-
May be the only legal option
Interior smoking is not allowed in many building types, and for those projects, this prerequisite should be easy and not add costs. It may even be the only legal option. To comply, you may need to establish a nonsmoking policy in and around the building (including entrances and balconies), and install appropriate signage.
If smoking is allowed, stringent measures needed
Multifamily residences and hotels may feel compelled to allow smoking in some or all units, and some projects, like airports, have designated smoking rooms. In these cases, stringent measures will be needed to stop movement of smoke from smoking to nonsmoking areas. These measures include air barriers between units, negative air pressure in smoking areas, separate exhaust systems, and blower-door testing...
Step-by-step credit help
Got the gist of the LEED credit but not sure how to actually achieve it? LEEDuser gives step-by-step help. Members get:
- Checklists covering all the key action steps you'll need to earn the credit.
- Hot tips to give you shortcuts and avoid pitfalls.
- Cost tips to assess what a credit will actually cost, and how to make it affordable.
- Ideas for going beyond LEED with best practices.
- All checklists organized by project phase.
- On-the-fly suggestions on useful items from the Documentation Toolkit, Resources, and Credit Language.
-
Credit language straight from USGBC
Need to check up on the exact LEED credit language from the LEED Rating System on the fly? LEEDuser includes the verbatim language. Members get:
- Easy access to the official LEED credit language with just a couple of clicks.
- On the jobsite without your bulky LEED Reference Guide? Check up on the credit language details here.
- Credit language content is used by permission of the U.S. Green Building Council.
Your credit-by-credit reference library
Why waste time chasing down referenced standards and supporting resources when LEEDuser links you directly to the ones you need? LEEDuser has gathered all the best tools out there and organized them by credit for easy reference. Members get links to:
- Organizations that can give information or help on a credit.
- Standards or studies that are key reference points for credits and prerequisites.
- Articles that help explain important topics.
- Key documents or references for credit inputs.
- Software tools you can use to run calculations or simulations.
Documentation Toolkit
In the end, LEED is all about documentation. LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit saves you time and helps you avoid mistakes with:
- Calculators to help assess credit compliance.
- Tracking spreadsheets for materials purchases.
- Spreadsheets and forms to give to subs and other team members.
- Guidance documents on arcane LEED issues.
- Sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions.
- Examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects.
31 Comments
No Smoking 25' from building entrances
Our project is a retail one-story building , and will have the policy of smoke free businees. Also, we will follow the 'no smoking withing 25' of building entries and air takes'.
Do we need to have designated areas with signage showing that in the parking lot? Or only signage inside the building- on the glazing- saying 'no smoking whithin 25' of building will be enough?
Thanks.
Maria, if you are prohibiting smoking in the building as a whole, you do not need to designate a smoking area in the parking lot.
Casinos
I was sorting thru lists of LEED projects and saw the Palazzo in Vegas (8,304,437 sf) earned LEED Silver a couple years ago. They publicly announce that 50% of the gaming space allows smoking. How is this possible. Even after Tom Hicks, VP of USGBC, told them 'no' in a letter. Just adding increased ventilation isn't enough to comply with this Prereq.
I'd love to hear more about this from anyone with a scoop.
I understand the sales tax and property tax reduction in Nevada is a nice carrot for building owners. But come on.
Could they have done it through Option 2 – smoking in designated areas only?
I found a map of the Palazzo. http://www.palazzo.com/assets/pdf/PropertyMap.pdf
I'm guessing the gaming floor space is on the gambling level in the open area labeled "The Palazzo Casino" with all the $ signs scattered around.
People have to walk thru the smoking area to get into the shops and restaurants. I don't see an "impermeable deck-to-deck partition" between this space and the adjacent spaces. And I don't see a wall dividing the space in half to separate smoking from non-smoking.
Even if there was separation, is there any limit in percentage of floor area where smoking is allowed. Can a project be 90% smoking and earn LEED as long as they keep the remaining 10% separate?
Are employee work stations allowed to be in the designated smoking area?
According to the Palazzo's green features web page (http://www.palazzo.com/greenpalazzo.aspx), "all areas of the property are LEED certified with the exception of the casino."
So they apparently skirted the requirement by carving out a portion of the project as 'non-certified'. Hopefully this loophole has been effectively closed for current and future projects through the tighter restrictions on certifying portions of buildings under LEED 2009.
I didn't notice that twist. That's probably how they did it.
It still doesn't seem right to have to walk thru the smoking area to reach the LEED portions of the building. Any bets if they maintain the 25' distance between the slot machine seats and the entrances to the stores and restaurants.
Definitely no bets on that -- "the odds always favor the house"!
EQ p2 no smoking
If our residential building follows the path of no smoking throughout the building and public areas - what documentation is required to prove that it is complying. Signage? would we need to show the Condo Offering Plan?
