LEED Homes Pilot Credit 29 - Gimme Point

We have a project we're going for this one on. We're not near to any of the CBD's on the map. However, you get the pilot credit just for trying. I'll post back if we run into any unanticipated issues.

Peter, you have to do more than try—USGBC has tightened up the rules a bit. Check out the guidelines on our LEED pilot credit tipsheet.

A few projects have already submitted this credit to us. If you're in or near a city, Option 2 seems to be easily achievable.

We are already looking at increasing the threshold for Option 2, and either eliminating the 10 mile distance to a CBD, or completely removing that compliance path.

We'd appreciate getting more feedback on this credit based on how your projects would score.

Our project is in a North Shore suburb of Chicago, and were easily able to achieve the 2 points for Option 2, with 27,887 jobs/sq. mile. We would've also qualified for Option 1. The online tools were easy to use, however in the LEED Project Checklist, the available points for ID credits only goes up to 1, so how do we check off for 2?

Rachel, for the Pilot Credits, you can only earn 1 point. The multiple thresholds (and multiple points listed) would be used if/when this becomes a credit in LEED 2012.

Asa and Aaron - thanks for the clarification!

Am I missing something or is there not a central business district location map on the provided link?
We comply easily with Option 2 with 18,000 jobs in downtown Savannah, but was trying to check out option 1 and can't seem to track it down...

on the CBD page http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=2271, at the top there is a link "Click here for CBD locator" which should take you to a searchable map.

Is there any way to get this point for locations that are not included on either of the maps? We have a project that is in a college town (Boone, NC) and within 1/2 mile of a college and hospital that we can document have the required number of jobs. However, that town doesn't show up as having a central business district under option #1, and there is no data available for it under option #2. Is it possible to list the large employers and the # of jobs and submit?

Amy,
Yes you can either submit an estimate of the number of jobs to meet option 2 requirements, or details as to why you believe Boone has a CBD for option 1. Option 2 is going to be easier to demonstrate, so I recommend you take that approach.

Hi, I am currently working on an LEED for Homes international pilot project in Hong Kong. The project is located within 3 miles of the financial district in Hong Kong and there should be enough number of jobs to satisfy both Option 1 and 2. However, I am curious to know whether the Pilot Credit Library is applicable to international pilot projects and since the two tools are for US only, is there other acceptable methods to demonstrate the credit compliance?

Hi, First off, I would like to thank you for participating in the LEED for Homes International Pilot. We are happy to have you on board!

International Projects may use the Project Credit Library. I think the easiest way for your project to demonstrate compliance is to demonstrate that there are at least 2,500 jobs within 1/2 mile of the project. Use either government data, or private data. Contact your Green Rater for more information.

It seems to me that if a project meets the requirements for option 1 that it would also be well above the requirements for option 2. Has anyone run into a situation where that is not the case? If not, why is option 1 included?

Yes, I found Option 2 to be very easy to achieve for our project. This, of course, does depend on where your project is located. Our project was 1/4 from Temple University and 1 mile for Center City (CBD), so it was very easy for us to achieve this point. The interface to calculate these jobs numbers was also very easy to use.

I agree, that the HTA Index was extremely user-friendly. Our project surpassed the Option 2 thresholds with ease; perhaps they need to be adjusted because it seems like most people have had the same experience.

We just did a second project using this credit, and the online tool ended up giving us a number that was seven times higher than the top end of the threshold. Our project is downtown, but that seems excessive.

I am unable to find the central business district tool that they direct us to in the credit.