Green Building and LEED Core Concepts Guide First Edition

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community with high street grid density and narrow, interconnected streets is more likely to be pedestnan friendly than one with a low street grid density and wide streets . • Transportation demand management. The process of reducing peak'period vehicle trips . • Vehicle miles traveled (vmt). A measure of transportation demand that estimates the travel miles associated with a project, most often for single·passenger cars. lEED sometimes uses a complementary metric for alternative-mode miles (e.g., in high-occupancy autos). THINK ABOUT IT Green building and transportation. Transportation is a fundamental impact associated with the built environment. What does it mean to have a "green" building in an auto-dependent location Is consideration of transportation an opportunity or a barrier to projects considering lEED certification TRANSPORTATION According to th e U.S. Energy Information Administration, transportation accounted for 32% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2007. Buildings generate much of the demand for transportation, and they can be an ilportant part of efforts to reduce the social, economic, and environmental impacts oftransportation. Land-use decisions and the design, construction, and operation of buildings can reduce the length and frcquencyofvehicle trips and encourage shifts to more sustainable modes of transportation. Considering transportation may be a new issue for many building design professionals. Some owners, architects, engineers, and other professionals have questioned why LEED 2009 increases theemphasis on this issue. Conversely, land-use and transportation planning professionals are often frustrated by claims of "green" buildings in auto-dependent locations. LEED recognizes that crearing a building or neighborhood can create new demand for transportation; however, projects also have opportunities to reduce transportation impacts by using a wide variety of practical strategies, such as providing alternative modes of transportation, encouraging walking and bicycling, providing fueling facilities for alternative-fuel vehicles, and reducing the number and length or automobile trips. Taken together, these strategies can Significantly reduce the impacts of building-associated transportation. Sustainable Sites 27
The drivers of transportation impacts include location, vehicle technology, fuel, and human behavior. Location determines the number ·and frequency of trips. Vehicle technology determines me quantity and types of energy and support systems needed to convey people and goods to and from the site. Fuel determines the environmental impact of vehicle operation. Human behavior ultimately combines all of these elements in daily mobilitychoices. Green building's emphasis on integrative approaches calls forthe coordinated, synergistic consideration for each of these elements. In practice, green building often assesses the elements of transportation through proxy measures and metrics. For example, density stands in for many clements of.land-use design. Project sites in urban areas are likely to have the density required for the sustainable operation of mass transportation- systems that are less energy intensive than single-passenger vehicles. By building in a relatively high density area or on an inflll site already served by mass transit, the project can reduce the vehicle miles traveled byits occupants and visitors and more easily integrate into existing transportation nenvorks. Sites without access to public transportation start at a disadvantage and may require additional attention to transportation impacts, particularly local land-use design and alternative fuels. It is still possible for such a project to substantially reduce its transportation impacts by focusing on local connectivity and the energy efficiency of the vehicles used to serve its needs. For example, an office complex without transit access might provide incentives for carpooling, incorporate diverse land uses that allow workers to walk to basic services, or facilitate the use of alternativefuel vehicles like plug-in hybrids. Consideration for transportation provides many opponunities for integrative planning, such as specifications for parking. Typically, parking is sized for annual extreme events, like shopping on the dayafterThanksgLvingj during the other364 days of the year, parking capacity is unused, and unnecessary expanses of asphalt or concrete have environmental impacts, causing urban heat islands and storm\Vater runoff. A project team can reduce the number of parking spaces provided for singlepassenger vehicles, thereby discouraging vehicle use, reducing environmental impacts, and loweringthe cost of construction. Project teams cango funher and designate preferred parking spaces for altcrnative-fuel vehicles. Incentives for low-impact behavior may become more appealing as technologies like plug-in hybrids become more common. 2. Green Building and LEED Core Concepts Guide
Page 1 and 2: o D y Green Building and LEED Core
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Page 7 and 8: The green building movement strives
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Page 13 and 14: Project Case Study Dockside Green .
Page 15 and 16: The study concluded that the federa
Page 17 and 18: • "Costing Green: A Comprehensive
Page 19 and 20: LEADERSHIP IN ENERGY AND ENVIRONMEN
Page 21 and 22: The LEED rating systems address the
Page 23 and 24: The credit weightings are based on
Page 25 and 26: Carbon Footprint Building Systems .
Page 27 and 28: necessary permits) to the completio
Page 29: Assessments and Measurements To eva
Page 33 and 34: THINK ABOUT IT Electric cars and ne
Page 35 and 36: THINK ABOUT IT Regenerative design.
Page 37 and 38: Primary Resources: Low-I mpact Deve
Page 39 and 40: Americans' use of the limited publi
Page 41 and 42: Strategies for reducing indoor wate
Page 43 and 44: THINK ABOUT IT Green lawns and gree
Page 45 and 46: AND AlMOS Energy has emerged as a c
Page 47 and 48: Strategies for redu cing energy dem
Page 49 and 50: • Use thermal energy storage. Gen
Page 51 and 52: To achieve LEED certification, new
Page 53 and 54: Primary Resources: Cost-Effectivene
Page 55 and 56: Assessments and Measurements • Ra
Page 57 and 58: LIFE-CYCLE IMPACTS LEED increasingl
Page 59 and 60: ENVIRONMENTAL According to the EPA,
Page 61 and 62: INDOOR AIR QUALITY Protecting indoo
Page 63 and 64: • "Daylight and Retail Sales" (Ca
Page 65 and 66: Innovative strategies expand the br
Page 67 and 68: ac id ra in the precipitation of di
Page 69 and 70: construction waste management plan
Page 71 and 72: pollutant any substance introduced

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