View the LEED v4.1 version of this credit »
SPECIAL REPORT
LEEDuser expert
Deborah Lucking
AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Fentress Architects
Director of Sustainability
SPECIAL REPORT
LEEDuser’s viewpoint
Frank advice from LEED experts
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Credit language
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
Option 1. Surrounding density (1 point)
Locate on a site whose surrounding existing density within a ¼-mile (400-meter) offset of the project boundary is:- At least 7 dwelling units per acre (17.5 DU per hectare) with a 0.5 floor-area ratio. The counted density must be existing density, not zoned density, or
- At least 22,000 square feet per acre (5 050 square meters per hectare) of buildable land.
OR
Option 2. Diverse uses (1 point)
Construct or renovate a building on a site such that the building’s main entrance is within a ½-mile (800-meter) walking distance of the main entrance of at least seven existing and publicly accessible uses (listed in Appendix 1). The following restrictions apply.- A use may be counted as only one type (e.g., a retail store may be counted only once even if it sells products in several categories).
- No more than two uses in each use type may be counted (e.g., if five restaurants are within walking distance, only two may be counted).
- The counted uses must represent at least three of the five categories, exclusive of the building’s primary use.
Category |
Use type |
|---|---|
Food retail |
Supermarket |
Grocery with produce section |
|
Community-serving retail |
Convenience store |
Farmers market |
|
Hardware store |
|
Pharmacy |
|
Other retail |
|
Services |
Bank |
Family entertainment venue (e.g., theater, sports) |
|
Gym, health club, exercise studio |
|
Hair care |
|
Laundry, dry cleaner |
|
Restaurant, café, diner (excluding those with only drive-thru service) |
|
Civic and community facilities |
Adult or senior care (licensed) |
Child care (licensed) |
|
Community or recreation center |
|
Cultural arts facility (museum, performing arts) |
|
Education facility (e.g., K—12 school, university, adult education center, vocational school, community college) |
|
Government office that serves public on-site |
|
Medical clinic or office that treats patients |
|
Place of worship |
|
Police or fire station |
|
Post office |
|
Public library |
|
Public park |
|
Social services center |
|
Community anchor uses (BD&C and ID&C only) |
Commercial office (100 or more full-time equivalent jobs) |
Housing (100 or more dwelling units) |
SITES-LEED Equivalency
This LEED credit (or a component of this credit) has been established as equivalent to a SITES v2 credit or component. For more information on using the equivalency as a substitution in your LEED or SITES project, see this article and guidance document.
What does it cost?
Cost estimates for this credit
On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.
Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.
This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.
Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »Frequently asked questions
|
When it comes to satisfying the requirements for Option 1, what does the "total buildable land" take into account? And the "total building area"? The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
|
Where do we measure the radius from? In LEED 2009, we measured it from the main entry, but the LEED v4 language is different. The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
Documentation toolkit
The motherlode of cheat sheets
LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit is loaded with calculators to help assess credit compliance, tracking spreadsheets for materials, sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions, and examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects for you to check your work against. To get your plaque, start with the right toolkit.
Get the inside scoop
Our editors have written a detailed analysis of nearly every LEED credit, and LEEDuser premium members get full access. We’ll tell you whether the credit is easy to accomplish or better left alone, and we provide insider tips on how to document it successfully.
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
Option 1. Surrounding density (1 point)
Locate on a site whose surrounding existing density within a ¼-mile (400-meter) offset of the project boundary is:- At least 7 dwelling units per acre (17.5 DU per hectare) with a 0.5 floor-area ratio. The counted density must be existing density, not zoned density, or
- At least 22,000 square feet per acre (5 050 square meters per hectare) of buildable land.
OR
Option 2. Diverse uses (1 point)
Construct or renovate a building on a site such that the building’s main entrance is within a ½-mile (800-meter) walking distance of the main entrance of at least seven existing and publicly accessible uses (listed in Appendix 1). The following restrictions apply.- A use may be counted as only one type (e.g., a retail store may be counted only once even if it sells products in several categories).
- No more than two uses in each use type may be counted (e.g., if five restaurants are within walking distance, only two may be counted).
- The counted uses must represent at least three of the five categories, exclusive of the building’s primary use.
Category |
Use type |
|---|---|
Food retail |
Supermarket |
Grocery with produce section |
|
Community-serving retail |
Convenience store |
Farmers market |
|
Hardware store |
|
Pharmacy |
|
Other retail |
|
Services |
Bank |
Family entertainment venue (e.g., theater, sports) |
|
Gym, health club, exercise studio |
|
Hair care |
|
Laundry, dry cleaner |
|
Restaurant, café, diner (excluding those with only drive-thru service) |
|
Civic and community facilities |
Adult or senior care (licensed) |
Child care (licensed) |
|
Community or recreation center |
|
Cultural arts facility (museum, performing arts) |
|
Education facility (e.g., K—12 school, university, adult education center, vocational school, community college) |
|
Government office that serves public on-site |
|
Medical clinic or office that treats patients |
|
Place of worship |
|
Police or fire station |
|
Post office |
|
Public library |
|
Public park |
|
Social services center |
|
Community anchor uses (BD&C and ID&C only) |
Commercial office (100 or more full-time equivalent jobs) |
Housing (100 or more dwelling units) |
SITES-LEED Equivalency
This LEED credit (or a component of this credit) has been established as equivalent to a SITES v2 credit or component. For more information on using the equivalency as a substitution in your LEED or SITES project, see this article and guidance document.
Cost estimates for this credit
On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.
Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.
This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.
Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »In the end, LEED is all about documentation. LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit, for premium members only, saves you time and helps you avoid mistakes with:
- Calculators to help assess credit compliance.
- Tracking spreadsheets for materials purchases.
- Spreadsheets and forms to give to subs and other team members.
- Guidance documents on arcane LEED issues.
- Sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions.
- Examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects.
|
When it comes to satisfying the requirements for Option 1, what does the "total buildable land" take into account? And the "total building area"? The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
|
Where do we measure the radius from? In LEED 2009, we measured it from the main entry, but the LEED v4 language is different. The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial » (If you're already a premium member, log in here.) |
LEEDuser expert
Deborah Lucking
AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Fentress Architects
Director of Sustainability
