2A - Sustainable Sites (SS) - Intro & Key Terms Flashcards
Sustainable Sites (SS) Focus
The Sustainable Sites (SS) category focuses on selecting sites that reduce dependency on automobiles, incorporating strategies that enhance plant and wildlife habitats, and maintaining water and air quality.
What About Sustainable Sites?
- How can a building encourage occupants to ride their bikes or use public transportation?
- What strategies would enhance nighttime security without adding additional lighting?
- How can agricultural land, parks, and wildlife refuges be protected?
- What environmental implications are associated with the heat island effect? Is the heat island effect a consideration only in urban areas?
Sustainable Sites Overview
LEED Strategies in the Sustainable Sites category address environmental concerns related to building location, site conditions, hardscape areas, and other exterior features.
Sustainable Sites promotes the following measures:
- Selecting and developing the site wisely.
- Reducing emissions associated with transportation.
- Protecting surrounding habitats.
- Providing and maintaining open space.
- Managing stormwater runoff.
- Reducing the heat island effect.
- Eliminating light pollution.
Sustainable Sites Synergies
The SS category has synergies with almost all other BD+C categories because a project’s location and site development are so intrinsic to the building’s ultimate function. One of the most recognizable connections is that between the stormwater design and water efficiency. Landscapes that utilize drought-tolerant and -adapted plants not only help slow and filter stormwater, but also reduce the need for irrigation–one of the largest uses of water in buildings.
SS Category Highlights - Prerequisites
There is one prerequisite in this category for New Construction and Core & Shell projects. Schools projects have a second prerequisite.
SS Category Highlights - Points
The Sustainable Sites category is second in total possible points, after the Energy and Atmosphere category. New Construction projects have 26 possible points in this category, Schools have 24, and Core & Shell projects have 28.
SS Category Highlights - Exemplary Performance
Five of the credits in this category allow points for exemplary performance. Schools projects have an additional exemplary performance credit available.
SS Category Highlights - FTE
You will need to know the full-time equivalent (FTE) occupancy for the project in order to complete calculations for several of the credits. This measure considers all the building users and how much time in total they are in the building. The FTE needs to be used consistently across all credits.
Adapted (or Introduced) Plants
These plants reliably grow well in a given habitat with minimal winter protection, pest control, fertilization, or irrigation once their root systems are established. Adapted plants are considered low maintenance and not invasive.
Albedo
See solar reflectance.
Alternative Fuel Vehicles
Vehicles that use low-polluting, nongasoline fuels such as electricity, hydrogen, propane, compressed natural gas, liquid natural gas, methanol, and ethanol. In LEED, efficient gas-electric hybrid vehicles are included in this group.
Aquifer
An underground water-bearing rock formation or group of formations that supply groundwater, wells, or springs.
Area-Weighted SRI
A weighted average calculation that may be performed for buildings with multiple roof surfaces to demonstrate that the total roof area has an average solar reflectance index equal to or greater than that of a theoretical roof 75% of whose surfaces have an SRI of 78 and 25% have an SRI of 30
Attendance Boundary
Used by school districts to determine which students attend what school based on where they live.
Biodiversity
The variety of life in all forms, levels, and combinations, including ecosystem diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity.
Brownfield
Real property whose use may be complicated by the presence or possible presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.
Building Density
The floor area of the building divided by the total area of the site (square feet per acre).
Building Footprint
The area on a project site used by the building structure, defined by the perimeter of the building plan. Parking lots, landscapes, and other nonbuilding facilities are not included in the building footprint.
Campus or Private Bus
A bus or shuttle service that is privately operated and not available to the general public. In LEED, a campus or private bus line that operates within 1/4 mile of the project site and provides transportation service to the public can contribute to earning credits.
Carpool
An arrangement by which two or more people share a vehicle for transportation.
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)
CERCLA is more commonly known as Superfund. Enacted in 1980, CERCLA addresses abandoned or historical waste sites and contamination by taxing the chemical and petroleum industries and providing federal authority to respond to releases of hazardous substances.
Curfew Hours
Locally determined times when lighting restrictions are imposed. When no local or regional restrictions are in place, 10:00 PM is regarded as a default curfew time.
Development Footprint
The area affected by development or by project site activity. Hardscape, access roads, parking lots, nonbuilding facilities, and the building itself are all included in the development footprint.
Ecosystem
A basic unit of nature that includes a community of organisms and their nonliving environment linked by biological, chemical, and physical processes.
Emissivity
The ratio of the radiation emitted by a surface to the radiation emitted by a black body at the same temperature.
Endangered Species
Threatened with extinction because of harmful human activities or environmental factors.
Erosion
A combination of processes or events by which materials of the earth’s surface are loosened, dissolved, or worn away and transported by natural agents (such as water, wind, or gravity).
Eutrophication
The increase in chemical nutrients, such as the nitrogen and phosphorus often found in fertilizers, in an ecosystem. The added nutrients stimulate excessive plant growth, promoting algal blooms or weeds. The enhanced plant growth reduces oxygen in the land and water, reducing water quality and fish and other animal populations.
Footcandle (fc)
A measure of light falling on a given surface. One footcandle is defined as the quantity of light falling on a 1 square-foot area from a 1 candela light source at a distance of 1 foot (which equals 1 lumen per square foot). Footcandles can be measured both horizontally and vertically by a footcandle meter or light meter.
