Dear All,
We are currently working on a five storey office building and instead of going to a vegetated roof we are planning to have plant troughs all around the building in every level. Our project is located in an urban area and land is a previously developed one. Native/adapted vegetation will be incorporated in all the plant troughs. So, I would like to know whether this approach will be eligible for credit compliance.
Thanks!
Samantha Harrell
LEED Project Reviewer certificate holder115 thumbs up
April 9, 2012 - 8:20 am
Hi KC,
I suggest evaluating this approach using information from the Reference Guide, both the credit Intent and this information from the Implementation and O&M sections: "Research the bird and insect species that are likely to use the roof and select plants that will provide food, forage, or nesting areas. Vegetated roofs that lack a diversity of habitat-providing species types and plant sizes do not meet the intent of the credit....Avoid plantings that will harbor pest populations near the building shell." The troughs may be accepted if you explain to the reviewer how the troughs achieve these goals. Additionally, LEED Interpretation 1511 states that when including a green roof in the calculations for this credit, the requirement is 20% of the TOTAL site area (including building footprint). I expect this requirement would also apply to the troughs. Consider submitting a project-specific CIR.