Can waterscapes such as fountains, cascades and similar features contribute to this credit?
If YES, how can we include it in the credit form since nonroof measures only gives the option for plant canopies, vegetated planters, energy generation systems, vegetated structures and open-grid pavements?
emily reese moody
Sustainability Director, Certifications & ComplianceJacobs
LEEDuser Expert
474 thumbs up
June 14, 2018 - 2:07 pm
Under previous versions of LEED, water features were to be excluded from calcs, and could not be considered part of the compliant SF (see LEED Interpretation 1412: https://www.usgbc.org/content/li-1412). I would operate under the same assumption here, even though it's not explicitly mentioned in the Reference Guide. These types of assumptions (things applicable under v3 but not addressed in v4) have occurred in several other credits, too. You could contact GBCI to be certain. If you do that, please post the response here for other users with similar questions.
Olga Yuil
Green Building Consultant20 thumbs up
June 14, 2018 - 5:42 pm
Thank you Emily. We'll contact the GBCI and we'll post the response.
Olga Yuil
Green Building Consultant20 thumbs up
June 28, 2018 - 3:16 pm
After contacting the GBCI about this, the answer was:
Thank you for contacting GBCI regarding water features and heat island reduction.
This is an interesting issue to me since I once tried to include a reflecting pool in the same credit. It feels so comfortable being near water that I forgot the science!
So, water is reflective in places where the sun is at a low incident angle that's found about the Arctic Circle. At a higher incident angle, water absorbs heat in the same way pavement does. Therefore it does not contribute to heat island affect reduction.
I don't think the answer is reasonable though...
emily reese moody
Sustainability Director, Certifications & ComplianceJacobs
LEEDuser Expert
474 thumbs up
June 28, 2018 - 3:35 pm
Yeah, seems like projects should exclude it like in previous versions, unless your project is in the Arctic Circle and can prove the angle reflectivity aspect...which why would a project in the Arctic Circle have an outdoor water feature anyway? It'd just be an outdoor ice sculpture!
I would think that if you could prove your project creates a microclimate that is cooler than surrounding areas (even those with the required reflectivity), you should be able to include it. Alas, I don't make the rules. Yet.
If you could generate enough proof of such a scenario, you may have a shot at a LI; it sounds like it'd be a tough path, though.