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Easier for dense urban sites
This credit addresses two basic issues: density of the surrounding neighborhood and occupant access to everyday services. It encourages use of existing infrastructure and tries to reduce environmental impacts of transportation. It’s easier for projects located in a densely built area or with a host of community services nearby.
This credit is not likely to drive the project location decision, but it does reward projects for locating in developed areas and for choosing infill instead of greenfield sites (you can’t earn the credit on a site that is not previously developed). In determining how easily your project can comply, site selection is one key factor, but so is the availability of property and building data.
Two compliance options
There are two compliance...
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4 Comments
Option 1 documentation
Has anyone done documentation for Option 1 on this credit? I'm curious how to quickly find floor area for so many buildings. Listing all of the building addresses and searching the city's property tax history seems really time consuming. Hopefully someone has an idea that doesn't take more than a couple of hours to document.
Option 1 documentation
This is definitely the more challenging approach to this credit as far as documentation goes. In my experience, regardless of the tools and resources you have available it is likely more of a time commitment than a few hours. Other options might be to contact building managers and owners directly to confirm density information or use mapping tools like Google earth to do some rough take-offs (building footprintBuilding footprint is the area on a project site used by the building structure, defined by the perimeter of the building plan. Parking lots, landscapes, and other nonbuilding facilities are not included in the building footprint. x number of floors) to confirm if you are close to meeting the requirements of this option. Confirming actual SF through the local municipality or the building owners/operators would be the best and most reliable course of action to confirm that your figures are accurate and will be approved in the design review process. If the information to meet this credit just isn't available, consider option 2, as it is generally easier to document. If you are in a high density area there is a good chance that you will qualify for the credit via option 2.
Basement Areas?
Are basement areas counted in Option 1?
Tristan Roberts replied Editor – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, LLC Feb 17 2010
Since basements can include so many different types of space, from rentable square footage to less usable space, I think there would be some discretion as to whether that space is included. It would be hard to justify a blanket policy one way or the other.
If this is factor in whether your project qualifies for the credit, I would choose a common-sense approach (like using rentable SF) and explaining it in your submission, if necessary.
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