L.E.E.D. CRITERIA FOR SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBOURHOOD, SITE AND BUILDING DESIGN

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a rating system which assesses the performance in green buildings, homes, and neighbourhoods.  Points are allocated based on how well a building/neighbourhood addresses the criteria outlined whithin each particular rating system for each certificaiton category.

There are currently 5 categories which can gain LEED certification and they include:

Green Building Design and Construction

• Green Interior Design and Contstruction
• Green Building Operations and Maintenance
• Green Neighbourhood Development
• Green Home Design and Construction

Each category for LEED certification is accompanied by a rating system and project checklist.  These rating systems and checklists contain criteria which the development must address in order to receive points.  The criteria within these rating systems and checklists will be very important in identifying the crucial aspects of incorporating sustainability into all scales of development.  Furthermore, each criterion within the rating system has a particular number of points which can be awarded.  The number of points that a criteria has is an indication of that criteria's relative importance with regard to sustainability.

For example, when looking at the LEED Neighbourhood Design rating system we can see that it is broken down into three main criteria categories:  Smart Location and Linkage, Neighbourhood Patter and Design, and Green Infrastructure and Buildings.  Within these three criteria categories we see that the point allocation is as follows:

• Smart Location and Linkage:  27 points possible
• Neighbourhood Pattern and Design:  44 Points possible
• Green Infrastructure and Buildings:  29 points possible

Based upon the weighting of these points we can see that "Neighbourhood Pattern and Design" is the most crucial aspect of creating sustainable neighbourhoods.  Furthermore, within the "Neighbourhood Pattern and Design" criteria category there are 15 different criteria which distrubute the categories possible 44 points.  Of these 15 different criteria, "Walkable Streets" can receive 12 possible points, which is far more than any of the other 14 criteria.  From this we can deduce that creating walkable streets is the most crucial criteria within Neighbourhood Pattern and Design.

The following are the essentials of LEED criteria for the two LEED certification categories which will be most relevent to this neighbourhood plan:

• LEED Neighbouthood Design:
  • Neighbourhood Pattern and Design
    • Example criteria:  access to civic and public spaces
  • Smart Location and Linkage
    • Example criteria:  locations which result in reduced automobile dependence for residents
  • Green Infrastructure and Buidlings:
    • Example criteria:  stormwater management
• LEED Green Building Design and Construction
  • Location and Linkages:
    • Example criteria: infill development
  • Sustainable Sites:
    • Example criteria:  minimizing disturbance, compact development
  • Water Efficiency:
    • Example criteria:  rainwater harvesting system
  • Energy and Atmosphere:
    • Example criteria:  efficient hot water distribution
  • Materials and Resources:
    • Example criteria:  construction waste reduction
  • Indoor Environmental Quality:
    • Example criteria:  air filtering

Within the context of this neighbourhood plan, there are certain elements which need to be considered.  Firstly, receiving LEED certification at the building or neighbourhood level is not an overarching goal of the project.  Instead LEED should be used as a useful tool to help guide development within the Knoll area towards sustainability by using the criteria and strategies developed within LEED.  Secondly, this neighbourhood plan aims to incorporate sustainability into all scales of development; therefore it is strongly encouraged that the Working Committee members research approaches to sustainability under all 5 categories of LEED certification.  Lastly, it is important to assess each criteria and strategy under LEED within the context of the City of Enderby.  Enderby is a small, unique town and therefore it is crucial that all approaches and strategies to incorporating LEED sustainability criteria be in the right context.