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Plenty of options
This credit offers a variety of strategies for residential, non-residential and mixed use projects. These strategies help to reduce the number of cars on the road, cut down on the sprawl of parking facilities, and decrease the negative environmental impacts of parking infrastructure, including stormwater runoff and the urban heat islandA densely populated area in which pavement and buildings absorb, store, and release solar energy, making the vicinity warmer than it would be if the pavement and buildings were not present. effect.
Getting mileage out of your efforts
Assess the location and context of your project to make sure that carpooling,...
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125 Comments
Hotel parking SSc4.4 NCv2009
Is a hotel considered Residential in regards to Parking?
Parking Capacity overflow to Gravel Lot
We have a research building that shares an asphalt parking lot with a warehouse (used by the researchers but not being certified). We have limited our parking capacity to 25% fewer that the ITE guidelines, but the client wants to have extra space in a gravel lot in case of unforseen events. The gravel lot doesn't have 2/3 of the major environmental impacts of the asphalt lot (facilitating carbon emission, storm water runoff and the 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.). Would these gravel lots for emergencies be permitted by the intent of the credit? Because of their reduced negative impact, would they be permitted in non-emergency situations?
Interesting question - in some jurisdictions, gravel lots may not be allowed as designated parking areas. If these are new lots being created for overflow parking, it seems like they would have to be included in the total area and stall count of parking being provided, even though they have less impact than impervious paving. You might need 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 to see if a weighted average or reduction might be allowed -but you might need scientific data to compare the impact of a gravel lot with an asphalt one.
No new parking except for 3 LE/FE spaces
I'm working on a campus building where we have added only 6 new spaces (3 of which are ADA) I understand the ADA can be exempted, but since the other 3 new ones are being added to be reserved for LE/FE do you think it would be possible to be considered No New Parking?
We have a lot with 120 spaces within our site boundry, but that lot serves the surronding existing bulidings (that are not being certfified).
Any feedback on the best approach? Thanks!
Existing Parking on a developed site.
My question is related to SS credit 4.4 and SS credit 4.3. We have a previously developedPreviously developed sites are those altered by paving, construction, and/or land use that would typically have required regulatory permitting to have been initiated (alterations may exist now or in the past). Previously developed land includes a platted lot on which a building was constructed if the lot is no more than 1 acre; previous development on lots larger than 1 acre is defined as the development footprint and land alterations associated with the footprint. Land that is not previously developed and altered landscapes resulting from current or historical clearing or filling, agricultural or forestry use, or preserved natural area use are considered undeveloped land. The date of previous development permit issuance constitutes the date of previous development, but permit issuance in itself does not constitute previous development." site, including existing parking spaces, with an empty building pad where a new health clinic will be constructed. Our LEED project boundary will include 40 of those existing parking spaces, 2 of them will be used to comply with SS credit 4.3. Do we need two more reserved spces for option 1, or can we claim option 3, since there are no new parking spaces, but there was no new building to go along with the parking spaces when the parking was originally built.
Rod,
Can you provide a little more information? Is your project being built on this empty pad site? Why is your project only accommodating 40 spaces - is that per zoning code? Is your parking area segregated from the remaining parking spaces?
Larry,
The site is in a developed small shopping mall, and our site is an empty pad surrounded by previously developedPreviously developed sites are those altered by paving, construction, and/or land use that would typically have required regulatory permitting to have been initiated (alterations may exist now or in the past). Previously developed land includes a platted lot on which a building was constructed if the lot is no more than 1 acre; previous development on lots larger than 1 acre is defined as the development footprint and land alterations associated with the footprint. Land that is not previously developed and altered landscapes resulting from current or historical clearing or filling, agricultural or forestry use, or preserved natural area use are considered undeveloped land. The date of previous development permit issuance constitutes the date of previous development, but permit issuance in itself does not constitute previous development." parking. 40 parking spaces are the spaces closest to the empty pad. Because of the size of the building, zoning only requires 25 spaces, but we had no control over the number of spaces built. The 40 spaces just came with the property. Plus those 40 spaces will be shared with entire shopping mall.
Thanks for the clarification. I think you could attempt Option 3. Provide a site plan that shows the existing condition that shows the pad and the 40 spaces dedicated to your building. Honestly I think you could attempt Option 1 if you wanted. Since the rest of the mall has access to your parking area, dedicated spaces is a good way to segregate the parking and promote carpooling/LEVs.
