Log in
LEED v2008
Homes
Sustainable Sites
Surface water management

LEED CREDIT

Homes-v2008 SSc4: Surface water management 1-7 points

LEEDuser’s viewpoint

Explore this LEED credit

Post your questions on this credit in the forum, and click on the credit language tab to review to the LEED requirements.

Credit language

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Prerequisites

None.

Credits

Note: Certain surface water management strategies may be regulated, restricted, or even prohibited by local water authorities or code requirements.4.1 Permeable lot (maximum 4 points, as specified in Table 1). Design the lot such that at least 70% of the buildable land, not including area under roof, is permeable or designed to capture water runoff for infiltration on-site. Area that can be counted toward the minimum includes the following:
  1. Vegetative landscape (e.g., grass, trees, shrubs).
  2. Permeable paving, installed by an experienced professional. Permeable paving must include porous above ground materials (e.g., open pavers, engineered products) and a 6-inch porous subbase, and the base layer must be designed to ensure proper drainage away from the home.
  3. Impermeable surfaces that are designed to direct all runoff toward an appropriate permanent infiltration feature (e.g., vegetated swale, on-site rain garden, or rainwater cistern).
class=”lowercase_letter”> 4.2 Permanent erosion controls (1 point). Design and install one of the following permanent erosion control measures:a) If portions of the lot are located on a steep slope, reduce long-term runoff effects through use of terracing and retaining walls.

OR

b) Plant one tree, four 5-gallon shrubs, or 50 square feet of native groundcover per 500 square feet of disturbed lot area (including area under roof ).4.3 Management of runoff from roof (maximum 2 points). Design and install one or more of the following runoff control measures:a) Install permanent stormwater controls (e.g., vegetated swales, on-site rain garden, dry well, or rainwater cistern) designed to manage runoff from the home (1 point).b) Install vegetated roof to cover 50% of the roof area (0.5 point).

OR

c) Install vegetated roof to cover 100% of the roof area (1 point).d) Have the site designed by a licensed or certified landscape design or engineering professional such that all water runoff from the home is managed through an on-site design element (2 points).
Table 1. Permeable Area

Percentage of buildable lot (excluding area under roof) that is permeable

Points

70–79%

1

80–89%

2

90–99%

3

100%

4

See all forum discussions about this credit »

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 »

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.

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Prerequisites

None.

Credits

Note: Certain surface water management strategies may be regulated, restricted, or even prohibited by local water authorities or code requirements.4.1 Permeable lot (maximum 4 points, as specified in Table 1). Design the lot such that at least 70% of the buildable land, not including area under roof, is permeable or designed to capture water runoff for infiltration on-site. Area that can be counted toward the minimum includes the following:
  1. Vegetative landscape (e.g., grass, trees, shrubs).
  2. Permeable paving, installed by an experienced professional. Permeable paving must include porous above ground materials (e.g., open pavers, engineered products) and a 6-inch porous subbase, and the base layer must be designed to ensure proper drainage away from the home.
  3. Impermeable surfaces that are designed to direct all runoff toward an appropriate permanent infiltration feature (e.g., vegetated swale, on-site rain garden, or rainwater cistern).
class=”lowercase_letter”> 4.2 Permanent erosion controls (1 point). Design and install one of the following permanent erosion control measures:a) If portions of the lot are located on a steep slope, reduce long-term runoff effects through use of terracing and retaining walls.

OR

b) Plant one tree, four 5-gallon shrubs, or 50 square feet of native groundcover per 500 square feet of disturbed lot area (including area under roof ).4.3 Management of runoff from roof (maximum 2 points). Design and install one or more of the following runoff control measures:a) Install permanent stormwater controls (e.g., vegetated swales, on-site rain garden, dry well, or rainwater cistern) designed to manage runoff from the home (1 point).b) Install vegetated roof to cover 50% of the roof area (0.5 point).

OR

c) Install vegetated roof to cover 100% of the roof area (1 point).d) Have the site designed by a licensed or certified landscape design or engineering professional such that all water runoff from the home is managed through an on-site design element (2 points).
Table 1. Permeable Area

Percentage of buildable lot (excluding area under roof) that is permeable

Points

70–79%

1

80–89%

2

90–99%

3

100%

4

See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Subscribe to new discussions about Homes-v2008 SSc4