The weather is turning cold here in southern Vermont. A friend just got chased off the Long Trail (which she was hiking from the Massachusetts to the Canadian borders) by 18 inches of snow on Killington. While the leaves are still turning here in the Connecticut River valley, it's time to start huddling up by the fire and thinking cozy thoughts.
This is a modified version of the Cooling Tower credits originally in LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance.
Provide the following:
This prerequisite and credit is a modified version of the process water credit originally available in LEED for Schools. This pilot credit is based on the prerequisite proposed for LEED 2012.
The amount of and access to clean water is becoming an increasingly significant issue in the United States and throughout the globe. Decreasing indoor and outdoor water consumption is a priority of the USGBC, and is usually cost effective for project teams. WaterSense provides valuable information to single family homes from their testing requirements.
Note: This pilot credit was closed for new registrations as of March 1, 2012.
USGBC is planning a three step approach toward chemicals of concern. This pilot credit is intended to be the first measure. The Safer Chemistry pilot credit acknowledges and supports contemporary and accepted knowledge about specific chemicals of concern that should be avoided.
Note: This pilot credit was closed for new registrations as of March 1, 2012.
Heat island effects in cities can increase summertime temperatures by 10 degrees or more, significantly increasing the cooling loads. LEED for Homes has always awarded credit for heat island reduction for both the roof and hardscapes. This is the first time that these two heat reduction measures (both under roof and hardscapes) are combined into a single credit.
Training the primary installation contractors before construction starts on the increased expectations and requirements of a LEED building should improve the quality of their installation, and the subsequent performance of the building.
USGBC’s Building Performance Partnership (BPP) engages commercial and residential LEED building owners and managers in an effort to optimize the performance of buildings through data collection, analysis and action. This partnership among USGBC and the thousands of LEED project owners will result in the population of a comprehensive green building performance database, enable standardization of reporting metrics and analytics, and establish new performance benchmarks.
Waste from demolition and remodeling accounts for a significant portion of what goes into landfill. Designing for future use and modifications can reduce the intrusiveness of renovations, significantly reducing the future waste.
