Arlington’s Adaptive Reuse Rule: What Manufacturers Should Do Now

ZOA‑2024‑09 in plain English

Arlington created a new Adaptive Reuse Amendment in its site plan process to speed conversions of obsolete office buildings into new uses. The change is effective and designed to be comparatively faster and less expensive than a standard path, which means earlier submittals and tighter material timelines.

The scale of conversions on the table

County leaders cited more than 10.7 million square feet of vacant office space when adopting the policy, a volume that can fuel years of buildouts across interiors, envelopes, and systems (Arlington County Newsroom, 2024).

Where your products are likely to be specified

Conversions start by stripping and rebuilding what tenants touch most. Expect heavy demand for products that come with strong EPD coverage.

• Interior assemblies such as gypsum systems, ceiling panels, partitions, doors, and hardware.
• Flooring, coatings, sealants, insulation, and glazing upgrades for acoustic and energy performance.
• MEP replacements where change of use triggers ventilation, domestic hot water, or electrical rework.
• Structural or envelope tweaks for new egress, shafts, and window lines.

Why EPDs move the needle here

Many adaptive reuse projects will pursue LEED to signal quality and decarbonization. LEED v5 was ratified on March 28, 2025 and elevates embodied carbon while keeping familiar disclosure pathways through Arc (USGBC, 2025). Tons of projects will still register under v4.1, where the BPDO EPD credit typically counts at least 20 permanently installed products from 5 manufacturers, with product specific Type III EPDs counting as 1.5 products toward the tally (USGBC, 2024).

Think of the credit like a shopping list. If a competitor has a verified, product specific EPD and you do not, the team may default to them to keep the points math simple.

Playbook for the next 30 days

Speed matters because Arlington’s entitlement track is now simpler for adaptive reuse, and owners hate waiting on submittals.

1. Triage your portfolio. Map SKUs most likely to land in office conversions by division and spec frequency.
2. Audit your EPDs. Flag anything expiring within 9 to 12 months, queue renewals so nothing lapses mid bid.
3. Align on PCRs. Match what competitors use to stay comparable, and note upcoming PCR revision dates where that could change the modeling basis.
4. Lock collection. Choose an LCA partner that owns data wrangling across plants and suppliers so R&D and ops do not lose weeks to spreadsheets.

Submittal hygiene that closes gaps

Publish EPDs where buyers actually look, and make PDFs one click from your product page. Use consistent product names and SKUs between the declaration and your cut sheets. Keep a lightweight alternates matrix ready so teams can swap in equal or better declarations without restarting reviews.

Timing and risk, managed

Arlington’s new path shortens entitlement friction, so documentation becomes the pacing item. EPDs are generally valid for five years, which is long on paper yet short when a project cycles through design development, value engineering, and permitting. If yours is within six months of expiry, renew early and save the spec from a last minute scramble.

The commercial takeaway

Adaptive reuse in Arlington is a real pipeline, not a powerpoint. Products with clear, accessible, third party verified EPDs will slot into conversions faster and with less argument, which means higher specification odds when timelines compress. Get your data in order now and you will feel the momentum when the first demo crews show up.