LEED^® for Landscape Architects

Isaac Ray Treatment Center - As the first LEED-certified project constructed by the State of Indiana, this facility was truly designed around the patient's experience. Learn more...

Providence Shoppes - Loft apartments over ground-level retail and cafes enhance the Providence traditional neighborhood development while minimizing environmental impacts. The project is currently seeking LEED certification. Learn more...

Summary of LEED v2.2 Credits Involving Site Issues

Sustainable Sites credit 5.1: Site Development, Protect or Restore Habitat – There are different approaches to either greenfield sites or previously developed sites, the latter being where a Landscape Architect comes into play. For previously developed sites, 1 point is awarded for restoring/protecting a minimum of 50% (75% gets an extra point) of the site area (excluding the building footprint) with native or adapted vegetation. Besides submitting calculations to prove the percentages, the team must also submit a site landscape plan including planting materials.

Sustainable Sites credit 5.2: Site Development, Maximize Open Space – The intent of this credit is to provide a high ratio of open space to development footprint to promote biodiversity, and there are 3 options for obtaining the credit. A landscape plan must be submitted with the vegetated open space highlighted to support the ratio calculations.

Sustainable Sites credits 6.1 & 6.2: Stormwater Design, Quantity Control (6.1) and Quality Control (6.2) – These two credits are mostly engineering and require no documentation that would typically be generated by the Landscape Architect, but because many of the strategies discussed as alternatives to stormwater management involve plant materials and open space (bioswales, rain gardens, green roofs, etc.), coordination between the engineer and Landscape Architect is crucial.

Sustainable Sites credit 7.1: Heat Island Effect, Non-Roof – Option 1 of this credit involves providing 50% (100% for an extra point) of the site hardscape with any combination of shade (within 5 yrs of occupancy), high solar reflectance index values (light colored), or open grid pavement system (50% pervious or greater). Required documentation includes site drawings that highlight the location of specific paving materials, landscape shading and/or underground or covered parking. Plant material here is critical to demonstrate shading at 5 years out.

Sustainable Sites credit 7.2: Heat Island Effect, Roof – One of the options for this credit is to install a vegetated roof for at least 50% (100% bonus point) of the roof area. A Landscape Architect may or may not get involved with a green roof, but no landscape drawings are required for the credit, hence the Landscape Architect’s role is minimal during the submittal process.

Sustainable Sites credit 8: Light Pollution Reduction – This credit includes requirements for both interior and exterior lighting with the intent to minimize light trespass from the building and site, reduce sky-glow to increase night sky access, improve nighttime visibility through glare reduction, and reduce development impact on nocturnal environments. Exterior lighting is only required for safety and comfort. Strategies include specifying full cutoff luminaries, low-reflectance surfaces and low-angle spotlights.

Water Efficiency credits 1.1 and 1.2: Water Efficient Landscaping: Reduce by 50% (1.1) or completely eliminate (1.2) – Here, potable water consumption for irrigation must be reduced by 50% from a calculated mid-summer baseline. If you completely eliminate irrigation you meet the requirements for both 1.1 and 1.2 for 1 point each. Reductions can be attributed to any combination of plant species, irrigation efficiency (smart systems), use of captured rainwater, use of recycled wastewater and use of public non-potable water. No landscape/irrigation plans are required for this credit, but required calculations involve comparing plant species factors for proposed vs. baseline plant material. A narrative is also required that describes the landscaping and irrigation design strategies.

Materials & Resources credits 3.1 & 3.2: Materials reuse 5% (3.1) or 10% (3.2) – There’s a lot of room for creativity here to simply show that materials that existed on site pre-construction were reused on site during construction and total a certain percentage of the total project cost. This applies primarily to redeveloped sites where materials from a demolished building are reused. As a Landscape Architect, this could mean anything from harvesting trees for timber to specifying bricks from the demolished building be crushed and used as substrate on site.

Materials & Resources credits 4.1 & 4.2: Recycled Content 10% (4.1) or 20% (4.2) – This includes anything specified on site, including hardscape materials and site furnishings.

Materials & Resources credits 5.1 & 5.2: Regional Materials 10% (5.1) or 20% (5.2) extracted, processed & manufactured regionally – This includes anything specified on site, including landscape, hardscape materials and site furnishings. Materials must be extracted, harvested or recovered as well as manufactured within 500 miles from the project site.

Materials & Resources credit 7: Certified Wood – Here, a minimum of 50% of all wood-based features permanently installed on site must be certified according to the Forest Stewardship Council’s Principles and Criteria (FSC-certified).