I’ve received a few questions lately asking why I don’t add a section within each credit about what documents are needed to be submitted for credit compliance. My initial thought was that the submittal documentation could be easily determined based on the information provided in the credits.
I guess I was being biased because I do work in the industry and may understand how these types of things work more so than some other people. I did not take into account the many people who have no experience in the building/construction industry who do take the LEED exam. So, for everyone, I’ve created a helpful list for you below.
There may be a few questions on the exam about submittal documentation, so feel free to use the list below as you wish. I’ll try to shorthand this as best as I can so you can still easily understand it. I won’t go too far into detail (i.e. exact calaulations) because they won’t ask you too much detail about documentation on the exam.
Note: a lot of the credits may require additional documentation for a description of any special circumstances that may be involved with meeting the requirements. For the purposes of this list, I have not included that below. It’s just good to know that.
LEED for NC Submittal Documentation
Sustainable Sites
- SSp1: project drawings and description of ESCs, confirmation of NPDES (or local) compliance
- SSc1: confirmation not on prohibited land
- SSc2: project site & area (sq. ft)
- option 1: drawing of project and adjacent buildings w/ density radius
- option 2: drawing or aerial photo of 1/2 mi. radius w/ 10 basic services
- SSc3: descriptions of site contamination & fixes; confirmation that it’s brownfield
- SSc4.1: drawing of site indicating rail & bus, list of nearby rail & bus with distances from site
- SSc4.2: project drawings w/ storage and shower locations, calculation numbers
- SSc4.3: project drawings, info about specific options
- SSc4.4: FTE and transit occupancy, confirm. of which option
- (depending on option): site’s parking capacity, number of carpool spaces, desc. about rideshare program
- SSc5.1: site area, building area, desc. of approach
- greenfields: copy of site grading drawings & boundaries
- previously dev: area of plant area, landscape plan & plant info
- SSc5.2: site area, building area, landscape site/plan highlighting open spaces
- option 1: area of open space required vs. area of vegetated open space
- option 2: area of veg. open space that is equal to bldg. footprint
- option 3: area of veg. open space
- SSc6.1: runoff rate and quantity calculations, desc. of site cond. and measures taken
- SSc6.2: confirm. of compliance
- non structural: list and desc. of each BMP + rainfall treated annually
- structural: list and desc. of struct. controls + rainfall treated annually
- SSc7.1: site dwgs. with highlighted shade areas, pav materials & underground/covered parking, confirmation that roof materials meet requirements, calculation requirements + parking space info
- SSc7.2: roof plans w/ highlighted area of specific roof mats. or green roof area, SRI information
- SSc8: lighting dwgs (interior & ext.), max. candela information, light tresspass analysis, lighting power density tables, site zone classification, calculation requirements
Water Efficiency
- WEc1.1&1.2: calculation requirements
- WEc2: plumbing dwgs, # occupants, baseline water use info, design case water use info, fixture info, any treated water information, desc. of strategies
- WEc3.1&3.2: # occupants, fixture info, baseline water use info, design case for flow flush,desc. of strategies
Energy and Atmosphere
- EAp1: CxA name & company, confirm. 6 requirements, description + results of commissioning
- EAp2: confirm. ASHRAE 901.1-2004 compliance
- EAp3: confirm. no CFC use or phae out plan, desc. of phase out plan & refrig. quantities
- EAc1: confirm. compliance of option requirements
- EAc2: confirm. compliance of option requirements, desc. of renewable systems & calculations
- EAc3: CA name & company, comfirm task completion, results and training/implementation/review plan
- EAc4: finish letter template w/ all necessary items
- EAc5: comfirm. IPMVP option, M&V plan
- EAc6: name & contract term or REC number, total annual elec. consumption & purchases
Materials & Resources
- MRp1: confirm. recycle areas, confirm. materials to be recycled
- MRc1.1&1.2: area of existing, area of any additions, area of each existing struct/envelope element and area that is being reused
- MRc1.3: same as above except its info about interior nonstruct. elements
- MRc2.1&2.2: units (tons or cubic yds.), info (receipts from haulers) about waste diversion
- MRc3.1&3.2: method of determining materials cost & calculations, desc./vendor/cost of materials, desc. of strategy
- MRc4.1&4.2: method of det. mat. cost & calcs, desc/manu./cost/%/PREorPOST/ of materials
- MRc5.1&5.2: method of det. mat. cost & calcs, desc/manu/cost/% regional/distance from site
- MRc6: method of det. mat. cost & calcs, desc/manu/cost/% rapid renewable
- MRc7: info about product/name/vendor/cost/% wood/% FSC wood/FSC c.o.c. cert. #
Indoor Environmental Quality
- EQp1: desc. of ventiliation design, confirm. meets ASHRAE 62.1-2004, drawings of natural ventilated zones & operable windows
- EQp2: confirm. option chosen, drawings if applicable & testing results if applicable
- EQc1: confirm. option chosen, confirm compliances, desc. of monitoring systems, drawings w/ location & type of sensors & natural vent. components
- EQc2: confirm. option chosen, confirm meets ref. standard requirements, required calcs & drawings, desc. of design method & ventilation used if applicable
- EQc3.1: copy of IAQ plan, confirm air handling equipment installation method, photos highlighting each approach to IAQ plan, list of filtration media used & confirm it was replaced after
- EQc3.2: copy of IAQ plan highlighting pre-occupancy phase practices, confirm. of option used & compliance
- EQc4.1-4.4: list of each critical product used. Include name/manu/VOC/allowable VOC based on SCAQMD, source of VOC & compliant statement
- EAc5: confirm. required entryway systems installed, desc. & info on system installed, project drawings w/ locations, copies of mech. drawings, confirm. meets vent. & chem. requirements, confirm. filter requirements met
- EAc6.1&6.2: # of workstations w/ controls, list of multi-occ. spaces w/ controls, desc. of controls + strategy + location used
- EAc7.1: seasonal temp. data, desc. of method used + confirm. compliance w/ ASHRAE 55-2004
- EAc7.2: desc. of planned survey and a possible plan if survey shows dissatisfaction
- EAc8.1: areas and calcualtions for respective options. Project drawings with results of modeling simulations if applicable.