Parking on previously developed site
Our project is an addition to an existing facility in a previously developedPreviously developed sites are those altered by paving, construction, and/or land use that would typically have required regulatory permitting to have been initiated (alterations may exist now or in the past). Previously developed land includes a platted lot on which a building was constructed if the lot is no more than 1 acre; previous development on lots larger than 1 acre is defined as the development footprint and land alterations associated with the footprint. Land that is not previously developed and altered landscapes resulting from current or historical clearing or filling, agricultural or forestry use, or preserved natural area use are considered undeveloped land. The date of previous development permit issuance constitutes the date of previous development, but permit issuance in itself does not constitute previous development." site (existing facility will not be certified, only the new addition). Originally the entire site (pre-new addition) had 389 parking spaces and with the new addition and its surroundig site work the overall capacity will drop to 369, even though local ordinances require a total of 329 spaces. Due to the location of the new addition (which is the portion pursuing certification) and the use of the site, the LEED boundary is only a small portion of the overall site and will only include a small parking lot of 22 spaces, as the rest of the parking area is on the opposite side of the site, therefore will not be included in the LEED boundary. Can you please verify that our thought process is correct?:
1. Is it proper to say that we're not providing new parking therefore in compliance with one option of SSc4.4? The overall number has gone down but only a small portion of this parking capacity is within the LEED boundary.
2. Can we also claim a portion of the existing-to-remain parking spaces that are outside of the LEED boundary as our "preferred spaces" for SSc4.3?
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Bianca,
To answer your questions:
1. Yes, I would agree that no new parking is being added. The addition appears to have been placed on previous existing parking spaces and reduced the overall number. Include a clear narrative that explains your approach.
2. Why can't you use the 22 spaces that are immediately adjacent to the addition? Those are the spaces that are truly preferred.
Larry,
An unofficial requrest from the client is to have some of this parking reserved for specific employees with a certain ranking within the institution. It was my original proposal that these be designated "preferred" parking spaces based un the vehicles to be parked.
Thank you!
I agree with you. Preferred parkingPreferred parking, available to particular users, includes designated spaces close to the building (aside from designated handicapped spots), designated covered spaces, discounted parking passes, and guaranteed passes in a lottery system. are the closest to the main entrance. If those preferred spaces are given to certain employees based on rank and not on the vehicle type or carpool, the credit will not be achieved.
Renovated parking for another entity - part of parking total?
We have a project where we are accessing our site by cutting through an existing parking lot that belongs to the city (and supports the use of a city-owned pool). We are recreating the parking lot for them in return, and then adding what we need for our project. It is part of our LEED boundary, but the pool parking is not for our building's use. Do we have to count this in our parking total? Is it feasible that the reviewer would be willing to accept the argument that it should not be counted in the total as OUR parking, if we recieved a document from the city clarifying that although it was rebuilt within the LEED boundary, they retain ownership and use of the parking lot?
Renee, I don't think you should need to count the parking that is not associated with your building. When in doubt, give a good narrative on this, but it seems like it would only be counted as an accident of construction work, not for a more fundamental reason.
Alternative Compliance path for international projects
The USGBC has published a draft for additional guidance for international projects. That includes alternative compliance paths and even additional LEED online forms for international projects. This credit is included in the guideline. Find more here: http://www.leeduser.com/topic/international-projects-alternative-complia...
No New Parking - to document alternative compliance or not?
The project is an existing building - major renovation. The existing parking lot is being ripped up to drill the geothermal wells. The lot will then be repaved and restripped with fewer parking spaces (adding parking islands). We're looking to comply with "No New Parking". Do I need to upload the original development plan with the existing parking spaces in support of this and write up a narrative as alternative compliance, or is the owner signature enough?
I would do the first submittal just with the owner signature. You will likely have the existing condition and the new site condition covered in your MPR documents so the reviewer can check your claim.
I have a similar question as Cynthia above. The project is an existing building -major renovation. There is currently existing parking available to the building occupants. The parking lot will continue to be the same after the renovation - no additional spaces. Does the project still qualify via Option 4 - no new parking?
thanks.
Komal,
If you mean Option 3, then yes I think it would.
Yes- i meant Option 3. thanks Emily.
