One of our warehouse projects is the fifth phase of an existing development. Our project is basically infill on a site already served by infrastructure and is bordered on two sides by industrial buildings, on the third side by public roadway, with a river on the fourth side. The site was formerly farmland, so we don’t qualify for SScr1, but the area has long been zoned industrial and is jam packed with warehouses.
Our issue has to do with the difference between greenfield, undeveloped and previously developed. As part of our project scope, we are restoring a large buffer zone between our development and the river with native and adaptive vegetation and deeding it over to the City. It seems as if the project should be able to get credit for that restoration with respect to the intent of SScr5.1.
However, because we are former farmland, the site is technically undeveloped per Addendum. The implication is that undeveloped is the same as greenfield, in which case we would need to protect our greenfield from disturbance to comply with SScr5.1.
This makes no sense to us because the reality is that we have no actual greenfield to protect. The entire area is not in a natural state and is currently vegetated with monoculture. To restore it, we literally will have to rip out what is there and replace it with native/ adaptive vegetation.
The USGBC response to our question on this was, "site disturbance must be limited in the greenfield area, and native and adapted vegetation must be protected or restored for at least 50% (excluding the building footprint) of the previously developed site area."
Though the buffer area we are restoring would constitute at least 50% of the site, we can't comply because we can't limit site disturbance in the "greenfield" area that we are going to restore to actual greenfield. Does this make sense to anyone? Any suggestions?
Michelle Rosenberger
PartnerArchEcology
523 thumbs up
January 28, 2014 - 1:07 pm
FYI, after another run at GBCI, they have agreed that our site meets the intent of the credit, and we will proceed under Option 2 previously developed compliance for this credit only.