I am working on a Retail:CI project and we are attempting the documentation for the SSc2 Option 2. In the credit form on LEEDOnline, it is asking for a Unit/Acre calculation to be entered in a green box. The point says it requires "the project space is located in a building that is within 1/2 mile of a residential zone or neighborhood with an average density of 10 units per acre net..." I am not clear on how to verify this and to calculate it. Any help would be much appreciated. For reference, I am aware of the second part of option 2 that requires the 10 basic services. I have already documented this part of the point. Thanks for your help.

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Kimberly Frith

LEEDuser Basic Member

210 thumbs up

Wed, 07/20/2011 - 12:48

Kory - one quick & simple way would be to go into Google Earth and mark out the 1/2 mile radius from your project site. If you notice any residential multi-story complexes such as high-rise condos or even low-rise apartments this is your best bet - it can be hard to comply with the 10 units/acre with a typical subdivision filled with single-family homes and standard sized yards. Zoom in on the residential area and take an area measurement of the property to get the acreage of the complex. To get the number of dwelling units, you could look up the complex's phone number and call the front desk/rental office. That's the simplest way I've found. Good luck!

Kory Beighle

Principal

Sensible Green

LEEDuser Basic Member

9 thumbs up

Fri, 08/12/2011 - 14:14

Thanks for the help. I have one question to clerify. The approach you are talking about is just looking at the one building. Given the language I am looking at, it say "the project space is located in a building that is within 1/2 mile of a residential zone or neighborhood with an average density of 10 units per acre net..." In this language, can I define residential zone as a single apartment building? If there is more than one residential area within the 1/2 mile do I have to consider the whole thing a residential zone? In addition to the GoogleEarth strategy you suggested, isn't some of this information a matter of public record? Would someone like a city planning department or a county auditor's office be able to help in any way? Finally, if I were to go the other route toward Option 1 and were to try and find SFs, how would I go about doing that?

David Posada

Integrated Design & LEED Specialist

SERA Architects

LEEDuser Expert

1361 thumbs up

Thu, 09/29/2011 - 16:54

It seems reasonable for single apartment building to count for the residential requirement if the number of units and it's site area meet the 10 dwelling units per acre (DUA) ratio. True, in some cities, this kind of information is easy to access on line from the city or planning department's website, but not all cities make this kind of GIS data easily accessible on line. You could try calling the planning department to see if they'll give you the information you need. To your final question, we've typically gotten the building and site area data for buildings from land use data that was available online from the city GIS or planning department.

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