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Post your questions on this credit in the forum, and click on the credit language tab to review to the LEED requirements.
Credit language
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Intent
Pilot Credit Closed
This pilot credit is closed to new registrations
To reduce runoff volume through a rainwater credit market mechanism and retention from offsite low-impact development (LID) and green infrastructure (GI) systems providing equivalent or better mitigation benefits than those onsite.
Requirements
This pilot credit is an alternative compliance path for LEED v4 and LEED v4.1 BD+C and O+M SSc Rainwater Management. Projects purchasing offsite rainwater retention credits must do so through a local Stormwater Retention Credit (SRC) market mechanism approved by USGBC and meet the following requirements:
- Projects utilizing a rainwater retention market based on a gallon metric must follow the credit-to-gallon ratio.
- Projects must provide local percentile rainfall event measurements in credit submittals and show that the offsite project is using LID techniques.
- If the rainwater market is based on a unit other than gallons retained (such as square feet mitigated, or mass of target pollutants captured), projects must demonstrate that the offsite project is using LID for the mitigation and the equivalency to volume of the percentile of rainwater retained, in gallons.
- If project team plans to purchase SRCs operating outside the LEED project boundary’s sewershed or jurisdiction, they must provide a detailed narrative describing why this decision is a greater ecological benefit than purchasing SRCs operating within the LEED project boundary’s sewershed or jurisdiction. This requirement is not applicable to projects participating in Washington D.C.’s SRC Trading Program.
- Purchase and use SRCs to achieve multiple years of offsite volume compliance. Ensure credit life periods are renewed and offsite volume compliance is continually maintained to align with the life of the LEED project.
- Note for O+M Projects Only: Make sure to address renewing credit life periods during the recertification process. If the market has credit life periods, projects must document continued participation in the attributes of the credit.
- If a rainwater credit market mechanism requires some level of onsite retention, a combination of onsite and offsite practices may be utilized to meet the LEED requirements.
BUILDING, DESIGN, & CONSTRUCTION
In a manner best replicating natural site hydrology processes, retain (i.e. infiltrate, evapotranspirate, or collect and reuse) offsite runoff from, at minimum, the 80th percentile of regional or local rainfall events using offsite low-impact development (LID) and green infrastructure (GI) practices. Projects may use a combination of onsite and offsite rainwater retention (as approved by the local municipality).TABLE 1. ACP for All Projects
| Percentile Rainfall Event | Points BD+C (Except Healthcare) | Points BD+C (Healthcare) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Path 1 | 80th percentile storm | 1 | 1 |
| Path 2 | 85th percentile storm | 2 | 2 |
| Path 3 | 90th percentile storm | 3 | - |
EXISTING BUILDING: OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
This pilot credit is an alternative compliance path for LEED v4 and LEED v4.1 EB: O+M Rainwater Management. LEED v4 projects may adopt the v4.1 thresholds shown in Table 2.TABLE 2. ACP for All Projects
Use offsite low-impact development (LID) practices to manage water from at 100% of the impervious surfaces for the 95th percentile storm event.| Percentile Rainfall Event | Points O+M | |
|---|---|---|
| Path 1 | 95th percentile storm | 1 |
Submittals
General
- Participate in the LEEDuser pilot credit forum
- Complete the feedback survey:
Credit Specific
BUILDING, DESIGN, & CONSTRUCTION; EXISTING BUILDING: OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
- Receipt for Offsite Credit Purchase from a credit trading program and documentation approved by local jurisdiction stating the Offsite Credit Purchase met the watershed and/or sewershed requirements (i.e. local municipal approval of offsite stormwater retention credit transfer.)
- Provide a link to the program requirements for the Stormwater Retention Credit (SRC) market mechanism used by the project to comply with this credit.
- Show compliance with USGBC approved SRC market mechanism requirements
- Copy of Permit Approval from Reviewing Municipal Agency
- Copy of Local Data for Rainfall Event by Percentile
- Documents showing the LID/green infrastructure techniques used to create the SRC’s utilized by the project
Changes
- 10/01/2019 - original publication
- Closed for registration on 8/12/2022
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
See all forum discussions about this credit »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.
