This credit includes the long-established LEED credit for Brownfield Redevelopment, while adding criteria to promote development within established historic districts, and in areas designated as priorities due to urban blight, for example.

OPTION 1. HISTORIC DISTRICT: SITE-SPECIFIC
OPTION 2. PRIORITY DESIGNATION: SITE-SPECIFIC

The cost of these sustainable site selection practices is not quantifiable within the scope of this study. However, selection of the site serves as a basis for site design and therefore has economic synergies with all other sustainable design strategies related to site priorities. There may be additional economic incentives available to support developing these types of sites.

OPTION 3. BROWNFIELD REMEDIATION

Even a clean site assumes some amount of excavation. On contaminated sites, the amount of soil removed varies depending on class and quantity of contamination. Brownfield
sites are typically less expensive to purchase than clean sites, and may even come with regulatory and tax incentives that make LEED a relatively minor factor in site selection.

These sites are often available in locations with developed infrastructure. Hazardous waste clean-up is costly; but some brownfield sites contain reusable site materials that may offset some of the landscaping budget.

Note that costs vary significantly by region and based on the distance from the site to the disposal center. 

Cost Synergies

Projects located in infill locations typically benefit from urban infrastructure, access to transit, and other amenities that can create synergies with other LEED credits.

All LT credits

All SS credits