EBOM 2009 SSc7.1: Heat Island Reduction—Nonroof

If that parking is outside of your LEED boundary I do not think you need to include it, however it sounds like you will need to include the sidewalks.

Thanks for your input. We are definitely including the sidewalks, but that's my confusion... the meters for the parking spots are physically located on our sidewalks but the spots are just adajacent to our sidewalks. We will submit without including this street parking and hopefully not get dinged. Thanks again!

Emily is spot-on Alexis - parking spaces which are not under your direct control, like these, are excluded from your calculations. Although your occupants may use those spaces, you have no ability to influence their presence or function and therefore no direct responsibility for them from a sustainability standpoint. The presence of the meters within your property boundary shouldn't have an impact on that functional reality.

Hope that helps,
Dan

Udana, I don't have an SRIThe solar reflectance index (SRI) is a measure of a material's ability to reject solar heat, as shown by a small temperature rise. Standard black (reflectance 0.05, emittance 0.90) is 0 and standard white (reflectance 0.80, emittance 0.90) is 100. For example, a standard black surface has a temperature rise of 90_F (50_C) in full sun, and a standard white surface has a temperature rise of 14.6_F (8.1_C). Once the maximum temperature rise of a given material has been computed, the SRI can be calculated by interpolating between the values for white and black. Materials with the highest SRI values are the coolest choices for paving. Because of the way SRI is defined, particularly hot materials can even take slightly negative values, and particularly cool materials can even exceed 100. figure for granite, but I doubt it's reflective enough.

I have heard of projects using aerial photos to show compliance on large sites, but they indicated those photos were taken on summer solstice... seems like in some cases you would have to know the date and time of those photos to know if you are getting adequate shading.

I imagine you might need to create a composite image of the site plan and aerial photos to correlate the hardscape areas with the canopy areas. If the photos show a very extensive canopy cover of your hardscaping on a date and time that is reasonably close to those conditions you might be able to convince the reviewers that you meet the requirements, or you might try to get photos from several different dates and times.

CY, check the LEED Minimum Program Requirements Supplemental Guidance document for a better understanding of this. There are cases, particularly with parking, when you can have features outside the boundary contributing to credits.

I don't think you can earn the credit without any non-roof hardscape—doesn't meet the credit intent, and there is no compliance path.

I suppose if you really wanted to, you could go for a CIRCredit Interpretation Ruling. Used by design team members experiencing difficulties in the application of a LEED prerequisite or credit to a project. Typically, difficulties arise when specific issues are not directly addressed by LEED information/guide/alt compliance path, but no guarantees of success.

You probably need a testing facility to calculate it for you, according to the ASTMVoluntary standards development organization which creates source technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services standards listed above in the credit language.

Are there specific testing agencies that do in situ testing according to the ASTMVoluntary standards development organization which creates source technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services standards?

Jeremy, I know they're out there, but I don't know of any specific ones to recommend. I would think this shouldn't be too hard to find in a large metro area.

Jeremy,
Did you have any luck locating a company to test the concrete? I am located in San Diego and I'm having quite a bit of difficulty locating a testing laboratory that will come out to the site... most require a sample to be sent in to them.

Correct me if I’m wrong but I was thinking about purchasing a reflectivity meter to calculate SRIThe solar reflectance index (SRI) is a measure of a material's ability to reject solar heat, as shown by a small temperature rise. Standard black (reflectance 0.05, emittance 0.90) is 0 and standard white (reflectance 0.80, emittance 0.90) is 100. For example, a standard black surface has a temperature rise of 90_F (50_C) in full sun, and a standard white surface has a temperature rise of 14.6_F (8.1_C). Once the maximum temperature rise of a given material has been computed, the SRI can be calculated by interpolating between the values for white and black. Materials with the highest SRI values are the coolest choices for paving. Because of the way SRI is defined, particularly hot materials can even take slightly negative values, and particularly cool materials can even exceed 100. values myself. With that you should be able to take your reflectivity measurements with the given emissivityEmissivity is the ratio of the radiation emitted by a surface to the radiation emitted by a black body at the same temperature. value of .9, and determine the SRI that way.

Nicholas, that is not surprising—it is definitely standard to send in a sample.

John, where do you get the given emissivityEmissivity is the ratio of the radiation emitted by a surface to the radiation emitted by a black body at the same temperature. value of 0.9? It does make sense that once you have that, you're set with the reflectivity meter.

Unfortunately, buildings with no parking will achieve a point for this credit under the parking option. I agree that it does seem to follow the credit intent, but apparently GBCI disagrees. These projects can still go after the first option of this credit.

Hi Jacob,

I am a bit confused by your answer. Did you mean "Will not achieve a point" ?

Thanks,

George,
Sorry for the mix up. I meant that projects with no parking CANNOT earn the credit by pursuing option 2 (placing 50% of parking under cover). You will have to pursue option 1 to earn this credit.

