I am looking for clarification on what is considered to be 'overhead vegetation.' Per the LEED v4 Reference Guide, "a minimum of 25% of outdoor space must be vegetated or have overhead vegetated canopy." Can the vegetated canopy simply be tree cover? If so, can the project team use projected canopy of the trees when mature to determine the vegetated space square footage? Or is this only referring to some sort of structure, i.e. a trellis with vegetation? Thanks for the help!
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Karin Miller
Senior Sustainability ManagerYR&G
33 thumbs up
March 26, 2015 - 12:01 pm
Hi Katie,
Yes, the LEED v4 reference guide specifically refers to trees and shrubs as overhead vegetated canopy (page 179). While the rating system and reference guide do not indicate the compliance path for using projected canopy, we can infer from other LEED rating systems (NDv4 Tree Lined and Shaded Streets and NCv2009 SSc7.1 Heat Island Effect - Non Roof ) that the estimated crown diameter should be used to determine vegetated space square footage. Please note that for the Protect and Restore Habitat credit, the project would need to ensure that ground level cover is also compliant to count the area.
Hope this helps!
Karin