Dear All,
We are certifying a new development that is using existing soils to rearrange exterior green areas. The existing soils were removed from site, properly stored, and replaced on site. Want kind of evidence shall be provided to demonstrate compliance with credit requirements?
Do we need to test soils in the existing condition and the post-construction condition, once they are the same?
Thanks in advance
Hanna Oberg
Sustainability consultantWSP Sverige
November 13, 2019 - 8:58 am
I have the same question. Anyone who have reused the soil for their project?
Ricardo Sá
Director of SustainabilityEdifícios Saudáveis Consultores (503 910 767)
85 thumbs up
November 14, 2019 - 5:02 am
Hi Hanna,
We already received an answer from GBCI, that follows:
Any soil restoration that occurs must comply with the "Soil Restoration" section of the LEED v4 credit guidance, including the parameters identified in Table 2, and yes this generally requires identifying a reference soil (or testing of the existing soil) and testing of the soil after restoration is complete.
However, LEED v4.1 credit substitutions are available for any and all credits for v4 BD+C and ID+C projects. Please refer to the Beta Guide at this link (link: https://new.usgbc.org/leed-v41#bdc). The requirements for this credit have changed for LEED v4.1, and testing of existing on-site soil is not required. The project team should be prepared to document the temporary stockpile location of the soil. From your email it sounds like the soil will be trucked outside of the LEED Project Boundary, so there could be some confusion as to what soil returns to the site. This might be something the reviewers will inquire more about during the review, so the team might want to be prepared. Any soil that is considered "imported" (i.e. foreign to the site) would require testing as outlined in the updated LEED v4.1 Reference Guide.
Hope that helps,
Regards