Why build an Olympic-sized swimming pool at your school if there’s already one in the neighborhood? Will you have a playing field that the Little League can use when school isn’t in session? What about a parking lot that the farmer’s market could use on weekends?

The purpose of this credit is to build community by sharing school resources with non-school groups, and vice versa. Sharing spaces and services among schools and other community entities can cut down on construction costs and operating expenses, while helping everyone get access to resources they need.

This prerequisite is typically very easy for projects to achieve. Teams are required to conduct a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) to determine if the site is contaminated. This assessment involves a site visit by a trained professional who will conduct interviews and examine the historical uses of the property. While this kind of assessment is not standard practice everywhere, it’s becoming more common. Some commercial real estate lenders may even require it.

This credit is ideal for school projects that are considering future development under a long-term master site plan. Projects where no future development is planned are not eligible for this credit.

Success in achieving this credit is all about balancing building energy performance with the spatial and renewable energy resources of the site—and balancing the upfront costs of renewable energy with long-term utility bill savings.

Success in achieving this credit is all about balancing building energy performance with the spatial and renewable energy resources of the site—and balancing the upfront costs of renewable energy with long-term utility bill savings. 

This credit is all about designing for thermal comfort and then providing controls for occupants to continue to adjust conditions to meet their own needs.

Teams should prepare design calculations based on one of the three thermal comfort standards cited in the credit language. Calculations must take into consideration operative temperature (or the combination of air and mean radiant temperatures), humidity, airspeed at the occupant level from air diffusers, metabolic rates based on activity, and clothing levels based on seasonality and building type.

This credit is all about designing for thermal comfort, and then providing controls for occupants to continue to adjust conditions to meet their own needs.

Teams should prepare design calculations based on one of the three thermal comfort standards cited in the credit language. Calculations must take into consideration airspeed at the occupant level from air diffusers, metabolic rates based on activity, clothing levels based on seasonality and building type, and delivered air temperature.

This v4.1 credit offers a number of options for reducing a project’s parking footprint.

Option 1

One approach to this option is simple: don’t provide off-street parking.

For the second approach, parking capacity cannot exceed minimum local code compliance, and total parking capacity must be a 30% reduction below base ratios listed in the Reference Guide.

For all projects, parking capacity cannot exceed minimum local code compliance. If new or existing parking is provided in your project, at least 5% of the spaces must be reserved as preferred parking for carpools. Additionally, your total parking capacity must be a percentage reduction below the base ratios recommended by the Parking Consultants Council.