Building on parking spaces
Hi,
My project will be built on a parking space that today have at least 300 parking spaces, the new project will have a parking garage that containing at most 230 parking spaces. Will this qualify as "no new parking"?
Thanks in advance!
I think it would.
Motorcycles and parking spaces
Hello,
I have several questions that cover this credit and the previous one:
- Is it possible to have at the same time a discount rate for carpool and for fuel efficient vehicles? Or do you need to use parking signage if you already have a discount rate for one or the other credit?
- Can you put incentives (like free meal or free coupon to buy something) instead of discount rate is you have a free parking?
- finally, where does motorcycles parking spaces account? Should one count them as cars? or bicycles?
Thanks in advance.
As I understand things, you can't double dip with this credit and SSc4.3. So if you need 3 LEFEV parking spaces those can also be the same 3 parking spaces you give a discount to. You would need the signage plus the discount program. I don't know about alternative incentives but you may want to search the LIDs. Finally on motorcycles, I believe you count them as cars. Typically in the US the motorcycles parking in a car space and only those people riding together park in the same space together. Anyone else know more about motorcycle parking?
Parking Management Authority: No Allowance for Carpooling Spaces
I am trying to gather documentation for a college campus in Prince George that has leased out it's car parks to Impark, an agency that manages the lots and charges people for parking.
Impark refuse to provide discounted parking (this would affect their revenue stream) for carpool users.
I'm unsure where things now stand with regards the LEED site area but assuming the car park is still deemed to be inside of this; despite being leased out to another agency, how can we achieve SSc4.4? The college is signing up to RideShare, the hugely popular car pooling network and it is anticipated it will have great success in this community given the high volume of cars and single occupant trips.
Any advice or previous experience with parking authorities would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Juan-
Regarding carpools, I'd recommend shifting the focus to merely providing preferred parkingPreferred parking, available to particular users, includes designated spaces close to the building (aside from designated handicapped spots), designated covered spaces, discounted parking passes, and guaranteed passes in a lottery system. for those vehicles. Preference for carpool users can be discounted parking or preferred spaces. I'd venture to guess that the parking agency will be more amendable to setting aside the spaces closest to a main entrance (exclusive of those set aside for disabled persons).
Option 4 has disappeared from the May 2011 Addenda
Option 4, citing the ITE study is not shown in the May 2011 Addenda. Does anyone know if this was just an omission by mistake, or is this Option no longer valid? It was in the July 2010 Addenda....
Deborah -
I'm not sure if I'm looking at the same document you are, but Option 4 appears in the table of the May 9, 2011 Addenda for page 71:
https://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=9512
Its also on page 10 of the 2009 BD&C Rating System updated May, 2011 at:
http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=8868
So it should still be valid!
David,
This is the document I downloaded from the USGBC website: http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=8869
and its not there on Page 28.
Looks like the document you downloaded (or at least the current document updated on Aug 1, 2011 at the link http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=8869) has a typo. It lists two Option #3's for Case 1, but the second one still references the ITE Parking study.
Signage Details?
Hi, I'm working on a LEED 2009 for Schools project and just recA Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is a certificate representing proof that a given unit of electricity was generated from a renewable energy source such as solar or wind. These certificates are able to be sold, traded, or bartered as environmental commodities, where an electricity consumer can buy the renewable energy attributes of electricty to support renewable energy, even if they are consuming generic grid-supplied electricity that may be supplied by nonrenewable sources.'d my Design review comments. One of the comments was to "provide signage details to document how the spaces will be dedicated as reserved." I noticed the LeedUser website shows a sign. Are there signage standards I could reference?
Thanks for your help,
Nicole Cavanaugh
cgs architects
There aren't any standards - projects have typically used pole or wall mounted signs or sometimes pavement markings, so anything that has a similar similar message to the one pictured should be fine.
I have used www.greensigndesigns.com before. It was easier than ordering custom signs.
Defining project boundary with non-contiguous garage?
I am working on an addition to a hospital pursuing certification under LEED for Healthcare. It is a bed tower addition to a hospital already certified under LEED NC v2.1. In order to meet parking code requirements for the addition and anticipated future parking needs the owner is constructing a parking garage on a site on the opposite side of the main hospital from the addition. Neither the existing nor future parking is designated to a specific portion of the hospital and is open to all staff and visitors. Although the garage will be constructed at the same time as the addition the building team constructing the garage will be different from the addition team. Permitting of the addition will cite the new garage to fulfill parking code requirements, however.
