The applicant is requesting guidance and direction regarding a proposed Innovation and Design credit for the re-alignment and re-meandering of an existing creek that borders the project\'s campus boundaries, a strategy which does not have precedent in LEED. It is possible, however, for stream restoration to be an alternative compliance path to meet Sustainable Sites Credit 5.1, Protect or Restore Habitat or, potentially, an Innovation and Design credit for exemplary performance within this credit. For innovation or exemplary performance strategies that are not currently covered in the reference guide, there are three basic criteria (please refer to the complete guidelines in the LEED-NC v2.2 Reference Guide). The project must demonstrate quantitative performance improvements, the process or specification must be comprehensive, and the formula that the project develops must be applicable to other projects. The proposed strategy does appear to be comprehensive, however, is not quantitative and may not be applicable to other projects. The project team is encouraged to further develop their strategy. Stream habitat quality is typically measured through use of state and federal guidelines describing common indicators and measuring criteria. The most readily identifiable indicators and criteria address stream bank stability, the presence of pools and riffles, and the extent of stream vegetation cover. Suggesting documentation for capturing an ID credit through this strategy include a stream monitoring plan to address these issues. Also, the project team is encouraged to seek out references such as the USGS WRI Report 98-4052 Revised Methods for Characterizing Stream Habitat in the National Water-Quality Assessment Program.