The Emerson Unitarian Church campus consists of two existing buildings and a new educational building that is going for LEED certification. The church would like to establish a policy that they maintain open space on the campus that is equal to the area of building footprint on campus. Any new construction on campus would have to be offset by an equal area of designated open space on campus. The open space would have to be preserved as such for the lifetime of the building whose footprint it offsets. Does the adoption of this policy satisfy the requirements for SS Credit 5.2? Does it exceed the requirements of SS Credit 5.2 sufficiently to be acceptable as an innovation credit as well?
If no local zoning requirements apply to the campus, then (as stated in SSc5.2) designate open space that is equal to the area of the building footprint. If there are local zoning requirements, you will need to provide documentation demonstrating that you are exceeding local zoning requirements for open space by at least 25%. SSc5.1 CIR dated 9/2/2003 addresses opportunities to cluster open space in a campus setting and may be applicable as reference. Establishment of a policy does not warrant an innovation credit. An innovation credit is possible if the threshold for SSc5.2 compliance is doubled. Applicable internationally.