Is anyone else finding this combined heat island credit much easier to get than expected? Given that the thresholds were raised for non-roof paving SR, I understood that additives to lighten concrete would most often be necessary. With the weighted area calculation we are finding projects with normal grey concrete and 100% high SRI roofs are earning the credit in spades. This is because the weighted area of qualifying high-reflective roof reflects the extra roof area beyond 75% and the SRI value above 78, giving projects credit for 10% to 15% more roof area. Meanwhile, the .26 initial SR value of grey concrete still contributes but a discounted rate that is about 15%-20% reduction of the total area. I like that this methodology is more performance oriented, allowing projects to trade off areas and get partial credit for the reflective properties materials have, even if they don't meet the threshold, but it is not driving projects to change much. Only one of these projects has been through design review so far so I thought I'd get some LEED User feedback on your experiences. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
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Matthew Kaplan
CEOReVireo
November 16, 2018 - 1:00 pm
I agree with your analysis and am curious about others experiences as well.
Greg Romanczyk
EXP18 thumbs up
December 7, 2018 - 9:20 am
Same here
Marisa Britton
Sustainable Design Consulting, LLC1 thumbs up
December 7, 2018 - 10:22 am
I was disappointed to find that permeable pavers are not given a higher weighting in the LEED calculation. Particularly when the permeable paver is more permeable/ open, at instances where it is >75%.
And funny enough, if I were to instead enter the area of the permeable pavers in the calculation as a light-colored hardscape (ie. white concrete), I would actually get MORE credit for using a light-colored hardscape material, then I would get for using a permeable pavement system. That does not make a lot of sense.
In general, vegetation contributes to the largest reduction of heat island, and aids with stormwater control. I think it is a mistake for LEED to not provide a higher weight to permeable systems, particularly those which greater openness and with vegetation.