LEED Ch. 5
The building itself
2nd biggest environmental impact associated with the built environment is:
Is a site requiring remediation to make it safe enough for occupancy. Usually has government subsidies available for its purchase and remediation.
A brownfield site: (Select Two)
diverse use
A distinct, officially recognized business, nonprofit, civic, religious, or governmental organization, or dwelling units (residential use) or offices (commercial office use). It has a stationary postal address and is publicly available.
Shortest Path Analysis
A measurement of how far a pedestrian and bicyclist would travel from a point of origin to a destination, reflecting access to amenities, safety, convenience, and obstructions to movement is called:
shortest path analysis
A measurement of how far a pedestrian and bicyclist would travel from a point of origin to a destination, reflecting access to amenities, safety, convenience, and obstructions to movement.
American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
A nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1980 whose mission is to advance energy efficiency as a fast, cheap, and effective means of meeting energy challenges.
bicycle network
A path or series of paths in rural, urban, or suburban areas that are clearly marked for bicycle travel.
brownfield
A property on which redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence or possible presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.
greenfield
A site that has never been built on or developed for human use.
previously developed/disturbed site
A site that once had buildings, roadways, and parking lots, or that was graded or otherwise altered by direct human activities.
(LT Credit) Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses.
Addresses walkability with the requirement that a building's main entrance be within a 1/2-mile walking distance of the main entrance of four to seven or eight or more existing and publicly available diverse uses.
smart growth
An approach that protects open space and farmland by emphasizing development with houses, jobs, and services near each other.
infill development
Building and developing in vacant areas of high-density urban centers. Infill development can reduce traffic congestion, save open space, and create more livable communities.
Promote redevelopment on existing sites over new construction on greenfield sites
Goal of LT Credits - Sensitive Land Protection and High Priority Site:
Protect the land and its human and wildlife occupants from further impacts
Goal of the site development credits:
Reduce the number of people traveling alone in conventional automobiles to and from the building
Goal of the transportation credits:
-Develop in areas that promote walkability. -provide bicycle storage facilities, shower rooms, and bicycle networks in close proximity to diverse uses. -Provide a bicycle maintenance program for employees or bicycle route assistance for employees/customers. -Provide pedestrian amenities. -Promote connectivity. -Create a diverse community. -Promote access to sustainable food. -Provide access to grocery stores.
Health and Livability Strategies:
As a guide to selecting a location that incurs the least environmental impact
How LT credits are used when a project team gets to pick the project location
Highlight the assets of the location and mitigate less-than-desirable characteristics
How LT credits can be used when the project team doesn't get to pick the project location
Get a reduced rate on their LEED certification
In the Location and Transportation (LT) Category, projects fulfilling the first credit, LEED for Neighborhood Development Location:
-LEED for Neighborhood Development Location -Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses -Access to Quality Transit -Bicycle Facilities
LT Credits that increase health and livability:
infrastructure is already in place reducing cost and protects greenfield sites
Locating a project on a previously developed site is ideal because:
-Locate the Project within a LEED-Certified neighborhood development. -Locate the building within proximity of surrounding density and diverse uses.
Location Strategies:
Location Transportation Site Development Health & Livability
Main Intents of the LT category
Health and Livability Strategies
Make it easier for occupants to travel to and from a building without the use of automobiles. This travel can be made by foot, bicycle, or mass transit.
preferred parking
Parking spaces that have the shortest walking distance to the main entrance of the project, exclusive of spaces designated for people with disabilities.
High Priority Site
Previously developed sites that are undesirable for a variety of reasons, a good example is a brownfield.
prime farmland
Previously undeveloped land with soil suitable for cultivation. Avoiding development on prime farmland helps protect agricultural lands, which are needed for food production.
Remediation
Process of cleaning up a contaminated site by physical, chemical or biological means. Typically applied to contaminated groundwater and soil.
LT Credit: Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses, Option 1
Project is required to be located in or near high density locations
(LT Credit) Access to Quality Transit
Requires that any functional entry of the project be located within 1/4-mile walking distance of existing or planned bus, streetcar, or rideshare stops, or within 1/2-mile walking distance of existing or planned bus rapid transit stops, light or heavy rail stations, commuter rail stations, or commuter ferry terminals.
LT Credit: Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses, Option 2
Requires the building entrance be located within 1/2-mile walking distance of seven or more diverse uses. Only two uses from each type may be counted toward the credit and three of the five categories must be represented.
