NORTH BAY – The U.S. Green Building Council released details on regional “bonus points” available as part of the major 2009 revision to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green-building standards.
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“They are not going to be new credits,” said Elizabeth Durney, senior green-building consultant for Kema Sustainable Buildings and Operations and vice president of the council’s Redwood Empire chapter. “They are just extra points available to emphasize the importance of pursuing certain measures because they are of high concern in the project’s local area.”
During the formulation of the LEED 2009 update, also known as LEED Version 3, the council consulted with its chapters and regional councils on important local factors.
Project designers don’t need to attempt additional points in vying for regional priority credits. LEED 2009 is now administered through an online system that automatically figures out which priority credits are available based on a project’s primary ZIP code, which may need to be added to the council’s database.
For example, a standing building in the Napa 94558 ZIP code vying for certification under the Existing Buildings rating system can earn up to four bonus points from six possibilities:
• Reduce conventional commuting trips by half. The Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency recently calculated that more than half of Napa Valley’s greenhouse-gas emissions come from transportation, specifically passenger vehicles.
• Cool the “heat island” effect by shading half the site’s parking lots and sidewalks or using reflective material.
• Cut fresh-water use for irrigation by 75 percent.
• Upgrade building energy efficiency to an EPA Energy Star 85 rating.
• Produce 7.5 percent of a building’s power needs via renewable energy or purchase 62.5 percent of the power from certified renewable sources.
• Reuse, recycle or compost 50 percent to 70 percent of the waste generated.
Regional priority credits are available only for LEED 2009-registered projects. The council is allowing projects registered under previous versions of LEED to transition to a corresponding LEED 2009 rating system with an additional registration fee through the end of this year. New projects will be required to register under LEED 2009 as of June 27.
In other LEED news, the U.S. Green Building Council is taking comments on a second draft of its pilot Neighborhood Development rating system through June 14.
The pilot program began in summer 2007 and includes local projects such as Shiloh Sustainable Village in Windsor, Sonoma Mountain Village in Rohnert Park, Angwin Eco-Village in Angwin and the Napa Pipe redevelopment south of Napa. The latter recently received pre-review certification.
For more information on the regional credits, call the Redwood Empire chapter at 707-543-6244. To download the list of ZIP code-specific regional priority credits, visit www.usgbc.org/leed2009.
