Our project is situated in Athens, Greece, where the neighborhood lacks a dedicated bicycle network, and the streets in the vicinity have a speed limit of 50 km/h. Given that there are no streets with a 40 km/h speed limit in Greece, we are curious about our eligibility to earn points within our chosen sustainability certification program.
I'll appreciate your answer,
Thank you very much
Paula Melton
Editorial DirectorBuildingGreen, Inc.
LEEDuser Moderator
183 thumbs up
October 11, 2023 - 3:23 pm
Tativek, would you want to ride a bike to this site? I don't think I would!
LEED is pretty flexible, but there is also a point at which it breaks. Your project cannot possibly meet the requirements of this credit unless you have the option to move it to a different neighborhood where bicycling is actually safe.
Since this credit is out of reach, I suggest not wasting your time trying to achieve it. Instead, consider refocusing on other credits that might work in your circumstances. Is your project near frequent public transit? If you have off-street parking, what are you doing to reduce the amount of parking? Are you providing EV chargers? What is the density, and are there important services near the site? Are you perhaps remediating a brownfield?
That list is just the options within the Location & Transportation category—which, by the way, has no prerequisites. I think it would be wise for your project team to go back to the drawing board and figure out what the owner or developer's sustainability vision for this project is. Once you understand that, which credits might align with that vision? And importantly, do any of the LEED minimum project requirements or prerequisites in other categories disqualify the project?
That's a more productive path to go down. Good luck!