Wetlands, prime farmland, floodplains
Select three of the following that are listed as sensitive sites in the Location and Transportation (LT) category that should not be built on:
-Avoid developing on environmentally sensitive lands. -Locate the project on a site that has been previously developed. -Locate the project on a high-priority site such as a brownfield. -Develop in areas with existing infrastructure.
Site Development Strategies:
Community Connectivity
The amount of connection between a site and the surrounding community, measured by proximity of the site to homes, schools, parks, stores, restaurants, medical facilities, and other services and amenities.
footprint
The area of ground that the building sits upon as defined by its perimeter.
floor-area ratio (FAR)
The density of nonresidential land use, exclusive of structured parking, measured as the total nonresidential building floor area divided by the total buildable land area available for nonresidential structures.
during the transportation of people to and from that building over time
The largest environmental impact caused by a building is created:
Selecting a site that reduces the amount of vehicle distance traveled to and from the building site.
The main goal of the location credits in the LT category:
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
The most abundant greenhouse gas. The main source of which is burning fossil fuels and manufacturing cement. The driving force behind the current climate change.
buildable land
The portion of a site where construction can occur, including land voluntarily set aside and not constructed on.
Determine the square footage of buildings per acre of land
The purpose of a density calculation is to:
Selecting the site location
The single most important decision a project team can make for a building project, but most teams do not get to make because it is decided by other constraints.
total parking capacity
The total amount of parking spaces for a site that includes new and existing surface parking spaces, new and existing garage or multilevel parking spaces, and any off-street parking spaces outside the project boundary that are available to the building's users. Not included are on-street (parallel or pull-in) parking spaces on public rights of way, parking spaces for fleet and inventory vehicles, and motorbike or bicycle spaces.
development density
The total square footage of all buildings within a particular area, measured in square feet per acre or units per acre.
-Limit available parking. -Develop in areas that have multimodal transportation access. -Designate5% of all parking spaces used by the project as preferred parking for green vehicles. -Provide preferred parking for carpools for 5% of the total parking spaces. -install EVSE in 2% of all parking spaces used by the project. -Install liquid of gas alternative fueling facilities or a battery switching station in at least 2%of all parking spaces.
Transportation Strategies:
green vehicles
Vehicles that provide less harmful impacts to the environment than conventionally fueled vehicles. Examples are hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, compressed-air vehicles, hydrogen and fuel-cell vehicles, neat-ethanol vehicles, flexible-fuel vehicles, natural gas vehicles, and clean diesel vehicles.
Increase use of mass transit Increase number of occupants per vehicle Alternative fuel sources
Ways to reduce the negative impact of transportation:
public right of way and land excluded from development by codified law
When used in density calculations, buildable land excludes:
density
a measure of the total building floor area or dwelling units on a parcel of land relative to the buildable land of that parcel.
Walkability
a metric for how amenable an area is to walking
habitat
a natural environment such as a field, stream, or forest that is home to one or more wildlife species and plants. The LEED rating systems aim to reduce the destruction of these during construction.
square feet per acre of buildable land
combined density is measured by:
(LT Credit) Sensitive Land Protection
defines environmentally sensitive lands
Environmentally sensitive land
farmland, floodplains, threatened or endangered species habitats, water bodies, and wetland
greenhouse gases
gases that trap heat in the atmosphere
wetlands
land areas saturated by water, such as swamps, marshes, and bogs. The provide habitats for fish and wildlife, feed downstream waters, trap floodwaters, remove pollution, and recharge groundwater supplies.
Floodplain
land that is likely to be flooded by a storm of a given size(such as a 100-year storm).
floor-area ratio (FAR)
non-residential density measurement
pooled parking
parking space that are shared among two or more buildings
reduce the number of vehicles travelling to the site
purpose of limiting available parking:
Purpose of the LT category
reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by vehicle travel and to protect sensitive sits from harmful development.
Dwelling units (DU) per acre
residential density measurement
redevelopment
reusing previously developed land
infrastructure
roads, electrical lines, sewer lines, phone lines, and other public services permanently installed on developed sites. It saves cost and lowers carbon footprint of a project when it is developed on a site where this is existing.
-limit cul-de-sacs -prohibit gated communities -use street grid patterns
strategies that open up community connectivity and remove physical barriers that can hamper interpersonal communication and the ability to walk/bicycle.
Pedestrian amenities
street trees, shade, benches, water fountains, bike racks, garbage and recycling cans
global warming
the increase in the temperature of the earth's atmosphere caused primarily by the greenhouse gases released from the burning of fossil fuels such as wood, coal, natural gas, and oil.
water body
the surface water of a stream, arroyo, river, canal, lake, estuary, bay, or ocean. It does not include irrigation ditches.