Should the LEED project boundary include this parking garage? If so, should the project boundary wrap around the existing hospital over to the garage, resulting in a significant increase to the project’s hardscape? Or can the project boundary be two non-contiguous parcels? Can the addition project exclude the garage completely and only cite the garage parking to fulfill SSc4.4 Parking Capacity?
Cassidy, as a starting point for this discussion you should review the LEED Minimum Program Requirements supplemental guidance. Let us know what you think and what questions you have then.
Thanks Tristan. Yes, I've looked through the guidance. It does address non-contiguous parcels but this project's garage is not "separated by land that is owner and operated by an entity different than the owner of the land that the LEED project building sits on." In this case it is more a question of if the garage must be included in the project boundary if it is built to support the overall hospital parking and is not specifically designated to the addition. If so, do we join the garage and addition with a thin walk path within our project boundary?
Cassidy,
We're faced with similar situations. For our project, we have two hospital tower additions, a new roadway and a parking garage. The first tower is under NCv2.2 and the second is under NC 2009. We did not include the parking garage in our LEED project boundary for several reasons. But we think the most telling reason is that the garage does not have to be constructed for the second tower to be built. That test included the roadway construction but kept the garage out of it. We also have a parking study that proves we don't technically need the additional space. If you were to include your garage, I would think you would have to include the garage project limits of construction plus the reasonable walking and driving paths to and from your tower project.
LEED for Retail: Qualifying for Option 4 (Parking Capacity)
LEED for Retail Option 4 Path 1 states "size parking capacity must meet but not exceed minimum local zoning requirements". However, it is silent regarding a situation where there are no local zoning requirements (ITE study not referenced, etc.) Has anyone attempted to qualify for these 3 points with a site that does not have minimum local zoning requirements?
Thanks!
I think it's reasonable to still reference the ITE study and use that path to show compliance. I suspect this is an omission, but if you want to know for sure you might need 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.
Alternatively you could go in with a few extra points as a buffer (always the recommended strategy), take your chances, and make a compelling case if it gets questioned.
Or you could even suggest this should be added as an addenda:
(select ‘General LEED Questions’ and then ‘LEED Addenda’) at the LEED Questions contact page
https://www.usgbc.org/ContactUS/LEEDContact.aspx?CMSPageID=2433
Counting of on-site / off-site parking
We have a non-residential new construction campus project where the local authority has recommended 1028 spaces (no minimum or maximum). There are 425 new surface and garage spaces being constructed on-site. Staff and visitors for this campus campus will also be able to use 1500 garage and 238 surface spaces off-site.
A couple of questions:
The off-site parking is existing and we have not included it within our LEED boundary. Do we need to include these off-site spaces in our parking total?
If off-site spaces must be counted, but the garage/lot will be shared with other users, can we include only a portion of the off-site spaces in our total?
I would recommned you review the LEED Minimum Program Requirements supplemental guidance doc (easy to find via Google). It goes through in some detail how to consider this kind of thing in terms of your LEED boundary.
SSc4.4 in a Residential Scenario and the carpool/vanpool reqs.
I´m working in a residential project that will have less than the parking spaces required by code and I would like to opt for this credit. Does anyone has an idea of what does "provide infrastructure and support programs to facilitate shared vehicle use such as carpool drop-off areas, designated parking for vanpools, car-share services, ride boards and shuttle services to mass transit" exactly means? The site does comply with SSc4.1 and we will have the required components for SSc4.2. Do not know how to implement a carpool / vanpool program when the apartments will be bought by each resident. The developer will not have any power at the building organization (owners board) once the apartments are sold out. Any ideas?
There are a few ways projects have done this in the past. A common strategy in the USA is to use a car-share service called ZipCar http://www.zipcar.com/ but there may be similar programs in other regions. Projects have used an existing designated shared car space nearby or made arrangements for one to be setup near the project.
In a few cases designated parking spaces or drop-off zones for carpools have been marked in garages or near the entry, but this is less common.
Other projects have worked with the management company or home-owners association to develop resident manuals, informational signs and/or websites that provide information and encouragement about recycling, green cleaning, bike storage, and public transit. Although the developer doesn't have legal power at the owners board, those groups can still be asked to participate in the LEED certification process for these sort of things, since it will often benefit them.
