Our site (Prague, Czech republic) is surrounded by many internal building passageways and retail corridors that connect block-to-block through the buildings, often times connecting more than one building with publicly accessible internal courtyards. The majority of these are closed to the public for some period during the night (12-6am) but are publicly accessible during other times.
Our building in fact is designed to include such a link if the future redevelopment of adjacent buildings allows.
Would these fit within the intent of the all weather pathways?
Batya Metalitz
Technical Director, LEEDUSGBC
LEEDuser Expert
318 thumbs up
September 28, 2010 - 4:03 pm
This credit was based on language from LEED-ND. To determine the intent we check with LJ Aurbach from the Location and Planning Technical Advisory Group:
"The largest benefits of small blocks and well-connected street layouts appear when pedestrian routes are public and at ground level. This allows pedestrian traffic to contribute to the liveliness, civic activity, and commercial success of streets, alleys, passages, etc. Pedestrian routes that are grade separated from the street tend to suck the life away from streets, and also tend to enforce social class segregation in the daily life of an urban place. Overhead pedestrian bridges, tubes, etc. are often suboptimal responses to high-speed, high-volume traffic arterials, and can also be eyesores that block views and sunshine.
For these reasons, the LEED-ND definition of streets specifies that they must be publicly accessible at all times, and they must be "addressable." Publicly accessible means that streets are not gated and are not located within gated areas. "Addressable" means that streets are (or can be) lined by lots with postal addresses -- i.e., no parking lots, driveways, access ramps, and so on."
So the answer is, the partially gated pathways would not count towards your intersection count, though this is not clear from the current pilot credit. When you submit for the pilot credit, please provide feedback on how to improve the credit language, and perhaps more information on how these building to building connections improve the openness of the community in Prague (in order to meet the intent of the credit). This information will help us to improve the credit language for the future.
Cory Benson
Managing DirectorMade Sustainable
13 thumbs up
September 29, 2010 - 7:36 am
OK, well this brings up another question.
Our site is also adjacent to several metro stations. These stations provide below grade links (in addition to those on the surface) to allow more direct, traffic-free, and weather-protected pedestrian movement across the area.
These underground links are vestibules of the metro stations, so they are publicly accessible 24hrs a day and outside of the paid zone of the metro. They also provide "addressable" space that is leased to tenants for commercial space. The vestibule closest to our project for example, includes a full service grocery, a bakery, a cafe, a sports betting office, a newsstand or two, and a public transit office, among other things. This subterranean space is quite busy all year long, but especially during bad weather and throughout our cold winters. Not only transit users utilize this highly trafficked 'short-cut' space, which is quite well used even in the late night hours.
Also due to the highly urban nature of the area, these spaces appear not to diminish traffic on the surface, nor segregate users.
Consequently, based on these assumptions, I would include these public metro vestibule connections in our intersection totals.
Batya Metalitz
Technical Director, LEEDUSGBC
LEEDuser Expert
318 thumbs up
September 29, 2010 - 10:03 am
I would recommend differentiating between the intersections on these various levels (above, below and street level) when you submit your credit documentation, so that reviewers are able to see how the different systems impact the connectivity of the site. I know similar underground systems exist in other cities, so they should be evaluated and more clearly addressed in the credit language during the next revision.
Peter Kennedy
LEED AP, GreenPoint RaterBright Green Strategies
72 thumbs up
October 26, 2010 - 6:38 pm
I've done some searching, but can't find a definition of "All Weather Pathways". A project I'm working on is adjacent to a campus with numerous meandering and crossing walking paths (open to the public, not gated). They are not covered, but the project is in a very temperate climate. Do these count as all weather?