Green roof and landscaping

That's a new one on me. I would be very surprised if live plants were allowed to count toward this credit. Doesn't mean that someone hasn't snuck them through at some point, but I wouldn't count on it, myself. Anyone have different info?

This seems like an interesting issue. In the past LEED versions, Division 32 90-Plantings was not included in the MR credits. However, 2009 has allowed Division 32 90. If projects received credit for past versions of LEED, it might have just been lucky with a reviewer. I also wouldn't count plants as a given. A CIR might be in order if they want a definite answer. While our firm has not tried to get credit for plants directly in the past, vegetative roofing is covered under Division 9, and we have received credit for the recycled content of the roof planting trays for a green roof.

Lisa, did you ever get any closure on your vegitative roof question? My first throught is that it wouldnt apply to this credit but when I look at the reference guide it seems to meet all of the requiremetns: the seedum is harvested in less than 10 years, roofing is within division 2-10, and the vegitative roof is a building system. The fact that its still alive doesnt meant that it isnt part of the building. Im a bit conflicted...

I would be very interested if vegetative roofs apply to this credit as well. I was about to ask the exact same question when I stumbled across this thread. I was prompted to ask because I recently attended a lunch by a green roof company and in their LEED benefits section of their brochure they are claiming that their product (plants) can count towards rapidly renewable materials. They say that, for the most part, their plants are grown and repeatedly harvested like bamboo. This could have a huge impact on several of our projects that have large areas of green roof, where we were not previously pursuing this credit due to lack of rapidly renewable materials.

It sounds absurd that one could claim points for plants but strangely I cannot think of a reason why. I do not see why this argument needs to be restricted to green roof alone. Why not include all plants, shrubs and turf purchased for ground landscaping? My logic is plants are not a building material. Plants simply add to the natural topography or replace the lost topography in case of green roofs. Plants are well accounted for in the site and water credits

not allowing leather because the animal is killed? I've been a vegetarian for 9 years but I think that is odd :) Not all leather comes from meat-producing cows either though. The reference guide states that rapidly renewable materials "are agricultural products, both fiber and animal, that take 10 years or less to grow or raise and can be harvested in a sustainable fashion." So if your leather comes from an animal that is raised in a sustainable fashion I would conisder it to meet the intent and definitions within this credit. The question then would be how to explain that the animals were raised "sustainably."

per LEED Interpretation #2549 I am going to personally start referring to this credit as the "Cruelty-Free Rapidly Renewable Materials Credit."