I would exclude this alley, since it's city property. There is a relevant discussion on this under the NC MRc4 forum, about a sidewalk.

You're on track to earn this credit via Option 2. However, the credit language states taht any roof used to cover parking should have an SRIThe solar reflectance index (SRI) is a measure of a material's ability to reject solar heat, as shown by a small temperature rise. Standard black (reflectance 0.05, emittance 0.90) is 0 and standard white (reflectance 0.80, emittance 0.90) is 100. For example, a standard black surface has a temperature rise of 90_F (50_C) in full sun, and a standard white surface has a temperature rise of 14.6_F (8.1_C). Once the maximum temperature rise of a given material has been computed, the SRI can be calculated by interpolating between the values for white and black. Materials with the highest SRI values are the coolest choices for paving. Because of the way SRI is defined, particularly hot materials can even take slightly negative values, and particularly cool materials can even exceed 100. value higher than 29, or be vegetated or covered in solar panels, and there is space on the LEED Online credit form to enter this information. But—it's marked "optional."

If you're purusing SSc7.2, it seems like it would pretty much take care of the documentation needed here.

I would suggest you contact USGBC via LEED Online to ask them to clarify what is required documentation in your case.

We have a project in San Francisco where all the parking is underground for the building. Is this acceptable to receive the credit under SS Option 2 Path 4 for Heat Island EffectHeat island effect refers to the absorption of heat by hardscapes, such as dark, nonreflective pavement and buildings, and its radiation to surrounding areas. Particularly in urban areas, other sources may include vehicle exhaust, air-conditioners, and street equipment; reduced airflow from tall buildings and narrow streets exacerbates the effect.-Non Roof?

Ron,
Yes this approach should work, and their will be no minimum SRIThe solar reflectance index (SRI) is a measure of a material's ability to reject solar heat, as shown by a small temperature rise. Standard black (reflectance 0.05, emittance 0.90) is 0 and standard white (reflectance 0.80, emittance 0.90) is 100. For example, a standard black surface has a temperature rise of 90_F (50_C) in full sun, and a standard white surface has a temperature rise of 14.6_F (8.1_C). Once the maximum temperature rise of a given material has been computed, the SRI can be calculated by interpolating between the values for white and black. Materials with the highest SRI values are the coolest choices for paving. Because of the way SRI is defined, particularly hot materials can even take slightly negative values, and particularly cool materials can even exceed 100. requirement as long as any exposed parking surface area is 50% or less of the total parking surface area, which is usually the case for most underground parking.

Also, if 100% of the parking is underground, this will earn the project an exemplary performanceIn LEED, certain credits have established thresholds beyond basic credit achievement. Meeting these thresholds can earn additional points through Innovation in Design (ID) or Innovation in Operations (IO) points. As a general rule of thumb, ID credits for exemplary performance are awarded for doubling the credit requirements and/or achieving the next incremental percentage threshold. However, this rule varies on a case by case basis, so check the credit requirements. point as well.

Rashid, the reasons for using June 21st are that A) it's the day of peak insolation in the Northern Hemisphere,  and B) picking one date creates a uniform measure for all LEED projects.

This credit is more about calculating compliance of permanently installed features, rather than operating in a certian way during a specific performance period, so it doesn't matter whether June 21 falls during your Performance Period.

To show compliance you need to use an accurate site plan that is consistent with the plans used for other aspects of your project. Does that answer your last question?

yes, Tristan we can show compliance by drafting a plan. The issue came to our mind because the guide has specifically mentioned to do the calculations on solstice.
And the second questions was that the plan to drafted will it has to be approved by a licensed surveyor or will it be sufficient if our team plot the plan?
Thank you...

Rashid, the LEED Online credit form does not specify that the plan needs to be approved by a licensed surveyor, although having your landscape architect or professional engineer put their stamp on it would not hurt.

According to LEED Online, the following are the requirements for the site plan:

1) It was accurate as of the close of the performance period.
2) All non-roof hardscape areas within the LEED project boundary are highlighted.
3) Each portion of hardscape complying with any strategy in this submittal option is clearly marked and labeled.

I don't think a gravel driveway is considered pervious, unless it is specifically engineered and maintained to be so. Typically gravel gets packed hard in road situations and is pretty much impervious.

You would need to include it in your SRIThe solar reflectance index (SRI) is a measure of a material's ability to reject solar heat, as shown by a small temperature rise. Standard black (reflectance 0.05, emittance 0.90) is 0 and standard white (reflectance 0.80, emittance 0.90) is 100. For example, a standard black surface has a temperature rise of 90_F (50_C) in full sun, and a standard white surface has a temperature rise of 14.6_F (8.1_C). Once the maximum temperature rise of a given material has been computed, the SRI can be calculated by interpolating between the values for white and black. Materials with the highest SRI values are the coolest choices for paving. Because of the way SRI is defined, particularly hot materials can even take slightly negative values, and particularly cool materials can even exceed 100. calcs, or use one of the other sustainability criteria (shading?).