I'm very new to LEED terminologies. I'm preparing for LEED Green Associate exam. I'm stuck with the definition of hardscape. What does HRADSCAPE exactly refer to? In the USGBC Glossary it has been defined as "inanimate surfaces" which means anything that is non-living. Here the question is whether do the pervious surfaces (non-living) count as HARDSCAPE? Is hardscape and pervoiusness of a surface realted by any means? I would request the users here throw some light in this regard.
Thanks!
emily reese moody
Sustainability Director, Certifications & ComplianceJacobs
LEEDuser Expert
476 thumbs up
June 12, 2020 - 1:56 am
Hi Praveen,
First, I just found the glossary online (it's been online before, but sometimes as an excel file, sometimes in the Ref Guide, itself...), so that's exciting again. Here's the link for anyone else who may want to bookmark it:
https://www.usgbc.org/glossary
The definition there reads:
hardscape
the inanimate elements of the building landscaping. It includes pavement, roadways, stonewalls, wood and synthetic decking, concrete paths and sidewalks, and concrete, brick, and tile patios.
Pervious pavers will be counted as hardscape under this definition.
If you have vegetated or open-grid pavers, they're also hardscape, but are entered on a separate line in the actual documentation form.
For studying or really any other purpose, you can download working, sample versions of the credit forms from the Credit Library and play with them, or just see what's really asked for when you actually do a project. Just use the filters on the side of the page to narrow what you're looking for: https://www.usgbc.org/sampleforms