This is the first credit that deals with FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) occupants. The definition of FTE is a sort of calculation explained here:
Calculate the full-time equivalent (FTE) building occupants based on a standard 8-hour occupancy period. An 8-hour occupant has an FTE value of 1.0, while a part-time occupant has an FTE value based on their hours per day divided by 8.
FTE Occupants = Occupant Hours / 8
This calculation must be consistent for all LEED for New Construction credits.
Bicycle Storage & Changing Rooms
Intention:
- Reduce Pollution from auto use
- Reduce land development from auto use
Implementation:
- Case 1:
- provide bike rack (based on 0.05 FTE measured at PEAK periods) within 200 yards AND
- provide changing room and shower (based on 0.005 FTE) within 200 yards
- Case 2 (residential):
- provide bike rack for 15% of residents
Codes/Standards Applied:
- none
Extra Credit:
- One SS4 extra credit point allowed by creating a ‘comprehensive transportation management plan.
Submittal Phase:
- design
Links from Reference Guide:
Other Sustainable Sites Credits
- SS P1 – Construction Activity Pollution Prevention (prerequisite)
- SS 1 – Site Selection
- SS 2 – Development Density & Community Connectivity
- SS 3 – Brownfield Redevelopment
- SS 4.1 – Alternative Transportation – Public Transportation Access
- SS 4.2 – Alternative Transportation -Bicycle Storage & Changing Rooms
- SS 4.3 – Alternative Transportation – Low Emission & Fuel EfficientVehicles
- SS 4.4 – Alternative Transportation – Parking Capacity
- SS 5.1 – Site Development – Protect or Restore Habitat
- SS 5.2 – Site Development – Maximize Open Space
- SS 6.1 – Stormwater Design – Quantity Control
- SS 6.2 – Stormwater Design – Quality Control
- SS 7.1 – Heat Island Effect – Non-Roof
- SS 7.2 – Heat Island Effect – Roof
- SS 8 – Light Pollution Reduction
44 Comments On This Post
For LEED CS, is FTE equal to the Occupant Load as defined by local code? E.G., a Core and Shell office building under IBC is one occupant per 100 gross SF, or could I calculate usable square footage under BOMA and apply an occupant load factor to that area of my liking?
how/where does the FTE value of 0.1 fit into the equation?
something is missing above – part-time FTE value is 0.5 is missing.
how do you determine the number of part-time FTE ?
bicycle rack for 15% of residents – Full time residents living in the building as well as building occupants in a mixed-used residential building. am i right?
Lilian,
I’m not sure where you got the FTE value of 0.1 you are speaking of.
The initial paragraph of this credit also describes how to calculate part time FTE. Occupant Hours divided by 8 (for 1 full 8 hour day)
Thanks Pat….
ok, let me put in another way.
How do we determine/obtain the number of part time and full time occupants for calculation in the design phase ?
Ok, lets say that you have a project that has 8 full time employees and 4 part time employees. The 4 part time employees each work 4 hours a day.
4 employees X 4 hours = 16 hours
16 hours / 8 = 2 FTE
8 Full Time Employees FTE + 2 Part Time Employees FTE = 10 FTE total.
If you are wondering how to come up with those numbers before the project is even finished being built, it’s pretty much an educated guess made by the owner on how many employees will be working and for how long. I hope that helps!
awesome. Thanks so much.
Don’t bike racks have to be required for 5% of peak building users, not FTE? This would be a much higher number.
Yes, for commercial only, you need to add the transient occupants PLUS the FTE (which includes full and part time occupants) and that equals the Peak Building Users.
So don’t confuse your part time occupants with the transients. (nice chart in Ref. Standard p55)
the mix comm/res seem to care about FTE x .05 and residential Occupants x .15 only
I imagine there are a lot of mix use shopping/residential projects that will need a CIR or alternate compliance path because the calc doesn’t include the transients..
This is a credit that you as an AP will be submitting the Calcs and thus will probably need to do these on the test..
just to clarify… there is no distance requirement for residential bike racks? only for commercial? it’s difficult to tell from the way it is worded. thanks!
I don’t think they ever stipulate the distance for residential, I think they assume there is storage as part of ea residence …
You might check the CIR’s on the USGBC website, I vaguely remember someone had a mix use project they were trying to sort out for this credit.
