Schematic Design

Look at opportunities to use recycled content materials for the project’s potential “big ticket” items.

The need to accommodate future stormwater management needs may increase costs, especially if the project is pursuing one or both of the stormwater credits. Either you will need to include extra stormwater infrastructure in the current design to accommodate future development, or plan on adding infrastructure later, which could be less cost-effective in the long run than over-sizing it now. 

Generally, you don’t need to anticipate additional hard costs with this credit; however, the time required to develop the

Develop a flexible site master plan that accommodates a number of scenarios, unanticipated changes, and recalculations down the line. 

This credit is documentation-intensive — the design team and the owner need to be prepared to incorporate the four credit requirements into the

The

If possible, develop the site master plan in conjunction with the current project design.

On the other hand, documenting recalculations for the following credits can be much more difficult:

The four easiest credits to document—assuming you know in the early planning stages that your project will attempt this credit—are: 

• SSc1: Site Selection; 
• SSc5.1: Site Development—Protect or Restore Habitat; 
• SSc5.2: Site Development—Maximize Open Space; and 
• SSc7.1: Heat Island Effect—Nonroof.

Determine which four of the seven applicable credits are best suited for your project. Your choices might change as credits are defined and the project progresses, but it is helpful to keep a certain set of credits in mind as you run calculations and develop the existing site plan and future master plan. You must earn these four credits in your current design and the future master plan. See each of these credit pages on LEEDuser for more details on the requirements and calculations.