Page 117 - The Engineering Guide to LEED-New Construction Sustainable Construction for Engineers

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multistory food stores in urban areas, some with elevators for the transport of the carts.
Although this practice is an unlikely one in the current culture of the United States, a
retail food store could be very easily built with other businesses or offices on higher
stories and the credit be attained. Why would we want to obtain both of these types of
credits (SSc2 and SSc5) in dense urban areas? Dense urban areas and open space are not
mutually exclusive, and the combination of both provides for access to infrastructure
and a better environment for the human inhabitants.
Some of the credits should be evaluated together with respect to cost for the credit,
as many of the design changes may facilitate obtaining other credits. A very good
example is presented by the SSc5 credits which encourage more native vegetation and
more open space. If these are sought, then they may also facilitate obtaining SSc6.1 and
SSc6.2 as many vegetated spaces promote better stormwater management and can
improve the quality of the runoff. It may also help in keeping the urban heat island
effect to a minimum. If these specially landscaped areas are placed at certain perimeter
locations, they can also aid in obtaining SSc8 by reducing lighting needs in these
locations and help obtain SSc1, Site Selection, if the locations are where the development
footprint is restricted. In addition, these same design options can aid in obtaining a
Water Efficiency credit which encourages reduced use of potable water for irrigation as
many native vegetation areas need little or no additional irrigation. In summary, taking
care to design a preliminary plan with special landscape features at specific locations
may at a minimum impact the following credits:

• SSc1 Site Selection
• SSc5.1 Habitat
• SSc5.2 Open Space
• SSc6.1 Stormwater Quantity
• SSc6.2 Stormwater Quality
• SSc7.1 Heat Island (non-roof)
• SSc8 Light Pollution
• WEc1 Water Efficient Landscaping
It was discussed earlier that site area and site boundaries are variables that are
important for several credits which should be established early in the design process
and used consistently for credit applications. Some other important items to establish
early in the design phase are occupancies. These include employees and transient
occupancies for commercial uses and design occupancies for residential facilities. These
occupancies are not the maximum occupancies that are used for evaluation by fire
marshals and other safety purposes. These ones are the expected normal occupancies of
the facilities.

References
ACEEE (2007), http://www.aceee.org/, American Council for an Energy Efficient
Economy website accessed May 14, 2007.
ACEEE (2007), http://www.greenercars.com, American Council for an Energy Efficient
Economy website for green car listings accessed May 14, 2007.