naturally over 60 degrees and under 60% relative humidity which would allow you to use a large portable fan.

The main idea is to retest until the requirements are met. I think the mention of flushout is basically a recommendation on how to proceed if you fail the test and want to pass it—you may need to do something to remove pollutants so thaty you can pass.

I'm not aware of any specific flushout requirements, since all you need in the end if you're going with this option is a passing test.

I think you should be absolutely fine with the four samples you propose since you only have two ventilation systems and the heat pumps are not controlling ventilation.

My only reservation comes from reading the definition of ventilation in the v2.2 Ref Guide: "The process of supplying air to or removing air from a space for the purpose of controlling air contaminant levels, humidity or temperature within the space." The two outside air systems are there for "controlling air contaminant levels", but the humidity and temperature control is done at the local level with the individual HP's.

Karen- there is no hard and fast VOC limit that you need to abide by for this credit. It could be a problem for 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. test, but it is all going to depend on how much time there is between use and testing, how much ventilation you have in the space where the cleaning occurred and what other VOC containing products were used. If you are worried about your IAQ tests, I would recommend a targeted mini flush out of the space where the cleaning occurred using as much outside air as possible before IAQ testing is done.