Construction Pollution Management, the installation of MERV 14 filters could help to achieve which additional feature?

Please click on the Project Scenario B button to review the project scenario and answer the following question.

BAY TOWERS BY BAYLEAF – SEATTLE, UNITED STATES – PROJECT SCENARIOB. Bay Towers by Bayleaf is a 20-floor commercial building overlooking Elliot Bay in Seattle, United States.

The building enjoys abundant natural light through floor to ceiling windows which take in Elliot Bay city views. Although located behind a major highway (four-lanes of traffic), there is a pedestrian bridge which connects their ground floor reception to the riverfront park on the other side of the highway.

The building is owned and operated by Bayleaf Inc., a real-estate organization. The building is leased at a 70% occupancy rate by a range of tenants, including those in finance, technology and healthcare. The total expected occupancy of the building is 1,000 people.

Bay Towers is mechanically ventilated and currently has MERV 11 filters. As the building owner, Bayleaf provides HVAC fit-out for tenant spaces, but tenants complete the interior walls and supply the finishes and furniture themselves. While no food is provided by Bayleaf, some individual tenants do have pantries where they provide their own snacks and beverages for their own employees.

Bayleaf manages the building and operates the ground floor which includes the reception, building management office, meeting rooms, as well as the elevator banks on each floor and the rooftop. Meeting rooms are common amenities that are able to be booked by the tenants. Bayleaf has two employees that work at desks onsite, a receptionist at the front desk and a property manager in the building management office.

PROJECT SCOPE & GOALS

Bayleaf has enrolled Bay Towers for WELL Core Certification to attract and retain high-quality tenants and address growing tenant demand for well-being facilities.

As part of the WELL Core Certification scope, Bayleaf intends to renovate their ground floor and are open to leveraging some of this space to include health and well-being programming.

The scope of renovation will also include upgrades to the base building, such as staircases, end-of-trip facilities and the air filtration system. The rooftop will also be converted into a public green space for tenants to use for recreation. Tables, chairs and barbeque facilities will be added, as well as several gardens, including edible plots and lawn areas.

Bayleaf is hoping their WELL Core Certification will provide some initial feature compliance for tenants wishing to also pursue WELL Certification for their spaces.

Although the current MERV 11 filters in the return air ducts contribute toward compliance with Feature A04:

Construction Pollution Management, the installation of MERV 14 filters could help to achieve which additional feature?
A . Feature A12: Air Filtration
B . Feature A13: Enhanced Supply Air
C . Feature A06: Enhanced Ventilation Design
D . Feature A09: Pollution Infiltration Management

View Answer

Answer: A

Explanation:

The installation of MERV 14 filters could help to achieve Feature A12: Air Filtration, which requires projects with mechanically ventilated spaces to implement adequate air filtration and document a maintenance protocol for installed filters. The project scenario indicates that the building is mechanically ventilated and currently has MERV 11 filters. By upgrading to MERV 14 filters, the project could meet the minimum air filtration efficiency for outdoor air supplied to the space, depending on the annual average outdoor PM2.5 level. For example, if the outdoor PM2.5 level is between 24-39 µg/m³, the project would need to use media filters with an average removal efficiency of ≥75% for particles 0.3-1 µm in size (e.g., MERV 14, F8 or ePM1 75%)1.

Reference: = WELL v2 Feature A12: Air Filtration