Our building will occupy a city block in Atlanta\'s Midtown district, which is currently undergoing a mid- to high-rise construction boom. The credit requirement includes "desired density goal". Everything about this area - zoning, subway, expressway access, multi-use, pedestrian streetscape - makes it desirable for high density. However, due to parking lots in the immediate vicinity of the site and previous demolition, the density of the 8 block area around the project block was only 52,511 sq. ft./acre when the project was registered for LEED certification. Planned construction will result in a density of 100,983 sq. ft./acre within the same 8 block area by the time our project is completed in the summer of 2003. Also, we are defining our LEED project as the building plus approximately 26% of a parking deck (and of the landscaped area around it), with the parking deck located in a block diagonally across from the building. We want to limit the area under consideration for this credit to the 8 blocks around the main building, without expanding it around the parking deck appendix, as the area past the parking deck consists of a 14 lane interstate and, across the interstate, a lower density campus. Please confirm that the 8 block area and the use of the 100,983 sq. ft./acre figure are acceptable for claiming the credit.
Your inquiry can be divided into two separate questions: 1. If planned construction in the area will result in sufficient density by the time the project is complete, then your application will reflect those changes and, based on your projections, achieve the credit requirements. Revise your calculations prior to submitting your final application. 2. Please refer to the LEED Reference Guide and LEED Calculator for the methodology to determine compliance. You may not have had access to the revised tools that better explain this credit. Although you cannot exempt the parking from the density boundary (based on a radius from the project site), you will find that public roads and right-of-ways are exempt (Reference Guide, p.22). In your case, the epicenter of the density boundary would be located in the center of the building AND parking parts of the project. Applicable Internationally.