11/03/06 Credit Interpretation Request for Daycare Center Rather than simply building our project within a 1/2 mile of a Day Care Center - one of the basic services listed to help meet the requirements of SSc2, Option 2 -- our project is incorporating a Day Care Facility into its design. The Day Care will also include a dedicated outdoor play area. Enrollment in the Day Care Center will be available to all children -- whether they\'re connected to building occupants or not. Drawings & specifications can be provided upon request to show design details of the Center & its associated outdoor play area. In addition, a tenant lease agreement between the Owner and a Day Care Provider is pending, though it had not been secured as of this writing. We feel the design & construction of a basic service into our project exceeds the LEED requirements for SSc2, as we\'re providing a service to the community that has the potential to increase Community Connectivity and facilitate the achievement of SSc2 for other (future) projects within the 1/2 mile radius that decide to pursue LEED. If we can demonstrate that we met the requirements of SSc2 either using Option 1 or, if Option 2, that Day Care was NOT one of the 10 Basic Services counted to meet the credit -- would our design strategy be considered an innovation in design?
Although incorporating mixed-use services in a building is desirable, it is not considered innovative. A project cannot achieve an innovation credit based on the services provided within a building. LEED NC v2.1 CIR ruling dated 7/10/06, revised 11/14/06, outlines the following threshold requirements for exemplary performance in SSc2: The project must first meet either the requirements of SSc2 in LEED-NC v2.1 or Option 1 of SSc2 (density path) in LEED-NC v2.2. Additionally, the project must meet one of the two following requirements: a) The project itself must have a density of at least double that of the average density within the calculated area (see equation 2). OR b) The average density within an area twice as large as that for the base credit achievement must be at least 120,000 square feet per acre. To double the area, use equation 2 but double the property area first. Applicable Internationally.