So if I have a commercial space that has 1000 full time employees (thus 1000 FTE) I must provide storage for atleast 1000×0.05 = 50 bikes and 1000×0.005 = 5 shower facilites.
If I only have 10 FTEs as stated above, I must provide storage for atleast 0.5 bikes (round up to 1) and atleast 0.05 showers (round up to 1 shower).
Am I understanding the math correctly?
I think there are some mistake in this credit description.
it should be:
i)5% of PEAK building users and
ii).5% of FTE
Thanks Andy,
0.05 is the same as 5% and .005 is the same as 0.5%.
Do you think your way or this way is easy to understand?
thanks Pat
my mean is:
PEAK building user = FTE + transient
so PEAK is not equal to FTE and actually there are big difference between them(see the example in LEED NC P55).
so I think ‘provide bike rack (based on 0.05 FTE measured at PEAK periods) within 200 yards’ is not appropriate. I think it should be 0.05 PEAK building users.
Reading CIR applicable to SUSTAINABLE SITES: Alternative Transportation, Bicycle Storage & Changing Rooms the ruling was on 2/26/2007 and
stated” bicycle storage units {has also been miscalculated,} and should be based on the credit requirements of 3% of the occupants for up to 300,000 square feet, then an additional 0.5% (not 5%) for the occupants for the space over 300,000 square feet.
is this new?
^^nevermind abive post, CIR was not fo NC
I’ve read through the Reference Guide for Bikes and Storage,the above discussions, and an example credit submittal template,and want to make sure I have it straight:
Res Bikes – 15% OCCUPANTS
Non-Res Bikes – 5% Peak Users (FTE + Transients)
Non-Res Showers – .5% FTE (NOT Transients)*
*The non-res showers is the one least clear to me, based on the equation and chart on page 55 of the Reference Guide. The text says “.5% of the FTE occupants” but the chart gives total FTE’s and then adds the transients for the Occupant value for LEED Calcs. So, do you include transients in this FTE calculation (or all FTE calculations for that matter?)
thanks,
katie
I have the same question as Kathryn… If they are transient, they should not be showering in the facilities, but example calculations still count them in
Pat, thank you for providing such a great resource!
Further to Joseph’s question #13 above, it appears that SS4.2 (unlike WEc2) does not assume that the FTE occupants would be 50% male and 50% female therefore the 1 shower facility would then need to be shared. Is this correct?
Sample Test Question:
-A large tire manufacturer has the following staff: 2 full time managers, 58 full time laborers, 16 part time student workers who average 20hrs per week and a cleaning staff of 3 who work an 8 hour shift at night. The LEED team is pursing SS4.2. How many bikes rack locations will need to be avaible and how many showers will the tire manufactured need to add to its site?
A. 2 bike storage locations & 2 Showers
B. 4 bike storage locations & 3 Showers
C. 2 bike storage locations & 1 Showers
D. 3 bike storage locations & 3 Showers
Why is B the right answer????
According to my calcs, it should be 4 bike storage locations and 1 shower, which is not an option here 🙁
For Storage locations:
no. peak time users=FTE +transient occupants=58+2+8(half of 16)=68 (note:transient occupants is 0 in this case)
storage reqd=5% of peak time users=4 approx.
For showers:
FTE here is 58+2+8(half of 16)=68
night shift workers are excluded(as per reference guide)
showers= .5% of FTE= 1approx.
Any comments??
Yeah I also agree with your calculations Mark. Can someone please help with this qn?
Thanks.
Bikes:
Full Time= 2 Managers + 58 Labors + 3 cleaners (8 hours a night is the same as 8 hours a day) = 63
Part Time = 16 part time students @ 4 hours per day = 64 hours / 8 = 8
63 + 8 = 71 FTE
.05 x 71 = 3.55 Round up to 4
Answer: 4 bike spaces required
Showers:
According to LEED “50% of students and visitors are assumed to use a flush and flow fixture in the building and NO shower or kitchen sink”; thus we can not include students in the shower calculation.
63 x .005 = .32 You can’t provide half a shower so round up to 1 (im not positive about rounding up or down… could someone clarify?)
Answer: 1 shower required.
Just to clarify…. 3 showers would require an FTE of at least 600 (600 x .005 = 3) which would also mean you would need at least require at least 30 secure bike storage locations so I think the test question is wrong.
I should also point out LEED also states “20% of retail occupants are assumed to use a flush and flow fixture in the building and NO shower or kitchen sinks”
Don’t forget these, as they can greatly affect calculations.
