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You can lead a horse to water…
…But you can’t make it drink. In other words, bike racks and showers will probably not be enough to encourage biking in an area that’s unfriendly to bicyclists. If you’re thinking of pursuing this credit, first consider the realities of the neighborhood around the school. Is it realistic that students and staff will ride bicycles and make use of the bike racks and storage or the shower facilities? It’s important to consider whether the intent of this credit will bear out in reality, or if your resources might be better allocated elsewhere.
There are some additional costs
This credit entails the costs of purchasing and installing the bike racks, as well as showers and changing facilities if you decide to provide those onsite. For smaller projects, the additional...
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Don't double-count parking spaces
If your project is pursuing both SSc4.3 and SSc4.4, be careful not to double-count 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 allotted for those credits. The total number of preferred parking spaces must be equal to those required for SSc4.3, plus those required for SSc4.4. The same parking space cannot count for both credits (although they do not have to be distinguished through signage).
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13 Comments
Dedicated Bike Lanes on School Property
"Provide dedicated bike lanes that extend at least to the end of the school property in 2 or more directions with no barriers (e.g., fences) on school property." This requirement seems vague in the actual purpose but very explicit in the requirement. The credit purpose is to encourage bike use. The bike lane part is I assume for safety, but school campuses have many possible configurations and this requirement needs to be less rigid to allow for solutions that work with campus plan, layout and logistics.
Jorge Arismendi replied Civil Engineer, PBK Architects Jun 18 2010
What is the minimum bicycle path/sidewalk's width for an Elementary School project pursuing LEED credit SSc4.2? 8 foot?
Thanks
Ben Stanley replied Sustainability Manager, YRG sustainability Jun 21 2010
During previous applications, the LEED review team has requested an 8ft path to accommodate shared pedestrian/bike use.
I haven't seen a prescriptive requirement for the width of a stand alone bike path.
Jorge Arismendi replied Civil Engineer, PBK Architects Jul 05 2010
Thanks for your response Mr. Stanley.
Providing Bike Lanes for Schools
Hi all,
We are working on a school where the bike racks will be installed in the first basement level just next to the ramp. That same ramp will be very close to the site entrance. Knowing that it is impractical to have a bike lane sharing the ramp, do you think the bike lane requirement can be omitted based on "none practical" grounds? Can we submit our design letter templates explaining why we did not specify bike lanes or should we submit 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 and err on the side of caution ?
Thanks for your help,
Tristan Roberts replied Editor – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, LLC Jul 19 2010
Given that bicycle storage and changing rooms are required only within 200 yards of the main entrance, it seems reasonable to have the bike lane go to the storage area (if it's within 200 yards of the entrance) and not all the way to the front door.
Bike Lanes for Urban Schools
Any suggestions or experience for meeting the requirement for a dedicated bike lane on school property for an inner-city school with no setbacks (e.g. a public school in NYC)? Children will likely using bikes to get to school, but it isn't possible to incorporate a bike lane on the actual school property. Any way around this?
Shannon Gray replied Consultant, YRG sustainability Aug 17 2010
Hi Carly,
We've had a project in a similar situation. However, we did have dedicated city bike lanes on one side of our school and showed those in our project drawings. Any chance there are city bike lanes nearby?
We've also used wide (8 feet) sidewalks and installed a sign that said bikers left and pedestrians right.
Both projects were approved.
Shannon
Carly Jankens replied Sustainability Consultant, Steven Winter Associates, Inc. Aug 25 2010
Thanks Shannon. There are city bike lanes within a few blocks of the school but not along any of the perimeter streets. The tight property space will limit the ability for wide sidewalks as well. It's looking like the bike lane requirement might not be achievable for this particular project. Any other methods/CIRs people have used would be great.
Calculating Transient Occupants for a K-5 elementary school
Does anyone have a standard or rule of thumb to generate a logical number for volunteers and visitors in an urban area? If the school district doesn't have a volunteer program, then that answers one question. However, how is a visitor count calculated? I would think most visitors would be parents - thus it would be unlikely they would be straping the kid on the bike with them. I suppose I could just take the number from the # of visitor parking spots and call it a day? Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks!
Tristan Roberts replied Editor – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, LLC Aug 29 2010
Renee, on a Schools project you don't have to account for transients to earn this credit. (See the credit language tab above.)
Renee Shirey replied Aug 30 2010
I see what you are saying about the credit language, but then in the LEED reference guide calculations for schools (step 1d) it lists peak transients. I would definitely prefer to NOT count them, because we get "nicer" number of required bike racks (12 vs 13).
Tristan Roberts replied Editor – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, LLC Aug 30 2010
Interesting—it's also requested in the LEED Online form. I guess they do want a number, which does make sense.
If the number of visitor parking spots is reflective of peak transients, then I would go with it. Consider whether folks arrive by other means, or with more than one person in the car.
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