Turf Grass - Yes or No?

As far as I know It counts as open space, but not as vegetated space.

Correct. 30% of the whole site needs to be pedestrian-oriented/ non-vehicular open space (not used for car/truck circulation or parking). Of that 30%, 25%, which is only 7.5% of the whole site, must hold to that stricter "vegetated space" standard. Also, I beleive that even if you have more that 30% of the overall site as qualifying open space, still, only that 7.5% needs to comply with the "vegetated space" standard. In other words, for a 100,000 SF site, at least 30,000 SF must be non-vehicular open space, and of that, at least 7,500 must be vegetated area.  If there is 40,000 SF of open space, still, only 7,500 SF needs to comply w/the vegetated space requirements.

Hi Marine,
There are 2 requirements in SSc3: Open Space credit. First is to provide outdoor space greater than or equal to 30% of the total site area. Second is at least 25% of that outdoor space must be vegetated.   For outdoor space areas, turf grass only can’t fulfill the LEED definition of outdoor space area. Outdoor space areas must be physically accessible and must have people and environmental benefits (refer to LEED guide page 177). Therefore, if the turf grass has people, is physically accessible, and has environmental benefits, it can be counted as total open space but does not qualify as vegetated open space.

Best regards – Afogreen Build Team