Alternative Transportation

Locate project within 1/2 mile of an existing, or planned and funded, commuter rail, light rail or subway station or within 1/4 mile of one or more stops for two or more public or campus bus lines usable by building occupants.

For commercial or institutional buildings, provide secure bicycle racks and/or storage (within 200 yards of a building entrance) for 5% or more of all building users (measured at peak periods), AND, provide shower and changing facilities in the building, or within 200 yards of a building entrance, for 0.5% of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) occupants. OR For residential buildings, provide covered storage facilities for securing bicycles for 15% or more of building occupants in lieu of changing/shower facilities.

Protect of Restore Habitat

On previously developed or graded sites, restore or protect a minimum of 50% of the site area (excluding the building footprint) with native or adapted vegetation. Native/adapted plants are plants indigenous to a locality or cultivars of native plants that are adapted to the local climate and are not considered invasive species or noxious weeds.

Maximize Open Space

Reduce the development footprint (defined as the total area of the building footprint, hardscape, access roads and parking) and/or provide vegetated open space within the project boundary to exceed the local zoning’s open space requirement for the site by 25%.

Stormwater Management

Implement a stormwater management plan that reduces impervious cover, promotes infiltration, and captures and treats the stormwater runoff from 90% of the average annual rainfall using acceptable best management practices (BMPs).

Heat Island Effect: Non-Roof

Provide any combination of the following strategies for 50% of the site hardscape (including roads, sidewalks, courtyards and parking lots):

Shade (within 5 years of occupancy)

Paving materials with a Solar Reflectance Index (SRI)2 of at least 29

Open grid pavement system

Heat Island Effect: Roof

Use roofing materials having a Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) equal to or greater than the values in the table below for a minimum of 75% of the roof surface.

Water Use Reduction

Employ strategies that in aggregate use 20% less water than the water use baseline calculated for the building (not including irrigation) after meeting the Energy Policy Act of 1992 fixture performance requirements. Calculations are based on estimated occupant usage and shall include only the following fixtures (as applicable to the building): water closets, urinals, lavatory faucets, showers and kitchen sinks.

Minimum Energy Performance

Design the building project to comply with boththe mandatory provisions (Sections 5.4, 6.4, 7.4, 8.4, 9.4 and 10.4) of ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004 (without amendments); and the prescriptive requirements (Sections 5.5, 6.5, 7.5 and 9.5) or performance requirements (Section 11) of ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004 (without amendments).

Fundamental Refrigerant Management

Zero use of CFC-based refrigerants in new base building HVAC&R systems. When reusing existing base building HVAC equipment, complete a comprehensive CFC phase-out conversion prior to project completion. Phase-out plans extending beyond the project completion date will be considered on their merits.

Optimize Energy Performance

Demonstrate a percentage improvement in the proposed building performance rating compared to the baseline building performance rating per ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004 (without amendments) by a whole building project simulation using the Building Performance Rating Method in Appendix G of the Standard.

Enhanced Refrigerant Management

Select refrigerants and HVAC&R that minimize or eliminate the emission of compounds that contribute to ozone depletion and global warming. The base building HVAC&R equipment shall comply with the following formula, which sets a maximum threshold for the combined contributions to ozone depletion and global warming potential: LCGWP + LCODP x 105/100 AND Do not install fire suppression systems that contain ozone-depleting substances (CFCs, HCFCs or Halons).

Storage and Collection of Recyclables

Provide an easily accessible area that serves the entire building and is dedicated to the collection and storage of non-hazardous materials for recycling, including (at a minimum) paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, plastics and metals.

Construction Waste Management

Recycle and/or salvage at least 50% of non-hazardous construction and demolition debris. Develop and implement a construction waste management plan that, at a minimum, identifies the materials to be diverted from disposal and whether the materials will be sorted on-site or co-mingled. Excavated soil and land-clearing debris do not contribute to this credit. Calculations can be done by weight or volume, but must be consistent throughout.

Recycled Content

Use materials with recycled content such that the sum of post-consumer recycled content plus one-half of the pre-consumer content constitutes at least 10% (based on cost) of the total value of the materials in the project.

The recycled content value of a material assembly shall be determined by weight. The recycled fraction of the assembly is then multiplied by the cost of assembly to determine the recycled content value.

Mechanical, electrical and plumbing components and specialty items such as elevators shall not be included in this calculation. Only include materials permanently installed in the project. Furniture may be included, providing it is included consistently in MR Credits 37.

Regional Materials

Use building materials or products that have been extracted, harvested or recovered, as well as manufactured, within 500 miles of the project site for a minimum of 10% (based on cost) of the total materials value. If only a fraction of a product or material is extracted/harvested/recovered and manufactured locally, then only that percentage (by weight) shall contribute to the regional value.

Environmental Tobacco Smoke Control

Prohibit smoking in the building and locate any exterior designated smoking areas at least 25 feet away from entries, outdoor air intakes and operable windows.

Low-emitting Materials

All adhesives and sealants used on the interior of the building (defined as inside of the weatherproofing system and applied on-site) shall comply with the requirements of the following reference standards:

Adhesives, Sealants and Sealant Primers: South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rule #1168. VOC limits are listed in the table below and correspond to an effective date of July 1, 2005 and rule amendment date of January 7, 2005.

Composite wood and agrifiber products used on the interior of the building (defined as inside of the weatherproofing system) shall contain no added urea-formaldehyde resins. Laminating adhesives used to fabricate on-site and shop-applied composite wood and agrifiber assemblies shall contain no added urea-formaldehyde resins. Composite wood and agrifiber products are defined as: particleboard, medium density fiberboard (MDF), plywood, wheatboard, strawboard, panel substrates and door cores. Materials considered fit-out, furniture, and equipment (FF&E) are not considered base building elements and are not included.

Daylight and Views

Demonstrate, through records of indoor light measurements, that a minimum daylight illumination level of 25 footcandles has been achieved in at least 75% of all regularly occupied areas. Measurements must be taken on a 10-foot grid for all occupied spaces and must be recorded on building floor plans.

Innovation and Design Process

Green Housekeeping Practices:

1) Provide a statement of purpose describing what the policy is trying to achieve from a health and environmental standpoint, focusing on cleaning chemicals and custodial training at a minimum.

2) Provide a contractural or procedural requirment for operations staff to comply with the guidelines, including a written program for training and implementation.

3) Provide a clear set of acceptable performace level standards by which to measure progress or achievement such as Green Seal.

4) Provide documentation of the program’s housekeeping policies and environmental cleaning solution specifications, including a list of approved and prohibited chemicals and practices. Demonstrate that the products used are non-hazardous, have a low environment impact, and meet the criteria set forth in #3. Concentrated cleaning products should be used when available.