BMPs for steep slopes should address soil retention, but not water retention. These could include silt fencing and straw wattles, hydro seeding and stabilized mulching, geotextiles and mats, and most importantly, preservation of natural vegetation.
No. You must always do an ESC plan according to the credit requirements. We have yet to hear of a project that didn't have some issues to address. See the above section titled "Zero lot lines."
Usually the answer to this question is "maybe." There are very few preapproved innovation strategies (education is one of them—see above), so with all but a few it is hard to say definitively whether or not it will be approved on a LEED project. However, there are some reliable guidelines that any project should consider:
Thermostats alone do not meet this definition. LEED Interpretation 10242, issued 10/1/12, clarifies what is expected:
If your space shares a central HVAC plant you need to model the whole building. Consider using energy modeling software, like eQuest, that can separately account for the energy use of the base building separately from your project space by adding additional electricity and gas meters for each space within the model. This is easier and more accurate to model and more likely to be accepted by GBCI reviewers.
USGBC has published alternative compliance guidance for projects outside of the U.S. and outlines the following alternatives to the MERV 13 rating.
Equivalent filtration media Class F7 or higher, as defined by CEN Standard EN 779–2002, Particulate air filters for general ventilation, Determination of the filtration performance.Equivalent filtration media with a minimum duct spot efficiency of 80% or higher and greater than 98% arrestance on a particle size of 3–10μg.
This could work but the burden will be on your team to demonstrate that the filter combination is as good or better than MERV 13. Try focusing on the percent efficiency that the filter combination has for removing varying sizes of particles and compare that to the corresponding efficiency of MERV 13 filters.
In order to earn the credit, all of the filters have to be replaced with MERV 13 filters prior to the performance period.
Yes, the requirement for MERV 13 filtration for return air was removed with the November 2010 Addenda.
The total connected lighting power includes all hard-wired lighting within the interior project space. This does not include non-connected plug-in lighting that is not part of the overall lighting design.