If a drop-off zone is being planned for a community college, does this negate the need for designated preferred parkingPreferred parking, available to particular users, includes designated spaces close to the building (aside from designated handicapped spots), designated covered spaces, discounted parking passes, and guaranteed passes in a lottery system. spaces? I've searched high and low for some clarification on how to receive credit for a drop-off zone to no avail. It is discussed in the LEED Schools thread, so I have to assume that a community college (non-residential) can pursue this strategy. Am I mistaken?
Can you clarify which case and option are you considering? I don't think a drop off zone by itself would meet the requirements - if you're following Case 1, Option 1 or 2 you'd still need the designated parking spaces.
My hunch is the credit assumes discounted or preferred parkingPreferred parking, available to particular users, includes designated spaces close to the building (aside from designated handicapped spots), designated covered spaces, discounted parking passes, and guaranteed passes in a lottery system. spaces for carpool vehicles is an important incentive to encourage carpooling, whereas just a drop-off area would not by itself prompt a change in behavior. (And community college would have far more students driving themselves than a K-12 school.)
zip car system
my client is hosting a zip car car share program into the parking lot of the building. will this count towards meeting the needs to facilitate shared vehicle usage? does he need to discount it to the residents of the building? and does he still need to provide preferred parkingPreferred parking, available to particular users, includes designated spaces close to the building (aside from designated handicapped spots), designated covered spaces, discounted parking passes, and guaranteed passes in a lottery system. AND ride share board? thanks gita
Gita, if all your client is doing is hosting (merely allowing the Zip cars to be parked in his parking lot), he won't meet the requirements of the program. He has to have at least a two year contract with ZipCar and ensure that those cars meet LEED's definition of Low emitting and/or partial zero emission cars. If he does have the contract, then ensuring that he provides the correct amount of cars based on FTEFull-time equivalent (FTE) represents a regular building occupant who spends 8 hours a day (40 hours a week) in the project building. Part-time or overtime occupants have FTE values based on their hours per day divided by 8 (or hours per week divided by 40). Transient Occupants can be reported as either daily totals or as part of the FTE. Residential occupancy should be estimated based on the number and size of units. Core and Shell projects should refer to the default occupancy table in the Reference Guide appendix. All occupant assumptions must be consistent across all credits in all categories. (3%) will be sufficient. The credit does require that the cars are located in the nearest parking spaces available so I would interpret that to mean preferred. I believe the ride share pertains to SSc4.4 wrt Carpooling/Vanpooling.
Define "no new parking" - project site is a former parking lot
My project is being built on an old parking lot in a previously developedPreviously developed sites are those altered by paving, construction, and/or land use that would typically have required regulatory permitting to have been initiated (alterations may exist now or in the past). Previously developed land includes a platted lot on which a building was constructed if the lot is no more than 1 acre; previous development on lots larger than 1 acre is defined as the development footprint and land alterations associated with the footprint. Land that is not previously developed and altered landscapes resulting from current or historical clearing or filling, agricultural or forestry use, or preserved natural area use are considered undeveloped land. The date of previous development permit issuance constitutes the date of previous development, but permit issuance in itself does not constitute previous development.", campus-style site. The LEED site boundary will be drawn around this building only. When all is said and done, and when comparing old site map to new, there will be 60 fewer parking spaces. The spots that are retained and fall within the boundary will be redone/moved. Does this count as "no new parking?"
It sounds like you meet the requirements for Option 3, No New Parking, or at least Option 1. If your concern is whether a parking space that is newly constructed, but replaces an existing one, is considered "new parking" or not, my understanding is that the number of parking spaces before and after redevelopment is what matters, not whether they are shiny and new.
You want to be careful, though, with how you're defining the LEED project boundary, which isn't totally clear when you describe it as a campus-style site. Per MPR #3 and the Supplemental Guidance document, the boundary needs to include "contiguous land that is associated with and supports normal building operations." Any parking that is dedicated to the project would probably need to be included in that boundary. It sounds like you may be able to include the area of those stalls and still show that you are still reducing the parking count. It does affect your stormwater and light pollution credits, however.
If you are applying the AGMBC because it is a campus setting, check the requirements for the LEED site boundary, as it does require accounting for the total parking count of the campus.
