Dear All,
According to LEED Reference Guide, credit Site Development – Protect or Restore Habitat:
- REQUIREMENTS (pg 163): “projects that achieve a density of 1,5 floor-area ratio may include vegetated roof surfaces in the calculations”;
- FURTHER EXPLANATION (pg. 169): it is necessary to “Determine the density of the project and surrounding areas by calculating the ratio of the anticipated building footprint to the total project area… This calculation, the Floor-Area-Ratio (FAR) is used in many LEED credits”.
Can you please clarify the meaning of density of 1,5 floor-area ratio in this specific credit ? Is it the:
- Ratio of building footprint to site area ?
- Ratio of the building footprint to site buildable land ?
- Ratio of buildings footprint in the surrounding areas to surrounding areas buildable land (in this case, how are these surrounding areas defined ?)
- any other ratio ?
Thanks in advance,
https://www.usgbc.org/resources/leed-v4-glossary-terms-translations It is also explained in the "Getting Started" section at the front of the BD+C Reference Guide. I believe for this credit, you determine your FAR, which is total building floor area (not footprint) divided by total buildable land area within your project boundary. Then, you'll know if you meet the 1.5 minimum and can count vegetated roof areas in your calculations, provided it meets the requirements for appropriate plantings.