LEEDuser’s viewpoint
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Post your questions on this credit in the forum, and click on the credit language tab to review to the LEED requirements.
Credit language
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
To take advantage of the educational value of the green building features of a project and to earn a LEED point, any approach should be actively instructional. Two of the following three elements must be included in the educational program:
- A comprehensive signage program built into the building's spaces to educate the occupants and visitors of the benefits of green buildings. This program may include windows to view energy-saving mechanical equipment or signs to call attention to water-conserving landscape features.
- The development of a manual, guideline or case study to inform the design of other buildings based on the successes of this project.
- An educational outreach program or guided tour could be developed to focus on sustainable living, using the project as an example.
Additional guidance
- Must include comprehensive (address at least one credit or prerequisite in each category applied to the project) information about the LEED strategies used in the building/tenant space in each traditional component.
- Must be information about the LEED project under review. (For instance a CI project cannot use the docs from the base building LEED cert.)
- Suggested options with suggested supporting documentation: a signage program (electronic examples), a case-study (pdf of the hardcopy), guided tours (a script and our stop description drawing), an educational outreach program (detailed narrative and supporting document), and/or a website (pdf of the website) or electronic newsletter pdf of the hardcopy).
- If the project team has a strategy that has an educational quality that differs from the above information, it can be included as one of the two required components of an educational program and will be evaluated upon its merits. Also provide documentation demonstrating the development of a second component, such as a signage program, a case-study, guided tours, an educational outreach program, and/or a website or electronic newsletter.
- Projects using the Arc platform for a Performance Score, must provide the following:
- Screenshot of the project’s performance score in the Arc platform and a photograph of the performance score display and any related signage
- Copy of the signed Green Business Certification Inc. services agreement from the Arc platform
- Document a second component of green education from the options above
What does it cost?
Cost estimates for this credit
On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.
Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.
This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.
Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »Frequently asked questions
See all forum discussions about this credit »Addenda
Can a project earn ID credit for being in a LEED ND neighborhood? What level of certification or stage or review must the project have completed?
Yes, a project can earn ID credit for being in a LEED for Neighborhood Development certified project. The LEED-ND project must be certified, not just registered. LEED-ND projects at any certification level (Certified through Platinum) and any stage of certification (Stage 1, 2, or 3) are eligible.
**Update October 1, 2013 - The ruling below is no longer valid for project registered after 7/1/2013. As many prerequisites and credits within LEED-ND and LEED-NC address similar concepts, simply locating a NC project within LEED-ND neighborhood is not considered innovative and in some cases, can lead to double-counting the use of the same strategy in both Rating Systems.
Fly Ash Blended Cement We are looking to score one innovation credit for the use of fly ash blended cement. However, we are looking to use approximately 10% of normal, non-blended cement (300 cy out of a total of 3,000 cy)due to coordination and timing issues. If we then use approximately 90% blended cement, would we still be eligible for the innovation credit?
To achieve an environmental benefit, it is critical that fly-ash REPLACE cement content, not just be added as a filler. Adding fly-ash to a concrete mix without reducing cement content has only limited advantages to the environment. It is unclear from the question whether the project is actually off-setting cement use. The Credit Ruling Committee has suggested that a 40% REPLACEMENT of cement with fly-ash would qualify for an innovation credit. Lower levels of fly-ash use are more typical, and would not be considered innovative enough to warrant an innovation point. Note that there are many complexities of fly-ash use with respect to concrete strength requirements that factor into the discussion of what constitutes an innovation. Regardless of the percent used, fly-ash content would count toward MR Credit 4; Recycled Content Materials.Modification Note as of July 1st, 2012: The applicability of this LEED Interpretation has been modified to indicate that it is applicable to LEED 2009 projects. However, USGBC and GBCI will be phasing this Innovation strategy out. While this strategy is acceptable for LEED 2009 it will not be acceptable for LEED 2012 because the environmental benefit(s) of replacing cement with alternative cementitious material will be captured in available credits. Applicable Internationally.
Documentation toolkit
The motherlode of cheat sheets
LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit is loaded with calculators to help assess credit compliance, tracking spreadsheets for materials, sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions, and examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects for you to check your work against. To get your plaque, start with the right toolkit.
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Requirements
To take advantage of the educational value of the green building features of a project and to earn a LEED point, any approach should be actively instructional. Two of the following three elements must be included in the educational program:
- A comprehensive signage program built into the building's spaces to educate the occupants and visitors of the benefits of green buildings. This program may include windows to view energy-saving mechanical equipment or signs to call attention to water-conserving landscape features.
- The development of a manual, guideline or case study to inform the design of other buildings based on the successes of this project.
- An educational outreach program or guided tour could be developed to focus on sustainable living, using the project as an example.
Additional guidance
- Must include comprehensive (address at least one credit or prerequisite in each category applied to the project) information about the LEED strategies used in the building/tenant space in each traditional component.
- Must be information about the LEED project under review. (For instance a CI project cannot use the docs from the base building LEED cert.)
- Suggested options with suggested supporting documentation: a signage program (electronic examples), a case-study (pdf of the hardcopy), guided tours (a script and our stop description drawing), an educational outreach program (detailed narrative and supporting document), and/or a website (pdf of the website) or electronic newsletter pdf of the hardcopy).
- If the project team has a strategy that has an educational quality that differs from the above information, it can be included as one of the two required components of an educational program and will be evaluated upon its merits. Also provide documentation demonstrating the development of a second component, such as a signage program, a case-study, guided tours, an educational outreach program, and/or a website or electronic newsletter.
- Projects using the Arc platform for a Performance Score, must provide the following:
- Screenshot of the project’s performance score in the Arc platform and a photograph of the performance score display and any related signage
- Copy of the signed Green Business Certification Inc. services agreement from the Arc platform
- Document a second component of green education from the options above