How to divide zoning requirements on a campus?
I have a 2 building campus, all new construction. We are only certifying one of the buildings. We are only adding the minimum amount of parking as required by the local county, however they rated our entire site for that zoning amount. How do we decide what is minimum zoning only for the LEED building, or can we state that since our larger project does not exceed minimum parking requirements that we are in compliance with LEED?
The LEED MPRs require you to allocate parking between multiple buildings in this situation based on an "appropriate percentage" of use.
Does that help? This is kind of a complex question, but maybe a simple answer will do the trick....
Parking areas in stadium
We have a stadium project that will be retrofitted (major renovation) and will be certified under the LEED NC rating system. The stadium will be used for the 2014 World Cup and has developed a master plan for the surroundings, including parking spaces and hospitality areas. Although the parking areas and hospitality spaces will help the operation of the stadium, they are from different owners and will be used temporarily for the World Cup.
The question is: There are 5 parking areas that will be used to support the operation of the stadium during the World Cup. Only one of them will be new and constructed for this purpose. The other ones are existent parking areas from nearby buildings (one university, one school, one park and one train station). What should we consider in SSc4.4?
1) No new parking, because they are outside the scope of work of our client and we can´t guarantee the number of parking spaces that will be constructed in the new parking area
2) All the parking spaces provided in the 5 areas, although they are temporary, not from the same owner and not constructed for the project
I can only address question #1 - I have an arena project that is in a similar situation. There is an adjacent mixed use garage/retail project going up around the same time which will serve to accomidate my arena as well as other functions. I tried to earn this credit using the 'No new parking' option, arguing that the garage is a separate project that is seeking its own LEED Certification and thus the arena project itself includes no additional parking. This approach was denied citing 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 dating 5/23/08 which states, "if there will be additional parking built as a result of the construction of the project, even if this parking is off site, then the No New Parking option cannot be used. Based on this, I believe you must include the new garage in your calculations. The existing parking areas, I'm not as sure of - you may need to write a CIR to get a definite answer
ADA Parking space
I am working on a project which includes no new parking with the exception of 1 code-required handicap parking spot. How is this counted? Does it mean we automatically have to add a carpool space, or does the exception Lauren mentions (above) count towards this type of space as well?
Jeremy,
My thought would be since LEED exempts ADA spots for preferred parkingPreferred parking, available to particular users, includes designated spaces close to the building (aside from designated handicapped spots), designated covered spaces, discounted parking passes, and guaranteed passes in a lottery system., I don't believe it would be counted as new parking since it is required by code and the project is not adding any more additional spaces. My suggestion would to submit this credit under Option 2 but choose the alternative compliance path check box on the Form. This will give you the opportunity to explain your unique situation and upload the zoning document or letter from Dept of Zoning stating that one ADA parking stall was required for your project.
Non-Residential with New Parking (80% + Fuel Efficient/Electric)
We are trying to achieve credit SSc4 option 2 for NC 2.2. Our project is on a college campus- outside of the campus transportation services zoning because it is a user support building for student housing. There is no local zoning, so I followed Portland Zoning as the guide requires. We have a total number of 21 parking space, of which 14 are for low-emitting "GEM" like electric vehicles only, therefore they are smaller in size than a normal stall. We also provide on van-pool and one handicap on site. This leaves us with 5 remaining regular parking stalls. If I calculate the carpool requirements of 5% of total parking capacity, then we are required to provide 2 carpool spaces. This would be a bit of a waste since the remaining 5 spaces are simply for maintenance worker vehicles providing service around the campus. Does anyone know a way around this? Are we required to include the electric vehicle parking in the calc? I know this is a bit fuzzy, but if anyone has come across a similar situation please let me know.
Thanks!
Kathryne, if this is for NC-v2.2 can you post the question to our SSc4.4 forum for that system? It would be helpful because the requirements are slightly different. Thanks.
"Transport demand management strategies" for a retail mall
Dear all,
The local area requirements for parking spaces of a retail mall is around 1974 cars and there are about 1833 car spaces at the moment, thus short of 141 cars.
Any ideas of what "transport demand management strategies" are available for a retail mall? Carpooling and creating a rideshare board are not common in the country.
The mall has a small Taxi/Valet drop off area. Does this help? If not, can someone please advise of any measures that can be done to demonstrate compliance with this credit?
