The intent of this credit is to conserve existing natural areas and restore damaged areas to provide habitat and promote biodiversity. The new county office building is consolidating a number of departments on a site with a substantial tree preservation area. The building footprint is 73,375 square feet. The platted dedicated open space on the site is 248,203 square feet. Of the 248,203 square feet of dedicated open space (tree preservation easement) 76,792 square feet for the requirements of this credit is platted starting 30 feet from the edge of the building footprint. The dedicated open space is contiguous on 2 of the 4 sides of the building. Question 1: Does this conform to your definition of adjacent or must the open space be contiguous to the building footprint? Question 2: If the open space does need to be contiguous, how much of the building does need to be contiguous to the open space (e.g. the entire building face along one side, 100 feet, etc.)?
The intent of having open space adjacent to the building is to promote convenient access to natural areas and to reinforce a connection with the outdoors. Since project sites come in all sizes and shapes, there are no definitive requirements which dictates how much open space should be contiguous to the building perimeter. From your description, it appears the new office building will be located in an area either with no local zoning requirements or the zoning requirements has no provisions dealing with minimum open space. If this building is in a campus setting, the open space does not need to be contiguous to the building but must be within the boundaries of the campus. If this building is not in a campus setting, the open space, at least equal to the building footprint,, does not have to be contiguous but must be within the LEED project/site boundary. Applicable internationally.