Intent:
- Provide connection between indoor and outdoor spaces through introduction of daylight and views into regularly occupied areas of the building.
Implementation:
- Achieve direct line of site to outdoor for occupants in 90% of all regularly occupied areas
- glazing between 2′-6″ & 7′-6″
- Plan View:
- area within sight lines drawing from perimeter vision glazing
- Section View:
- direct line of sight can be drawn from area to perimeter vision glazing
Code:
- none
Extra Credit:
- case by case basis
Submittal Phase:
- design
Indoor Environmental Air Quality
- EQ P1 – Minimum IAQ Performance (prerequisite)
- EQ P2 – Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control (prerequisite)
- EQ 1 – Outdoor Air Delivery Monitoring
- EQ 2 – Increased Ventilation
- EQ 3.1 – Construction IAQ Management Plan, During Construction
- EQ 3.2 – Construction IAQ Management Plan, Before Occupancy
- EQ 4.1 – Low-Emitting Materials, Adhesives & Sealants
- EQ 4.2 – Low-Emitting Materials, Paint & Coatings
- EQ 4.3 – Low-Emitting Materials, Carpet Systems
- EQ 4.4 – Low-Emitting Materials, Composite Wood & Agrifiber Products
- EQ 5 – Indoor Chemical & Pollutant Source Control
- EQ 6.1 – Controllability of Systems, Lighting
- EQ 6.2 – Controllability of Systems, Thermal Comfort
- EQ 7.1 – Thermal Comfort, Design
- EQ 7.2 – Thermal Comfort, Verification
- EQ 8.1 -Daylight & Views, Daylight 75% of Spaces
- EQ 8.2 – Daylight & Views, Views for 90% of Spaces
24 Comments On This Post
Can anyone explain the method used for determining “line of sight” in plan view? Is there a specific angle between sight line & glazing surface? I find the diagram in the reference guide confusing rather than helpful.
I have now passed the exam, but I’d still love an answer to the question above… anybody out there?
Hi Melissa,
Again, I’d like to congratulate you on passing the exam. There was no doubt in my mind you were going to. Thanks for still contributing to answering questions on intheleed.com – you’re great!
I’m tackling your question, and it seems to me that the way they word it..well..sucks. Its a little easier to understand by looking at examples. If you go to this website and click on 8.2, if you click on MODEL SUBMITTALS at the bottom, you can actually see real life project submittals for this credit, with drawings showing their line of sight. It’s still a little weird to me too, but looking at the pictures helped. Here is the link:
http://www.greencampus.harvard.edu/theresource/new-construction/design-element/indoor-environmental/index.php
Let us know what you think about it. Thanks!
Pat,
As suggested, I am practicing test from greenbuild, but noticed that the most of the sample questions do not cover “submittal” part. How imp. it is to memorize the submittals for all the credits? Any suggestion?
Thanks
there were a lot of questions on submittals in the exam i took (and passed).
if, in a real-life scenario, the LEED APs role on a project is to verify that the correct documents, calculations, narratives etc. have been submitted, this is an important part to remember and this is why they test you on this.
i am not sure whether i am entirely correct here, but it seems to me that the LEED APs role is really in those categories, which are not highly regulated by existing standards (in particular ASHRAE). so in particular SS, WE and MR, which in many ways are unique to LEED, require a lot of involvement from the LEED APs side. there are quite a few others, like EAP1 and EA3, EA2 and EA6 etc. – once i started thinking about it along those lines, it made sense to focus on submittal requirements in such credits.
maybe others have a different view?
Thanks, Jutta.
Jutta, are you referring to the tables in the beginning on each chapter where the responsibilities are assigned? Thanks for the advice. The submittal documentation are the hardest for me to remember, so I will make sure to study which ones are LEED AP’s responsibility and study those.
Thanks everyone, and esp. Pat, for this great resource.
Could someone help me understand why the correct answer is correct, please?
Question:
A Midwestern vocational school operating both during day and evening hours is to be constructed with daylighting and climate as primary design considerations. Proposed design will have: south facing clerestory and roof monitors, int. and ext. light shelves separating view and daylgt. windows; very few E and W windows; spectrally selectie, low-e, 3-pane windows; photocell-controlled dimmable lighting for all ambient int. ltg.
Which 3 parameters woudl most likely be significantly affected by successful implementation of specific strategies above?
Answers:
A: total # of int. ltg. fixtures required
B: operating cost for electricity
C: first costs for cooling equipment
D: thermal comfort
E: ventilation effectiveness
F: heat-island effect
Correct answers are B,C,D
What I don’t understand is why C is correct answer? Why is first cost for cooling be affected? Perhaps my brains are dead as I have been studying way too much…
Thanks in advance.
Electricity being the largest energy consumer, it is important to properly site the building’s orientation. With this done, design proper fenestratation along the south wall to allow daylighting. This affects the amount of artificial light required (assuming proper footprint). With proper footprint and fenestration, you can implement successful natural cooling ventilation (operable windows) which affects thermal comfort.
This is all well and good, however the other side of this coin is the the amount of solar heat gain which must be dealt with.
So we have daylighting, reducing electricity costs; we have natural ventilation reducing cooling costs; but their is a line where the daylighting/ventilation becomes a cost item with the solar gain. All this relates to proper HVAC sizing.