One more thing to point out. Transients also do not count in the shower calculations. 😀
Parker,
as per the reference guide under calculations- ” In buildings with multiple shifts, use only the highest volume shift in the FTE calculation but consider shift overlap when determining peak building users”
Therefore, 3 night shift workers will not be included as FTE under shower calculation, also these are student workers so they will be included in shower calculation.
For showers it should be 58+2+8=68 FTE
no. of showers=68*.005=.34
Anyways, the answer is 1 shower either way but just to make this clear.
“as per the reference guide under calculations- In buildings with multiple shifts, use only the highest volume shift in the FTE calculation but consider shift overlap when determining peak building users”
You’re right about the multiple shifts, my bad.
“also these are student workers so they will be included in shower calculation.”
Not sure what you mean here, however students are exempt from shower calculations as far as I can tell. I could be wrong, but check out Page 140 LEED NC 2.2 ED 2. “50% of students and visitors are assumed to use a flush and flow fixture in the building and NO shower or kitchen sink.” It is a bit hidden, and located in WEC3, but I would assume this would be consistent across all credits as many other items are. Any ideas? Wish we could do a CIR hehe.
If I am correct about the student/shower issue then the calculations would bee
Bikes:
Full Time= 2 Managers + 58 Labors = 60
Part Time = 16 part time students @ 4 hours per day = 64 hours / 8 = 8
60 + 8 = 68 FTE
.05 x 68 = 3.4 Round up to 4
Answer: 4 bike spaces required (no change)
Showers:
According to LEED “50% of students and visitors are assumed to use a flush and flow fixture in the building and NO shower or kitchen sink”; thus we can not include students in the shower calculation.
60 x .005 = .3 You can’t provide half a shower so round up to 1 (im not positive about rounding up or down… could someone clarify?)
Answer: 1 shower required. (no change)
As you said, our answers end up being the same
On a side note, can someone clarify when to round up/down for these calculations.
Parker:
Rounding in these kind of scenarios is always rounded UP.
Thanks Reenu
ALL,
B is the correct ans. since it’s the only option that provids you with 4 bike racks.
so you are provide 3 shower instead of 1 (that is required) so what is the big deal. There are no max. requirments for shower heads.
and You always round up.
By student worker I meant, they will be considered as part time workers and thus will be counted in the shower calculation.
I guess LEED AP is right, if the options are as given in this question one should choose B. Bravo!
LOL yea, I guess you are right LEED AP. It so painfully obvious. Lost in the details we were. GRR
Although, to be fair the question does ask how many showers will need to be added and technically 3, isnt correct. I chalk this up to a poorly written question.
Mark: Whats your opinion on the “50% of students and visitors are assumed to use a flush and flow fixture in the building and NO shower or kitchen sink” stated in the Reference guide in WE3? Do you think it applies to all shower calculations?
Trippin’ on the details atm because I take the exam next Monday.
Mark: you keep including students in your shower calculations, this the only reason I ask. Sorry heh, as I said . .. trying to iron out all the details here.
Parker-
The reason I include student workers in this case for shower calcs is that they are part time occupant type and not transient occupant type. I agree that students(transient) are not included in shower calcs but this is a different case. Hope this makes sense. Thats my opinion, Anybody any comment?
good luck parker, monday is just few days left. Mine is next sat. If possible let us know how was ur exam once you give it-i mean type of ques asked.
Ah ok, that makes sense. I think you are right. THanks for clearing that up.
I have a question on Mark’s calculation and I just want to clarify that I don’t do my calculations wrong on the test(I take it April 27th):
The part time students are not calculated as
52+2+8(half of 16) the question being to get the 8FTE for the students it’s not divided by 2
it’s 16 students working 20hrs a week
so:
20hrs/5days a week = 4hrs a day
4/8 = .5 that’s the FTE .5 X 16 students = 8
Right?
how do you calculate transient occupants in the calculations for ssc4.2?
Does anyone know that if showers are in a facility such as a nearby gym would the owner have to pay for gym membership? Thanks.
Pat –
Your BDC reference guide says to use one shower for every 1,000 FTE occupants. How is this derived? Shouldn’t it be one shower for every 200 FTE occupants (0.005 x 200 = 1)?
Also, do separate M/F showers have to be provided (i.e., is one or two the minimum number)?
Thanks