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Sustainable Design Standards

Share your thoughts on the latest draft of the Sustainable Design Standards!

The City of Richmond (City) Department of Public Works (DPW) is responsible for the planning, design, and construction of Special Capital Projects throughout the City. These projects may range from multistory office buildings and low-income housing to parking garages and park facilities. This first edition of the Richmond Sustainable Design Standards (SDS) outlines the sustainable design criteria that are required for City projects and projects constructed on City property. These SDS have been developed to support the City’s vision for an equitable, sustainable, and beautiful City for its 300th anniversary in 2037.

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Question
Is there an expectation that Fitwel certification is to be maintained after the initial project?
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Suggestion
It should be recommended that EV chargers are incorporated into platforms that identify them as available public chargers (and ideally report on uptime). This will encourage their use and hopefully identify issues quickly.
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Suggestion
There should be some O&M related to EVSE in the SDS. Broken/non-operational EV chargers are a huge frustration of many public access chargers.
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Suggestion
Massing, if necessary, is particularly relevant to my recommendation at the start of the architecture section regarding murals, etc.
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Suggestion
This is generally applicable to architecture from a social perspective: many cities have had success in public places that may be subject to vandalism by incorporating the community into public works such as murals. This is tangentially relevant to sustainability in that encouraging the community to participate and take pride, lowers the costs associated with cleaning up vandalism and adds to the character of the city. Murals and dedicated graffiti walls have had success in other cities like Denver and Seattle.
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in reply to Nicholas Matthews's comment
Suggestion
“Enrollment” is also misspelled in this sentence
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Suggestion
Typo: “response”
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Suggestion
Is there a deliberate exclusion of EnergyStar ratings within this structure? Since Energy Star is reassessed against peer buildings on an annual basis, it incentivizes continued maintenance of high standards rather than just at construction.
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Question
This comment applies throughout the document. O&M is a major component for maintaining sustainability within buildings but is not explicitly accounted for in maintaining LEED accreditation for a building. While there are sections throughout this document for O&M I didn’t really see any roles explicitly defined for this. When a new building is supposed to meet the SDS, completion can be withheld until it does. What is the enforcement mechanism for all of the O&M requirements herein?
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Suggestion
Daylight harvesting should be considered as an additional means to dynamically minimize lighting levels for occupants without affecting visibility
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Question
What is the agreed upon definition of native plants? This varies depending on source. Some plants are native to some areas of Virginia and not others. The Virginia Native Plant Society seems like a reasonable source since it separates individual regions within Virginia.
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Suggestion
Consider LEED AP ID+C Interior Design + Construction if project is better suited to that rating system.
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in reply to Luis Huertas's comment
Suggestion
10,000 sf aligns with the City Council resolution from 2009 - don't know if it can or should be revised.
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Question
Is this part of the SDS? I don't see it anywhere.
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Suggestion
As my office building in Shockoe Slip continues to be a vandalism target, I think CPTED is a concept and program that the City should elevate and educate around (sooner rather than later).
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Suggestion
Note that LEED for Neighborhood Development, as a rating system, is being phased out in favor of LEED for Communities and Cities.
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in reply to Luis Huertas's comment
Suggestion
The lowest-flow faucet with a WaterSense label is currently 0.8gpm (and it is the only one). Recommend that faucets with a flow of 1.0 gpm or more are WaterSense labeled, while those below do not need to be. LEED only requires WaterSense labeled faucets for private bathrooms (like within residences or inpatient hospital rooms).
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Suggestion
Biobased CERTIFIED wood products might be challenging to procure to meet project requirements.
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Suggestion
Remove fly ash requirement as availability is becoming more difficult as coal fired power plants are transitioning to natural gas.
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Suggestion
Acoustic recommendation should follow Chapter 8 of the 2013 ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals
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Suggestion
Daylighting and Controls should include schedule for exterior lighting shutoff to meet bird collision deterrence requirements following the ABC Bird-Friendly Building Design Handbook link
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Suggestion
Air Treatment should include a recommendation to follow ASHRAE Standard 241
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Question
How is the tracking of indoor air quality going to be performed (by whom, frequency, reporting, trending requirements)?
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Question
On the alarm when exceeding set point needs to be defined (what kind of alarm, visual, sound, to whom and how to trend)?
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Question
Does the city have available site to install off-site pv systems? Any planned arrays?
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Question
On the demand respond program enrollment, has the city discussed this with Dominion?
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Suggestion
Lighting Requirements should include controls strategies and integrate bird collision deterrence strategies.
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Suggestion
HVAC equipment efficiencies will vary depending on ASHRAE version.
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Suggestion
The submeter requirement for energy uses of 10% or more is a LEED credit.
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Suggestion
Energy metering should be required for all fuel types
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Suggestion
Need to note which version of ASHRAE 90.1 as requirements differ by year (current state requirement is 2019, but LEED is using 2016, 2019 or 2022 depending on the project registration date).
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Suggestion
Need to add energy modeling as a requirement at the DD and CD stages.
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Question
What tool is the city going to use for tracking and benchmarking? The available tool that we recommend is Energy Star Portfolio Manager and if using LEED the ARC Platform.
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Suggestion
In the recommendations, the 0.35 gpm faucet that is also a WaterSense label fixture is very limiting.
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Suggestion
Indoor water fixtures requirements might be challenging to achieve 40% reduction in low density occupied spaces. The LEED credit references the Energy Policy Act from 1992.
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Suggestion
Might be a big challenge to keep current by the city. Setting some performance criteria might be more reasonable for maintaining the standard.
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Question
Percentage of credits or points?
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Suggestion
Enhanced Commissioning have 2 options, which one is mandatory? We recommend Option 1, Path 2 as mandatory and Option 2 as optional.
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Suggestion
Add link where Regional Priorities can be searched. link
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Suggestion
I would not include a checklist and just reference USGBC. USGBC calls them Scorecards, not checklists. LEED rating system | U.S. Green Building Council (usgbc.org)
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Suggestion
Delete table and reference USGBC website LEED Rating System Selection Guidance. LEED rating system selection guidance | U.S. Green Building Council (usgbc.org)
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Suggestion
The SDS Kick-Off Meeting and the SDS Workshop/LEED Charrette are the same meeting.
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Suggestion
Basis of Design is a commissioning specific document that responds directly to the OPR and developed as part of the design solution during the Design Development.
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Suggestion
Missing Project Planning Phase where all the public engagement and initial Integrated Process tasks are performed. Part of this is the preparation of the Owner Project Requirement (OPR) needed for commissioning tasks.
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Suggestion
LEED AP role for managing documentation process needs to be a single point and under the design team and not the construction team. Construction team shall document construction related tasks, but not manage the certification process.
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Suggestion
Add Manage Independent Third-Party Commissioning Agent. The Agent should be contracted by the City and not part of the design team to meet LEED requirement for Enhanced Commissioning.
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Suggestion
This requirement aligns with the Integrated Process LEED credit. Also look at the upcoming version of LEED as requirement becomes more involved.
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Suggestion
Should this requirement align with the LEED Minimum Program Requirement #3? For new construction and major renovations is 1,000 sf, Interiors is 250 sf.
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Suggestion
I'd love to see this!
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Question
Do you want to refer to the LEED and Envision manuals?
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