We have a LEED-CS v2009 project in the heart of downtown LA: 2 blocks from a major Metro train hub, 4 blocks from one complete street with protected bike lanes and 3 blocks from another. 8 bus lines stop in front of the building.
I am writing the Tenant Guidelines and just realized that this excellent location and the way-more-then-required number of bike racks and showers that we provided are moot, because the rail lines and bike paths are not within 200 yards of the building entrance and none of those 8 buses run in dedicated lanes per the USGBC definition of bus rapid transit.
Now, 200 yards is shorter than our north-south blocks, and about 1.3x our crosstown blocks. We would need bike lanes every 2-3 blocks for most downtown tenants to access this credit.
This seems extreme; surely anyone who wanted to ride to work, or ride/train/ride would be willing to walk their bikes along the sidewalk for 2-3 short city blocks? Rather than encouraging better bike access, it seems that this level of restriction would dissuade tenants from providing showers and bike storage if they were not in one of the few locations that can provide this level of access.
Am I misinterpreting the requirements?
Marilyn Specht
Senior Principal | Director of Sustainability IntegrationSmithGroup
LEEDuser Expert
51 thumbs up
January 31, 2017 - 11:37 am
Hi Susan, yes I am running into similar issues with projects in meeting these prescriptive requirements. They have definitely raised the bar for this credit for v4. Are there any opportunities to connect your project to the existing bike paths? Perhaps the owner and the City can work together on this? I am sure you already have but if not, have you also thoroughly reviewed the definition for a bike network? Jut double checking there isn't anything in the following that you might be able to use for your project.
Bicycle network a continuous network consisting of any combination of the following:
· of-street bicycle paths or trails at least 8 feet (2.5 meters) wide for a two-way path and at least 5 feet (1.5 meters) wide for a one-way path
· physically designated on-street bicycle lanes at least 5 feet (1.5 meters) wide
· streets designed for a target speed of 25 mph (40 kmh)
If all else fails, I would encourage you to reach out to GBCI and discuss your project specifically, how you meet the credit intent, and how this is an ideal, dense, and urban location. Please report back if you find out anything else. Good luck!