You may not know what the letters in the acronym LEED CI stand for, but with Green building having long passed being simply a trend and now having risen to cultural value, you need to understand how leased commercial interiors are increasingly being built-out Green.

Tenants are demanding, and some local governments are even mandating (including in Maryland), that leased premises being built-out within an existing building achieve specified minimum Green standards, even when that existing shell building is not a Green building.

With more than 60 billion square feet of already constructed buildings in the U.S. alone, most businesses are located in a leased premises within one of those 4.5 million existing commercial buildings.

The Rationale of Green

The cultural values of increasing numbers of businesses include sustainability. Issues of community responsibility are increasingly being expressed in Green places of business. Efforts to advantage new employee hires, reduce employee sick time and overall employee happiness are further buttressed by the public relations and marketing advantages of having a sustainable place of business; all while reducing operating costs.

While in most instances there is no requirement that a building owner or tenant obtain a certification that a premises is indeed Green, third party certifications may be required to qualify for government tax credits and the like, or in the jurisdictions that mandate a certification that a building or renovation is Green (notably in Maryland, Baltimore City, Howard County, Montgomery County, and Annapolis). Moreover, many large corporations and governments are only leasing Green premises. Often those mandated Green certifications can be satisfied with a Green build-out of a tenant premises (in lieu of the entire building).

Certification of Green

Third party environmental certification programs also have emerged as a guide for Green building, aiding owners, operators and others by providing a framework, if not literally an actual checklist for Green build-out efforts, including documenting sustainable performance and costs.

There are several private and non-profit Green building certification programs in the marketplace, each that certify tenant premises, including the Green Globes® Fit-Up standard, the BREEAM® Tenant Fit-Out scheme, and the LEED® Commercial Interior (LEED CI) rating system. The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program is by far the most widely accepted not-for-profit Green building certification program in the United States, and, as such, this article will continue to look at these issues using the terminology utilized in the LEED CI rating system.

By way of clarification, LEED certification is available for all building types through one of several other rating systems, in addition to commercial interiors, which include new construction and major renovation, existing buildings, core & shell, and schools. LEED systems for retail (both commercial interior and new construction) and for neighborhood development are currently pilot testing.

Case Studies of CI Build-Out

As an example, the USGBC’s new 75,000 square feet headquarters is certified as a LEED CI Platinum 2 floor tenant space located within an existing 10 story non Green building on L Street in Northwest Washington, D.C.

In another example, Leggat McCall Properties built-out its 10,000 square feet headquarters, in the historic Post Office Square building in Boston, from vanilla box to completion in 15 working days, obtaining LEED CI Platinum certification, with project costs below the landlord’s tenant allowance for non Green tenant improvements.

In a creative example, a tenant that is a branch facility of a Danish company leased a significant space in a flex space building in suburban Baltimore (a shell building type that could not readily obtain LEED certification), required the landlord to build-out the space to obtain LEED CI Silver certification (equivalent to BREEAM Very Good), thereby avoiding a Danish CO2 tax.

The Rating System

The LEED 2009 Green building rating system for commercial interiors (LEED CI), which is applicable to all new projects registered after June 26, 2009, is a set of performance standards for certifying the design and construction of tenant spaces for offices, restaurant, healthcare, hotel/resort and educational buildings of all sizes, both public and private. The intent is “to promote healthful, durable, affordable, and environmentally sound practices in tenant spaces.”

As with the other LEED rating systems, prerequisites and credits in the LEED CI rating system fall into 7 categories: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation in Design, and Regional Priorities.

LEED CI certifications are awarded on the following scale: Certified 40 – 49 credits, Silver 50 – 59 credits, Gold 60 – 79 credits, and Platinum 80 credits and above. To earn LEED certification, a project must satisfy specified prerequisites and qualify for a minimum number of points to attain the established project rating levels.

Non residential building occupants that lease their space or do not occupy the entire building are eligible.

While USGBC describes that LEED CI “was designed to work hand in hand with the LEED Core & Shell” certification system (used by merchant developers to certify the shell of a building to be leased to others); in point of fact, many LEED CI projects are located within existing buildings seeking LEED Existing Building Operations and Maintenance certification; and, most LEED CI projects are located within non Green buildings.

LEED CI provides the option of splitting a certification application into two phases, design and construction, in lieu of a single review. Documentation of the design phase credits, identified in LEED-Online, can be submitted at the end of the design phase and can be fully evaluated at that time, adding to certainty prior to completion of construction.

In addition to LEED CI specific prerequisites, there are LEED CI Minimum Requirements including that the project must be a minimum of 259 square feet and must serve 1 or more full time equivalent requirements. The controversial Minimum Requirement is that all certified projects must commit to sharing with USGBC all available actual whole project energy and water usage data for a period of at least 5 years. “Sharing this data includes supplying information on a regular basis in a free, accessible, and secure online tool or, if necessary, taking any action to authorize the collection of information directly from service or utility providers.” This commitment must carry forward if the building or space changes ownership or lessee.

