Under what circumstances could a nonroof area covered with light gravel be considered as non-hardscape? This area is a permeable area as it contributes to an effective stormwater management and consists of loose soil substrates allowing water infiltration.
Additionally, would SR values for gravel from international references and the LEED Reference Guide be accepted by the reviewers?
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Tristan Roberts
RepresentativeVermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
11474 thumbs up
November 26, 2015 - 10:25 pm
Charalampos, I think you are out of luck here. The infiltration aspect is great, but that's a different credit. For heat island effect, SRI is the measure, and for all but concrete you must use actual values. And this sounds like hardscape—no way around that.Use the design that is best for the project—not chasing LEED credits. Or, use an alternative design such as an infiltrating turf area.