Calculate the rough site area that you’ll need to restore. Is 50% of your site (minus building footprint) or 20% of the total site (including building footprint) larger?  Whichever is larger, you will need to restore an area of that size. Will this be feasible under the rough design? If you have a small site with a large building footprint, you may not be able to achieve the requirement. 

All projects (including urban projects with zero lot lines) must implement ongoing E&S controls on their sites, in addition to the controls employed during construction activities. Applications stating that ongoing E&S controls are not applicable to the site are routinely rejected during the LEED review process. Think about E&S in terms of what’s leaving your site and polluting receiving waters during both normal operations and construction projects.

Case 2: Previously Developed Sites

Adhering to the strict site disturbance parameters is challenging, so the general contractor needs to educate the subcontractors about these requirements and watch for any activities that could potentially fall outside of the limited boundary.  

The general contractor may charge an additional fee for meeting the credit requirements, as it requires the general contractor to monitor all site activities more closely than they would on a conventional project.  

You must address two scenarios related to erosion and sedimentation (E&S) controls to earn this credit:

regular, ongoing maintenance of permanent controls;
and temporary controls implemented during construction activities.

The general contractor is responsible for executing the plan for minimal site disturbance and verifying that the credit requirements and site parameters were attained. Incorporate adherence to these requirements in contractual language or in the project specifications and plan, as this credit requires more than standard practice, and you need to be sure contractors fully understand the requirements for credit compliance. 

Consider the slope of your site. A steeply sloped site may mean that the required minimum buffer areas don’t leave enough room for construction vehicles. 

Create a site plan with the required buffer areas (see credit language). You may decide to alter the site plan to accommodate the designated boundary of site disturbance. For example, you may find that keeping sidewalks (which have a 10-foot buffer) within the 40-foot buffer of the building when possible will make sidewalk construction easier, because construction vehicles will have more room to maneuver. 

Erosion and sedimentation (E&S) control