Reviewer Insight: Three Helpful LEED Interpretations for LEED v4 Projects

Green Building Team on November 1, 2018

Rating System/Standard
LEED v4

The following three LEED Interpretations applicable to the LEED v4 rating systems have caught the eyes of CaGBC reviewers and may be useful to Canadian project teams:

LEED Interpretation #10474
Released July 2, 2018, this Interpretation addresses Canada’s legalization of marijuana use. As per the LEED Interpretation, the smoking of cannabis is considered a form of smoking for all intents and purposes for both the interior and exterior smoking provisions of the LEED v4 BD+C, ID+C and O+M, EQ prerequisite Environmental Tobacco Smoke Control.

LEED Interpretation #10425
This LEED Interpretation, released October 1, 2015, clarifies that a generic industry-wide Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) can be used to document up to ten products for LEED v4 BD+C and ID+C MR credit Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Sourcing of Raw Materials, Option 1, Environmental Product Declarations. Please note that each product declared must have separately reported impacts within the EPD, and as with all industry-wide EPDs, documentation demonstrating that the manufacturer is explicitly recognized as a participant by the program operator must be provided.

LEED Interpretation # 10411
This LEED Interpretation, released April 1, 2015, applies to LEED v4 BD+C, ID+C, O+M and ND Sustainable Sites credit Heat Island Reduction and allows for the use of typical solar reflectance values that can be used in lieu of project-specific testing data for standard non-roof materials. See the typical values listed below:

Gray cement concrete – Initial Solar Reflectance: 0.26, Three-Year Aged Solar Reflectance*: 0.18
White cement concrete – Initial Solar Reflectance: 0.70, Three-Year Aged Solar Reflectance*: 0.35
Asphalt concrete – Initial Solar Reflectance: 0.05, Three-Year Aged Solar Reflectance*: 0.10
*Three-year aged SR values are based on no cleaning.

For complete details about each LEED Interpretation please refer to the Addenda database.

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