We have a project in a rural area sited on an existing farm. The project is very small in scale and will have a very small development footprint to preserve the land and to make as little impact as possible. The project is a learning center for the owner's adjacent farming operation. 96%+ of the existing farm will be farmed as usual, while 3-4% will be converted to the building and the gravel access drive to the building.
Considering the scale and purpose of the project, is compliance with SS Credit 1 at all possible? When considering the intent of the credit (such as not building an office park on a former potato field), I believe we are in compliance--but if I consider the strict language of the credit (do NOT build on prime farmland no matter what) then I tend to believe the project can not achieve this credit. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks very much for your input.
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Susann Geithner
PrincipalEmerald Built Environments
1297 thumbs up
July 8, 2011 - 1:33 pm
Unfortunately you do not meet the criteria of the credit even thought I understand your argument. You might want to submit an CIR in order to get an exception for your case. But one can also argue you could still not use actual farm land and do your project. Also make sure you are in compliance with the MPRs and the 2% for building footprint vs. site. It sound like you will be very close to the cutoff. Best of luck with your project.
Brooks Critchfield
PrincipalOpen Field Designs, Inc.
71 thumbs up
July 8, 2011 - 2:08 pm
Hi Susann--Thanks very much--I get your logic. Regarding your comment about MPR #7, the gross floor area of our project building is more than 2% of the gross land area within the project LEED boundary. Since we are impacting only a small percentage of the owner's property and literally not touching much of it, we will be drawing a reasonable LEED boundary that only includes that land impacted, and lands that are associated with/supports normal building operations. Thanks again!
Steve Loppnow
Sustainability Account ManagerStok
LEEDuser Expert
294 thumbs up
February 26, 2012 - 6:06 pm
If the project is on Prime Farmland, it sounds like the answer is no. Did you confirm that the farm is Prime Farmland against the referenced definition? If the credit is not critical to your score you can always submit and make your case, or submit a CIR to confirm your case prior to submittal.