Gita, examples of documentation, signs, and the template you have to fill out to document the credit, are all shown under the Doc Toolkit above. I think all of that should provide good guidance for you. Let me know if questions remain?
the documentation toolkit is for commercial buildings. our situation is a residential building, condo, and we want to by-pass having to do a blower door testA blower door test gives an overall value for airtightness of a space, and can help identify air leaks. The testing unit consists of a calibrated fan that is sealed onto the unit entrance. The fan creates a continuous flow of pressure into the unit (or out of the unit when using theatrical fog to locate leaks). Devices detect the rate of pressure retention and loss due to possible air leaks in the construction.. We would like to institute a policy where this is no smoking at all in any of the units private or public. the toolkit does not address this. and I have yet to see a LEED building pass with this type of situation. we will write into the condo plan, and place signage - would this be acceptable to LEED? thanks!
Gita, unfortunately we have not gained any more clarity on your question about bypassing blower door tests since you posted it.
Have you learned more, or have any other LEED users?
blower door test
Our poject will be restricting smoking to 25 ft from the building. 8 story residential rehad with 1st floor of commercial area. Do we still have to perform blower door testA blower door test gives an overall value for airtightness of a space, and can help identify air leaks. The testing unit consists of a calibrated fan that is sealed onto the unit entrance. The fan creates a continuous flow of pressure into the unit (or out of the unit when using theatrical fog to locate leaks). Devices detect the rate of pressure retention and loss due to possible air leaks in the construction. ?
Smoking completely prohibited in the building? You're under Option 1, and no blower door testA blower door test gives an overall value for airtightness of a space, and can help identify air leaks. The testing unit consists of a calibrated fan that is sealed onto the unit entrance. The fan creates a continuous flow of pressure into the unit (or out of the unit when using theatrical fog to locate leaks). Devices detect the rate of pressure retention and loss due to possible air leaks in the construction. (see the credit language above).
where in the language do you see that? thanks
Option 1—see the language posted at the top of this page—doesn't require a blower door testA blower door test gives an overall value for airtightness of a space, and can help identify air leaks. The testing unit consists of a calibrated fan that is sealed onto the unit entrance. The fan creates a continuous flow of pressure into the unit (or out of the unit when using theatrical fog to locate leaks). Devices detect the rate of pressure retention and loss due to possible air leaks in the construction.. Right?
if your talking about the image on birds eye view then i see that it doesnt say you need blower door testA blower door test gives an overall value for airtightness of a space, and can help identify air leaks. The testing unit consists of a calibrated fan that is sealed onto the unit entrance. The fan creates a continuous flow of pressure into the unit (or out of the unit when using theatrical fog to locate leaks). Devices detect the rate of pressure retention and loss due to possible air leaks in the construction.. but i have been reading some of the previous comments and it looks like its still being required.
I am talking about the official USGBC credit language, posted under the Credit Language tab above, Option 1.
The forum discussion above does indicate some inconsistent application of this language, but I haven't heard further on that, so it's not clear whether that's an isolated case of a bad review, or a policy change. It would probably not be a bad idea to ask your GBCI reviewer for clarification, so that you don't get the prereq rejected at the end of the project. Make sense?
re: Blower Door Testing - Design Review
We just received the results of the design review for a mixed-use building (ground floor office; residential on floors 2-9). Smoking is banned in all public spaces but allowed in residential units. We provided drawings to show that rooms were being properly sealed, etc., which the reviewer did not object to.
The prereq was marked 'clarify' - see language below. The reviewer requested that we provide the results of blower door testing. This is the initial design review of a design submittal. We have not done the blower door testing yet as construction is not finished. Is submitting a narrative saying "blower door testing will be completed per XYZ" sufficient as a response to the request for clarification, provided that we include results from the testing during our final Design submittal? My concern is that it is impossible for us to complete the blower door testing within the 25 business days allotted for responding to requests for clarification. Since this is a prerequisite I want to be sure we respond appropriately.
TECHNICAL GUIDANCE:
Please provide a detailed narrative or resubmit the Submittal Template to include a detailed narrative describing the methods used and results from the following tests: blower door test conducted in accordance with ANSI/ASTMVoluntary standards development organization which creates source technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services-E779-03, Standard Test Method for Determining Air Leakage RateThe speed at which an appliance loses refrigerant, measured between refrigerant charges or over 12 months, whichever is shorter. The leakage rate is expressed in terms of the percentage of the appliance's full charge that would be lost over a 12-month period if the rate stabilized. (EPA Clean Air Act, Title VI, Rule 608). By Fan Pressurization, and progressive sampling methods as outlined in Chapter 4 of the Residential Manual for Compliance with California’s 2001 Energy Efficiency Standards.
While this prerequisite is typically completed as part of the design phase documentation, the most appropriate course of action would be to defer this prerequisite until the construction phase submittal. Typically, the reviewer responds with this direction, however they left that guidance out in this case. Blower door testing cannot be performed until the late stages of construction, so in these residential scenarios where testing is required, deferring to the construction phase is appropriate. There is check box on the page for each design phase credit that allows you to "defer until construction submittal." When submitting your construction phase submittal, be sure to include the plans as previously provided, the detailed narrative as the reviewer described, as well as the results of the tests.