- EAc8.2: calculation requirements, completion of online template, total area of reg. occupied space and spaces w/ views, copies of line of sight drawings in plan and section
Innovation in Design
- IDc1.1-1.4:
- ID credit title
- desc. of credit intention
- desc. of credit requirements
- desc. of approach
- any drawings that may need to be included
- IDc2:
- LEED AP name
- LEED AP company
- Description of role
- Copy of certificate
I hope this helps some of you out! Good luck, and be sure to sign up for the newsletter below to keep up to date on any news I hear about LEED 2009. Cheers!
15 Comments On This Post
Pat,
thanks for providing this information, i was one of the people that wanted to see this on your website too.
For SSP1 how come we are supposed to show it in the CDs instead of possibly just showing images like required in EQ3.1? I don’t really remember showing temporary construction things on our architectectural sets..?
not sure if im understanding it correctly…
How do you physically submit these additional documents to USGBC? I understand the template submissions required but do not see a way to upload additional documentation.
ET
I am being asked to provide the information pertaing to MRc7 . I am told there is a templet form I need to add this to, my question is where do I get such a form ?
Matt Brophy
Kempf building Materials
Ed & Matt,
All submittals (template + supporting docs) go through LEED-Online.
-LEEDTeacher
When does the design submittal start and the construction submittal start, esp. if you are going with two submittal stages in lieu of one? Does the construction submittal stage come at the end of the project or is it progressive as construction moves forward?
Thanks
Paul — Design submittal occurs once you have “100% Construction Documents” completed. Construction is once you have completed the remaining credits. Letter templates are filled out on an ongoing basis; however, they are not submitted as such, they must be submitted either as a split review with one design phase review and one construction phase review, or as one combined design & construction phase review.
Hope this helps and didn’t confuse you more.
PAT –
Thank you for this truly amazing resource for all of us. I for one would be freaking even more about this crazy exam without it.
I have a question about CDVR: Corrected Design Ventilation Rate. How does one calculate the design ventilation rate against the air-change rate. Can you provide an example? I don’t get it.
Thank you-
That is exactly what I was looking for too. It wasn’t in your LEED AP walkthrough and the practice tests I have been taking have been asking a lot of questions about it.
Thank you for this list. Is there one for Commercial Interiors? There seems to be a lot of difference between the credits in the LEED for NC categories and the LEED CI categories.
Your site is great. My CI exam is 6/13/09 and I’m trying to be ready.
Thanks again,
Jeff
I’m not sure where to post this question, but the practice exam I am taking asks about “critical decision points”. What are these and where is this defined?
Example Q:
Which Indoor Environmental Quality credits have critical decision points prior to construction? (Choose two.)
EQ Prerequisite 1, Minimum IAQ Performance
EQ Prerequisite 2, Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control
EQ Credit 2, Increased Ventilation
EQ Credit 5, Indoor Chemical and Pollutant Source Control
Solution:
The answer is B and D.
Only EQ Prerequisite 2, Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control, and EQ Credit 5, Chemical and Pollutant Source Control, have critical decision points prior to the construction phase of a project. EQ Prerequisite 1, Minimum IAQ Performance, and EQ Credit 2, Increased Ventilation, have periods of activity prior to construction, but no critical decision points.
For the SS-8 Light Tresspass Credit, what formal documentation is required to be submitted and what are the parameters to comply?
A practice test I’m taking (Meghan Peot and Brennan Schumacher, question #65) says that “the LEED Online Credit Template is divided into the following four sections: Template Status, Manage Template, Required Documents, Documentation Status”.
Is this correct and where can I find more information about the structure and content of the online credit templates? Thanks!
In WE Online Credit Template 3.1/3.2 the # of Design Case flow fixtures is limited to 8; our project has more that 8. How do you add more fixtures to accurately portray design case?
Pat
Thanks for the info posted on this page..I have question:
for LEED NC, do I need to hire both LEED AP and CxA…Briefly what is the role and duties of each of them?
Thanks
Amer,
The CxA is absolutely for the Energy and Atmosphere prerequisite (fundamental), and they have duties such as developing a commissioning plan, reviewing the Basis of Design (BOD) and Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR), verifying installation and performance of systems, and completing a summary. The LEED AP, although not absolutely required, earns a point for IDc2, and it would be silly not to use one because it’s so easy to earn that point, and the LEED AP helps everyone understand and know their role in the LEED application process.