Credit by Credit Review

Sustainable Sites, the first of the seven categories of credits, offers 21 of the 110 possible points (with 40 points, the minimum for certification) awarding points to tenants that select buildings that employ green strategies. Selecting a tenant space within a LEED certified building earns 5 points (SS 1). And significantly in terms of credit weightings and the relative importance of building impacts on environmental and human health, 6 points are available for premises within buildings on urban sites with pedestrian access to a variety of services (SS 2). Another 6 points are available for a building located near mass transit (SS 3.1).

To buttress that intent of reducing pollution and land development impacts from automobile use, 2 points are available each for buildings with bike storage and shower facilities (SS 3.1) and for buildings with minimum off street parking capacity, not exceeding the number required by zoning, and including limited parking language in the lease (SS 3.3).

Water Efficiency, the second category of credits, includes a mandatory prerequisite that the tenant space use 20% less water than the provided (EPAct 1992) baseline formula (WE Pr 1), an efficiency that can largely be achieved with WaterSense certified plumbing fixtures and fixture fittings. To encourage further water use reduction, a 30% reduction from the baseline earns 6 points through a 40% reduction that earns 11 points, which reduction may require high efficiency fixtures and dry fixtures as well as using graywater (WE 1).

Energy and Atmosphere, the third category of credits, is weighted to account for the 37 possible points, the largest number of points in any category, including 3 prerequisites. To verify that the project’s energy related systems are installed and calibrated as designed, fundamental commissioning is a prerequisite (EA Pr 1). To further reduce the environmental and economic impacts associated with excessive energy use, the project must be designed to the minimum energy performance standard of ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007, which recognizing that there is tenant premises are not homogenous and vary greatly, this requirement may be among the most expensive of all prerequisites to satisfy (EA Pr 2). To reduce stratospheric ozone depletion, newly installed HVAC equipment must use no CFC based refrigerants (EA Pr 3).

Up to a total of 22 points are available over a series of credits for optimizing energy performance from lighting controls through occupancy sensors, to HVAC optimization by installing variable speed controls and the like (EA 1.1 – 1.4). Enhanced commissioning can earn 5 points (EA 2) as can a lease where energy costs are paid by the tenant and not included in base rent (EA 3), and as can purchasing at least 50% of a tenant’s electricity from a green power source.

Materials and Resources, the fourth category of credits, only accounts for 14 points, however commentators have suggested may be some of the ‘low hanging fruit’ or most cost effective credits. There is a prerequisite that an area be provided for the collection and storage of recyclables (MR Pr 1).

To generally conserve resources, a credit is available for a lease of 10 years or longer (MR 1.1). Points are available for reusing interior nonstructural components in the building (MR 1.2) and diverting construction and demolition debris from disposal in landfills (MR 2) to salvaging and reusing at least 5% of building materials (MR 3.1) and using a minimum of 20% of materials manufactured regionally within a radius of 500 miles (MR 5). There is also a credit for the use of 50% FSC certified wood (MR 7).

Indoor Environmental Quality, the fifth category of credits, offers 17 possible points after satisfying 2 prerequisites. To enhance indoor air quality, thus contributing to the comfort and well being of occupants, it is a prerequisite that the premises meet the ASHRAE 62.1-2007 ventilation minimums. (IEQ Re 1) Prohibiting tobacco smoking or other smoke controls are also a prerequisite (IEQ Re 2).

Credits are available 16 categories from having a construction indoor air quality management plan during construction (IEQ 3.1) and before occupancy (i.e., flush-out) (IEQ 3.2) to the use of low VOC emitting materials from adhesives and sealants (IEQ 4.1) and paints and coatings (IEQ 4.2) to flooring systems (IEQ 4.3) and furniture and seating (IEQ 4.5) and the controllability of lighting systems (IEQ 6.1) and controllability of thermal comfort (IEQ 6.2).

Innovation and Design Process, the sixth category of credits, allows 6 possible points providing projects the opportunity to achieve exceptional performance above the requirements set by the rating system.

Regional Priority Credits, the seventh and final category of credits, offer 4 points that are provided as an incentive for achieving credits in the rating system that have been determined to be an environmental priority in a particular Zip Code.

Conclusion

Interior premises can be built-out Green and LEED CI projects can be accomplished at no or very low additional cost.

Accepting that many LEED CI projects are modest in scope, two disparate suggestions are worth conveying for your project: With respect to process, a charrette early in the process that includes all key players will be more than worth the effort; and with respect to substance, an overriding goal should be to reduce the number of walls to maximize natural light and reduce construction materials.

The imminent release of LEED CI for Retail (following the USGBC member balloting that is ongoing), supported by the increasing market demand for Green locations for businesses as the economy improves, will create a surge in LEED CI projects.

Additionally, it can be anticipated that given the very large number of nonresidential tenants (within existing buildings) across the country, the largest number of applications for LEED certification through at least 2010, among all LEED rating systems, will be requests for LEED CI rating of tenant spaces.

If we can assist you evaluating a LEED CI project or with Green building and sustainable business, generally, do not hesitate to contact Stuart Kaplow.