Many thanks!
George, I don't follow your train of thought. Which option are you trying to comply with? You're providing less than the minimum required—that's a good thing, right?
Keep in mind, some credits aren't appropriate to some projects.
I am trying to comply with Case 1 (Non-residential), Option 1 (Meet but NOT exceed the minimum local zoning requirements).
the LEED Reference Guide (Implementation section) argues that:
If the parking capacity was calculated to be less than that required by the local authority, then we need to prove to the USGBC that some "Transportation Demand Management Strategies" have been implemented, and resulted in the low calculated parking capacity.
Some listed examples of these "Transportation Demand Management Strategies" are encouraging carpooling and providing a rideshare board.
A taxi drop-off area is provided, and the building is close to public bus stops (seeking SS Credit 4.1). Are there any other suggestions of "Transportation Demand Management Strategies" for a retail mall?
Many thanks!
George,
I don't believe the credit is actually requiring you to implement a Transportation Demand Mgmt Plan (TDMP) to meet the credit intent if your parking capacity is less than code. What the section you referenced is trying to prevent is spill over parking into adjacent neighborhoods if your retail mall does not have enough. The TDMP was a suggested method to accomplish this. Ideally the TDMP would offset this by the two strategies you mentioned. Some other examples could be the retail mall providing shuttle service from the town center, or some other type of incentive to promote consumers to ride the bus to your site, e.g. free pretzels from Auntie Anne's perhaps or other types of discounts from the retailers. Either way you would have to demonstrate that the incentive is fairly significant and properly advertised.
Parking for fleet vehicles
Need some fellow LEED Users to weigh in on a special circumstance:
We are working on a project for a law-enforcement agency on a central city site. There is no minimum parking requirement in our local zoning. The scope includes covered, structured parking for aproximately 50 fleet vehicles. The provided parking stalls will not be available to any vehicles other than the law enforcement fleet vehicles. These fleet vehicles are not used for personal transportation.
We are not providing any new parking for commuter vehicles. Workers and visitors will utilize public transportation, bicycle, walking or public parking options for reaching the site.
Since we are not providing parking for commuter transportation, and the stalls we are providing are for public-safety vehicles in covered, structured parking, would we be justified in claiming that we meet the credit intent of option 3, provide no new parking?
I could see a valid argument here that the fleet vehicles are more like a "process" load and don't constitute actual parking capacity in the sense that is covered by the credit. On the other hand, looked at objectively one could say that of course parking is being added. I will ask around for other opinions, but I would suggest submitting it and seeing it if flies. Let us know how it goes.
We have a similar situation where we're not sure if the fleet parking needs to be included in this credit. This project is a local electrical utility and the vehicles are utility trucks. Our local zoning does not take the fleet into account, but we are 'adding' covered parking for it as part of our project scope. I'd love to hear how others have treated this.
We have had a similar case and were told that for a situation as described above, this would be considered as new parking considering that the project is new construction and not a renovation where existing parking is being reused. We had a similar project where we were able to achieve this credit for provided parking for the police fleet.However, since the project was relocation to a new site so that the dept. could be closer to other county depts and court, we were able to achieve this credit by showing that it was a just a relocation of function (i.e. parking for police fleet) and no additional new parking was being added. Otherwise, I believe it would be considered as new parking and therefore will be required to show reduce parking compared to zoning or other parking standards. Hope this helps.
Hello, I have a similar situation. My project is an industrial plant in Mexico. We have an area dedicated for trailer trucks loading/unloading only, and since vehicles won't stay there for a long time, I'm not sure if we should consider it as parking spaces or parking area. Any thoughts on this matter?
We are wondering the same thing for our project - We have bus loading and truck loading areas that will be marked NO PARKING - however we are unsure if the loading areas should be considered in the count.
Is garbage truck parking counted at waste hauler facility?
The project in question is an existing site for an existing garbage truck maintenance facility where the existing maintenance facility is being replaced with a new building. There are additional parking spaces provided for the parking of garbage trucks needing maintenance or have just completed having maintenance. Are these garbage truck parking spaces counted as part of the parking capacity?
There is some precedent for excluding this kind of space. See this discussion above.
Roun up or Down
My total parking spaces = 23, 5% of that is 1.15 parking spaces. Should I round up or down.
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