Daylighting and natural ventilation are very complex issues and really require the simulation model to be effective. Bad mistake somewhere and you’ve really have some major problems, due in part to the amount of occupant controls installed.
Aside from the “happy peeps” part, the other part of what we are attempting to do is reduce energy consumption. Gas/electricity consumption for lighting and HVAC.
Hi Pat,
I passed my LEED exam yesterday (first time). Your website and walkthrough book had a lot to do with that and I just wanted to say thanks for this great resource. All the best in your future endeavours. I look forward to you newsletter.
Is anyone working through the Colorado Chapter practice exam? I am stuck on question 31- Trying to understand why EQ 8.1 is one of the answers but EQ 8.2 is not?
thank you! my exam is monday (3-2) !
Akoak, i think i remember that question. It had something do do with increasing ceiling height due to underfloor ventilation. Anyways, 8.1 (daylighting) would be affected because daylight glazing is above 7’6″. 8.2 would not be applicable because vision glazing is between 2’6 and 7’6 . Because the original ceiling elevation would never be below 7’6″, any increase in ceiling elevation ONLY affects daylight glazing.
sample ques:
What two Credits require “line of sight” calculations to be performed? (Choose
two)
A.SS Credit 2, Urban Redevelopment
B.SS Credit 8, Light Pollution Reduction
C.EQ Credit 6.1, Controllability of Systems
D.EQ Credit 8.1, Daylight & Views
E.EQ Credit 8.2, Daylight & Views
Answer is BE. why B?
Well line of site would be important when developing your building to block the fixtures angle of max intensity to prevent light trespass . . .sorta. I think the only concrete answer you have here is E for obvious reasons. Another Issue I have is answer A defines SS Credit 2 as Urban Redevelopment, when in fact it is Community Connectivity and Density Development… this leads me to wonder if you are using a test for an older version of LEED NC or even a different rating system all together?
thanx parker..well I just came across this ques. in some random material I had..I also think this is some older version…but just wanted to check if I missed something regarding the line of sight….
In response to the first question by “a different melissa”, I too find the models in teh book confusing. I read the response post by pat, and it helped by showing me that it seems to be open for intepretation. All of the models shown on that website seem to have a different approach to submitting the drawing, although the third seems more closely related to the book. Thanks, Pat!
Pat,
In your LEED walkthrough concerning this credit I believe something is misworded. You say, “Count the entire office if 75% or more of private offices have a direct line of sight to the outdoors.”
I interpret this to mean 75% of the entire buildings offices have direct line of site. I think it should read that if 75% of that particular office has a direct line of site then count the entire square footage of that particular office. Maybe I am nitpicking the wording confused me a bit and made me go read the reference guide which clarified it for me.
The walkthrough is fantastic though and I would highly recommend it!
In a practice test question, I came across this bit of information, specifically related to almost-but-not-quite compliance with EQc8.2:
Some credits allow an alternative approach, although they must be thoroughly documented in the credit template and submittal. In the case of this credit, an alternative approach is permissible. Looking at the template you will find a checkbox with the following text:
‘The project is seeking point(s) for this credit using an alternative compliance approach. The compliance approach, including references to any applicable Credit Interpretation Rulings is fully documented in the narrative above.’
Have you seen anything regarding which credits allow an alternative compliance approach?
Thanks so much! Pat, this site is fantastic!
hi pat,
i want to know how to calculate the area which has direct line of sight and the angle of the line of sight in credit 8.2 (daylight and viws – views)
i did refer to harvard web link that you have given but i am not able to find model submittals in that.
thank you.
What is the treshold for EQ8.2 exemplary performance? I know is case by case basis, any further/additional info anyone can add?
Thank you
Time to play…test June 30th so I will be on here a lot this next 1.5 weeks : ) I will also try my best to contribute with answers for my new best friends!
I am not understanding CR 8.2 Table 1 open office 103. The calculated area of direct line of sight to permimeter vision glazing….2,641 is used, so apprently some of the view is blocked when looking in section verses in plan? All the others make sense…
Thanks in advance
Hi Pat
Thanks again for all your hard work and great website.
Question- how would removing horizontal louvers above a south facing window affect EQ credit 8.1 Daylight and Views: Daylight 75% of spaces.
The guide states that currently the Glazing factor doesn’t take into account light shelves, partitions, significant exterior obstructions or exterior reflective surfaces so would it be included in the calculation? I can see how it would factor in if you did a simulation model or actual readings. The guide states that glare control is required for each window but can’t find anything listed in the submittal that indicates the requirement.
Bridget’s comment got me looking at the Table 1 for EQ credit 8.2 102 conference room area 330- plan area 280 – calculated area – 330. I understand that in a private office if 75% has a direct line of sight you can count 100% of the area, conference rooms do not seem to fall into this category- so whats up with getting the full area for the conference room??
I looked up the Harvard submittal, a little small and hard to see, but it looks like they just show a line from the middle of the space for compliance rather than the direct line of sight as illustrated in figure 1 in the ref guide- am I missing something??
Pat,
I can’t find a definition of view factor (EQ8.2, EP #4)
Thanks once again,
Gil