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Intent
Pilot Credit Closed
This pilot credit is closed to new registrations
To reduce runoff volume through a rainwater credit market mechanism and retention from offsite low-impact development (LID) and green infrastructure (GI) systems providing equivalent or better mitigation benefits than those onsite.
Requirements
This pilot credit is an alternative compliance path for LEED v4 and LEED v4.1 BD+C and O+M SSc Rainwater Management. Projects purchasing offsite rainwater retention credits must do so through a local Stormwater Retention Credit (SRC) market mechanism approved by USGBC and meet the following requirements:
- Projects utilizing a rainwater retention market based on a gallon metric must follow the credit-to-gallon ratio.
- Projects must provide local percentile rainfall event measurements in credit submittals and show that the offsite project is using LID techniques.
- If the rainwater market is based on a unit other than gallons retained (such as square feet mitigated, or mass of target pollutants captured), projects must demonstrate that the offsite project is using LID for the mitigation and the equivalency to volume of the percentile of rainwater retained, in gallons.
- If project team plans to purchase SRCs operating outside the LEED project boundary’s sewershed or jurisdiction, they must provide a detailed narrative describing why this decision is a greater ecological benefit than purchasing SRCs operating within the LEED project boundary’s sewershed or jurisdiction. This requirement is not applicable to projects participating in Washington D.C.’s SRC Trading Program.
- Purchase and use SRCs to achieve multiple years of offsite volume compliance. Ensure credit life periods are renewed and offsite volume compliance is continually maintained to align with the life of the LEED project.
- Note for O+M Projects Only: Make sure to address renewing credit life periods during the recertification process. If the market has credit life periods, projects must document continued participation in the attributes of the credit.
- If a rainwater credit market mechanism requires some level of onsite retention, a combination of onsite and offsite practices may be utilized to meet the LEED requirements.
BUILDING, DESIGN, & CONSTRUCTION
In a manner best replicating natural site hydrology processes, retain (i.e. infiltrate, evapotranspirate, or collect and reuse) offsite runoff from, at minimum, the 80th percentile of regional or local rainfall events using offsite low-impact development (LID) and green infrastructure (GI) practices. Projects may use a combination of onsite and offsite rainwater retention (as approved by the local municipality).TABLE 1. ACP for All Projects
| Percentile Rainfall Event | Points BD+C (Except Healthcare) | Points BD+C (Healthcare) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Path 1 | 80th percentile storm | 1 | 1 |
| Path 2 | 85th percentile storm | 2 | 2 |
| Path 3 | 90th percentile storm | 3 | - |
EXISTING BUILDING: OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
This pilot credit is an alternative compliance path for LEED v4 and LEED v4.1 EB: O+M Rainwater Management. LEED v4 projects may adopt the v4.1 thresholds shown in Table 2.TABLE 2. ACP for All Projects
Use offsite low-impact development (LID) practices to manage water from at 100% of the impervious surfaces for the 95th percentile storm event.| Percentile Rainfall Event | Points O+M | |
|---|---|---|
| Path 1 | 95th percentile storm | 1 |
Submittals
General
- Participate in the LEEDuser pilot credit forum
- Complete the feedback survey:
Credit Specific
BUILDING, DESIGN, & CONSTRUCTION; EXISTING BUILDING: OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
- Receipt for Offsite Credit Purchase from a credit trading program and documentation approved by local jurisdiction stating the Offsite Credit Purchase met the watershed and/or sewershed requirements (i.e. local municipal approval of offsite stormwater retention credit transfer.)
- Provide a link to the program requirements for the Stormwater Retention Credit (SRC) market mechanism used by the project to comply with this credit.
- Show compliance with USGBC approved SRC market mechanism requirements
- Copy of Permit Approval from Reviewing Municipal Agency
- Copy of Local Data for Rainfall Event by Percentile
- Documents showing the LID/green infrastructure techniques used to create the SRC’s utilized by the project
Changes
- 10/01/2019 - original publication
- Closed for registration on 8/12/2022