Sampling Procedure Clarification Needed
Hello Good People,
I am trying to clarify the sampling procedure for EQp2 for a LEED-NC mixed use (downstairs retail/upstairs residential) project. The project contains almost 100 residential units in two seperate buildings, one is nine stories, the other is five stories. I'm finding that the documents referenced trail off into nothingness. Bear with me...
The credit language for EQp2 instructs to "Use the progressive sampling methodology defined in Chapter 4 (Compliance Through Quality Construction)...".
Chapter 4 includes, "For multifamily buildings, also see Section 8.1."
Section 8.1 includes, "Multi-family apartment buildings with four or more habitable stories (and hotels or motels of any number of stories) are covered by the nonresidential standards. These are explained in the Nonresidential Manual, which is available from www.energy.ca.gov/title24."
In the Nonresidential Manual the only references I can find air leakage or infiltration have to do with ducts or site-built fenestration. Nothing regarding envelope air leakage testing.
So I've gone down the rabbit-hole and now find myself at a dead end.
So my question is this, what is the appropriate sampling methodology for a 'high-rise' building? Can the methodology prescribed for buildings with four or less stories be used on a five and nine story building?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Cheers,
John Hollingsworth
Related Documents:
2001 Residential Manual - http://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/archive/2001standards/index.html
2001 Nonresidential Manual
http://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/archive/2001standards/nonresidential_ma...
Yes, the methodology prescribed for buildings with four or less stories is the same sampling rates to be used on buildings of 5 or more stories. You would be required to test 1 per every 7 "like" units. It is up to the project team and testing agent to identify the variations in unit types and ultimately how many tests are required, based on the sampling methodology described above. LEED-NC references this manual, so would therefore apply to all residential buildings regardless of size.
HERS Rater
Hello,
I wanted to ask if there would be a problem if I perform a Door Blower Test with a HERS Rater? I believe as long its a Door Blower Test, performed by a professional, the USGBC has no problems accepting to comply with the ETSEnvironmental tobacco smoke (ETS), or secondhand smoke, consists of airborne particles emitted from the burning end of cigarettes, pipes, and cigars, and is exhaled by smokers. These particles contain about 4,000 compounds, up to 50 of which are known to cause cancer. Pre-req.
Is this correct?
Yes, the blower door testA blower door test gives an overall value for airtightness of a space, and can help identify air leaks. The testing unit consists of a calibrated fan that is sealed onto the unit entrance. The fan creates a continuous flow of pressure into the unit (or out of the unit when using theatrical fog to locate leaks). Devices detect the rate of pressure retention and loss due to possible air leaks in the construction. has to meet a certain standard, but who does it is not an issue.
EQ Pre. 2 in mixed use building
Our project has residential/commercial on first level; residential units on levels two and three. Smoking is prohibited on the entire property. Because we are under Option 3, are we required to do air leakage tests? If so, do we only have to test one 1 per 7 residential units or on entire building, including commercial?
In the past, we've had residential projects with no smoking policies approved without doing blower door testing. However, because the rating system language has changed slightly for 2009 it would probably be a good idea to get in touch with your project's assigned certifying body 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 to see if the no smoking policy will still work.
If you are required to do the testing, it would only be for the residential units and the sampling methodology of 1 per 7 like residential units would apply.
Thanks, Ben. Our challenge seems to be that it is mixed use. It is a 2.2 project, no smoking anywhere, yet reviewer denied prerequisite on final review saying we had to do blower door tests but did not say on why or on what. I never heard of having to do blower door tests when no smoking is allowed on the property. Ideas?
So at this point you've had the preliminary and final review? Also, was that during the design, construction, or combined review? In any case I'm surprised by the result but it sounds like they're requiring the team to do blower door testing of the residential units according to the typical methodology for residential projects. You do not have to do any sort of testing for the non-residential spaces.
No smoking policy in urban area and the 25' rule.
We are certifying two buildings in Boston to be occupied by the State. The state has a No Smoking Policy on all properties. We know that we will have to determine how to convey this policy to the building users and visitors. In the end, no smoking will be allowed in the building or anywhere on the property.
The issue we're having is understanding how USGBC/GBCI views urban areas where 25' from entries, windows, and intakes in most directions puts you on a neighboring property or in the street. Intakes and windows aren't really an issue due to the building design but our entries could be.
Your posting over on the 2009 version of this credit just got an answer from Keith at YRG, as follows:
By prohibiting smoking on the entire property, you are in compliance with the credit requirements, regardless of whether or not an adjacent property is within 25' of a building opening. You do not have control of what happens on another property and therefore cannot be penalized for it, hence why the credit language specifies prohibiting "on-property" smoking within 25 feet.
Please register to use the forum.