Batya Metalitz
USGBC
Technical Director, LEED
Pilot-Credits SSpc45: Site assessment
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Credit language
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Intent
To assess site conditions prior to design in order to evaluate sustainable options and inform related decisions about site design.
Pilot Credit Closed
This pilot credit was closed to new pilot credit registrations on 3/1/2015. It is now available in the LEED Innovation Catalog for ongoing use by project teams as an innovation point rather than a pilot credit.Requirements
Complete and document a site survey/assessment that includes the following information:
- Topography: Contour mapping, unique topographic features, slope stability risks;
- Hydrology: 100-year floodplain, delineated wetlands, lakes, streams, shorelines, rain/storm water collection/reuse opportunities, TR-551 initial water storage capacity of the site, or local equivalent outside the U.S.;
- Climate: Solar exposure, heat island effect potential, and seasonal sun angles, prevailing winds, monthly precipitation and temperature ranges;
- Vegetation: Primary vegetation types, greenfield area, significant tree mapping, threatened or endangered species, unique habitat, invasive plants;
- Soils: NRCS soils delineation2, USDA prime farmland3, healthy soils, previous development disturbed soils;
- Human Use: Views, adjacent transportation infrastructure, adjacent properties,existing recycle/reuse of potential construction materials;
- Human Health Impacts: proximity of vulnerable populations, adjacent physical activity opportunities, proximity to large sources of air pollution.
1 TR-55 (Technical Release 55) is an approach to hydrology that includes many techniques used to model watersheds including procedures to calculate storm runoff volume, peak rate of discharge, hydrographs, and storage volumes (USDA Soil Conservation Service).
2 A NRCS soils delineation is a soil survey developed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service that shows the boundaries of different soil types and special soil features on the site.
3 USDA prime farmland is defined by the NRCS as land that has the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oilseed crops and that is available for these uses.
General Pilot Documentation Requirements
Register for the pilot credit- Participate in the LEEDuser pilot credit forum
- Complete the feedback survey:
Credit specific
Submit the completed Site Assessment Worksheet with relevant project information (both narrative descriptions and maps, as applicable). Include additional topics not listed, if any, and provide reasons for not addressing certain topics. The Site Assessment submittals should clearly demonstrate how the site features informed the choice of site as well as the ongoing design and construction of the project. The Site Assessment Worksheet can be found under Resources.Additional questions
- To what extent does your firm and/or your project teams already conduct site assessments that include this information?
- The goal of this credit is to assess site conditions prior to design in order to evaluate sustainable options and inform related decisions about site and building design. Do you believe that these requirements achieve this intent? Why or why not?
- Did you encounter difficulties in gathering the information for the site assessment? If so, in what ways?
Changes from last version:
- Changes made for 3rd Public Comment (03/01/2012): Incorporated global language into the requirements Added user-generated pilot credit recommendations, including: heat island effect potential adjacent properties assessment of potential human health impacts Updated Site Assessment Worksheet – worksheet for pre-March 2012 projects can be found under resources
- 11/15/2013: Updated Site Assessment Worksheet with LEED v4 final worksheet
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.
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Documentation toolkit
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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.
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LEEDuser overview
Frank advice from LEED experts
LEED is changing all the time, and every project is unique. Even seasoned professionals can miss a critical detail and lose a credit or even a prerequisite at the last minute. Our expert advice guides our LEEDuser Premium members and saves you valuable time.
For full access, sign up now for LEEDuser Premium
Already a premium member? Log in now
Credit language
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Intent
To assess site conditions prior to design in order to evaluate sustainable options and inform related decisions about site design.
Pilot Credit Closed
This pilot credit was closed to new pilot credit registrations on 3/1/2015. It is now available in the LEED Innovation Catalog for ongoing use by project teams as an innovation point rather than a pilot credit.Requirements
Complete and document a site survey/assessment that includes the following information:
- Topography: Contour mapping, unique topographic features, slope stability risks;
- Hydrology: 100-year floodplain, delineated wetlands, lakes, streams, shorelines, rain/storm water collection/reuse opportunities, TR-551 initial water storage capacity of the site, or local equivalent outside the U.S.;
- Climate: Solar exposure, heat island effect potential, and seasonal sun angles, prevailing winds, monthly precipitation and temperature ranges;
- Vegetation: Primary vegetation types, greenfield area, significant tree mapping, threatened or endangered species, unique habitat, invasive plants;
- Soils: NRCS soils delineation2, USDA prime farmland3, healthy soils, previous development disturbed soils;
- Human Use: Views, adjacent transportation infrastructure, adjacent properties,existing recycle/reuse of potential construction materials;
- Human Health Impacts: proximity of vulnerable populations, adjacent physical activity opportunities, proximity to large sources of air pollution.
1 TR-55 (Technical Release 55) is an approach to hydrology that includes many techniques used to model watersheds including procedures to calculate storm runoff volume, peak rate of discharge, hydrographs, and storage volumes (USDA Soil Conservation Service).
2 A NRCS soils delineation is a soil survey developed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service that shows the boundaries of different soil types and special soil features on the site.
3 USDA prime farmland is defined by the NRCS as land that has the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oilseed crops and that is available for these uses.
General Pilot Documentation Requirements
Register for the pilot credit- Participate in the LEEDuser pilot credit forum
- Complete the feedback survey:
Credit specific
Submit the completed Site Assessment Worksheet with relevant project information (both narrative descriptions and maps, as applicable). Include additional topics not listed, if any, and provide reasons for not addressing certain topics. The Site Assessment submittals should clearly demonstrate how the site features informed the choice of site as well as the ongoing design and construction of the project. The Site Assessment Worksheet can be found under Resources.Additional questions
- To what extent does your firm and/or your project teams already conduct site assessments that include this information?
- The goal of this credit is to assess site conditions prior to design in order to evaluate sustainable options and inform related decisions about site and building design. Do you believe that these requirements achieve this intent? Why or why not?
- Did you encounter difficulties in gathering the information for the site assessment? If so, in what ways?
Changes from last version:
- Changes made for 3rd Public Comment (03/01/2012): Incorporated global language into the requirements Added user-generated pilot credit recommendations, including: heat island effect potential adjacent properties assessment of potential human health impacts Updated Site Assessment Worksheet – worksheet for pre-March 2012 projects can be found under resources
- 11/15/2013: Updated Site Assessment Worksheet with LEED v4 final worksheet
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.
For full access, sign up now for LEEDuser Premium
Already a premium member? Log in now
Guest expert
Batya Metalitz
USGBC
Technical Director, LEED