Hi,
I would like to attempt this credit for several of my current and future LEED projects. I am trying to determine the following:
There are existing sidewalks within the LEED boundary that are not being changed. They are immediately adjacent to the bordering streets. Since they are not in the scope to alter, we cannot move them in order to have trees between the sidewalk and vehicle travel way.
Can we exclude the existing sidewalks from the tree requirement since we cannot change them? Obviously, any new sidewalks would meet the requirement. I ask b/c only "newly constructed" sidewalks are required to meet the width criteria of the credit, but it does not specifically address it for the trees...
Help?
emily reese moody
Sustainability Director, Certifications & ComplianceJacobs
LEEDuser Expert
476 thumbs up
September 5, 2012 - 5:22 pm
No one? I'd like to consider this credit for at least 6 different projects right now, and the answer kinda affects all of them...
Chris Marshall
Manager, LEED Technical DevelopmentU.S. Green Building Council
182 thumbs up
September 6, 2012 - 9:34 am
Hi Emily, I'm sorry for the delayed reply. We've actually been discussing it internally for the past few weeks. Regardless, I should have at least acknowledged reading your post...
In short, we've concluded that the street trees requirement applies to both new and existing sidewalks. We say so for two reasons:
1. The continuous sidewalk requirements earlier in the credit have new sidewalk-specific requirement. But existing sidewalks can/must also meet the requirements, provided that they’re continuous and serve all building entrances. So, there’s an implied intent that existing sidewalks are held to some sort of requirements throughout, including the addition of street trees.
2. Street trees are very, very important to the pedestrian experience, and we want to ensure that a credit-worthy walkable project site has them.
We'll soon update the pilot credit language to reflect this decision.
Jennifer Wright
LRS Architects1 thumbs up
April 15, 2013 - 12:38 pm
I am currently working on an urban infill project with retail at the ground floor and apartments above. We meet all the requirements for the walkable project site and provide adequate street trees. Our building site differs from yours, Emily, in that the sidewalks will be replaced to accommodate updated city zoning policy but with that said, the street tree locations are also designated by the policy which creates a spacing of 42'-0" versus the required 40'-0".
I have been researching others past comments regarding street trees and have not seen this brought up. I am assuming that there is a variance given for the spacing and that the tree canopy will eventually create the required aesthetic this credit is pursuing - can someone please clarify if this has been discussed previously?
Thank you!
emily reese moody
Sustainability Director, Certifications & ComplianceJacobs
LEEDuser Expert
476 thumbs up
May 9, 2013 - 5:12 pm
Updated question:
The credit language now states the following:
"Street trees are provided between the vehicle travel way and walkway at intervals of no more than 450 feet (15 meters) (The width of driveways, utility
vaults and alleyways intersecting the vehicle travel way or walkway may be excluded from these calculations)."
^ That is copied/pasted directly from the credit page. Can you verify that 450 feet is a typo? I'm assuming the requirements didn't change THAT much from a few months ago...also, 15 meters definitely does not equal 450 feet; it's 49.21 feet. Please clarify. Thanks.