Fuel-Efficient Vehicles
Vehicles that have achieved a minimum green score of 40 according to the annual vehicle rating guide of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
Full Cut-Off Luminaire
A luminaire that has zero candela intensity at an angle of 90 degrees above the vertical axis (nadir or straight down) and at all angles greater than 90 degrees from straight down. Additionally, the candela per 1,000 lamp lumens does not numerically exceed 100 (10%) at an angle of 80 degrees above nadir. This applies to all lateral angles around the luminaire.
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)
Represents a regular building occupant who spends 40 hours per week in the project building. Part-time or overtime occupants have FTE values based on their hours per week divided by 40. Multiple shifts are included or excluded depending on the intent and requirements of the credit.
Greenfields
Sites not previously developed or graded that could support open space, habitat, or agriculture.
Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)
These absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of thermal infrared radiation emitted by the earth’s surface, clouds, and the atmosphere itself. Increased concentrations of greenhouse gases are a root cause of global climate change.
Hardscape
The inanimate elements of the building landscaping. Examples include pavement, roadways, stone walls, concrete paths and sidewalks, and concrete, brick, and tile patios.
Heat Island Effect
The absorption of heat by hardscapes, such as dark, nonreflective pavement and buildings, and its radiation to surrounding areas. Particularly in urban areas, other sources may include vehicle exhaust, air conditioners, and street equipment; reduced airflow from tall buildings and narrow streets exacerbates the effect.
Horizontal Footcandles
Horizontal footcandles occur on a horizontal surface. They can be added together arithmetically when more than one source provides light to the same surface.
Hybrid Vehicles
Vehicles that use gasoline engine to drive an electric generator and use the electric generator and/or storage batteries to power electric motors that drive the vehicle’s wheels.
Hydrology
The study of water occurrence, distribution, movement, and balances in an ecosystem.
Impervious Surfaces
Surfaces with a perviousness of less than 50% and promote runoff of water instead of infiltration into the subsurfaces. Examples include parking lots, roads, sidewalks, and plazas.
In Situ Remediation
Treatment of contaminants using technologies such as injection wells or reactive trenches. These methods employ the natural hydraulic gradient of groundwater and usually require only minimal disturbance of the site.
Infrared (or Thermal) Emittance
A parameter between 0 and 1 (or 0% and 100%) that indicates the ability of a material to shed infrared radiation (heat). The wavelength range for this radiant energy is roughly 5 to 40 micrometers. Most building materials (including glass) are opaque i this part of the spectrum and have an emittance of roughly 0.9. Materials such as clean, bare metals are the most important exceptions to the 0.9 rule. Thus, clean, untarnished galvanized steel has low emittance, and aluminum roof coatings have intermediate emittance levels.
Invasive Plants
Invasive plants are nonnative to the ecosystem and likely to cause harm once introduced. These species are characteristically adaptable and aggressive, have a high reproductive capacity, and tend to overrun the ecosystems they enter. Collectively, they are among the greatest threats to biodiversity and ecosystem stability.
Light Pollution
Waste light from building sites that produces glare, is directed upwards to the sky, or is directed off the site. Waste light does not increase nighttime safety, utility, or security and needlessly consumes energy.
Light Trespass
Light that is obtrusive and unwanted because of quantitative, directional, or special attributes. Light trespass can cause annoyance, discomfort, distraction, or loss of visibility.
Local Zoning Requirements
Local government regulations imposed to promote orderly development of private lands and prevent land-use conflicts.
Low-Emitting Vehicles
Vehicles that are classified as zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by the California Air Resources Board.
Mass Transit
Transportation designed to transport large groups of persons in a single vehicle, such as a bus or train.
Master Plan
In LEED, the master plan is an overall design or development concept for the school and associated buildings and site. This concept considers future use, growth, and contraction and includes ways to manage the facility and sustainable features. The master plan is typically illustrated with narrative descriptions, building plans, and site drawings of phases and planned development.
Mixed Use
Mixed-use projects involve a combination of residential and commercial or retail components.
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
A permit program that controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. Industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters.
Native (or Indigenous) Plants
Plants that are adapted to a given area during a defined time period and are not invasive. In North America, the term often refers to plants growing in a region prior to the time of settlement by people of European descent.
Open Spaces
Open space areas are typically not defined by local zoning requirements. If local zoning requirements do not clearly define open space, it is defined for the purposes of LEED calculations as the property area minus the development footprint; it must be vegetated and pervious, with exceptions only as noted in the credit requirements section. Only ground areas are calculated as open space. For projects located in urban areas that earn a Development Density and Community Connectivity credit, open space also includes nonvehicular, pedestrian-oriented hardscape spaces.
Open-Grid Pavement
Pavement that is less than 50% impervious and accommodates vegetation in the open cells.
Perviousness
The percentage of the surface area of a paving system that is open and allows moisture to soak into the ground below.
Preferred Parking
Parking that is available to particular users and includes designated spaces close to the building (aside from designated handicapped spots), designated covered spaces, discounted parking passes, and guaranteed passes in a lottery system.
Previously Developed Sites
Sites that already have buildings, roadways, and parking lots or were graded or otherwise altered by direct human activities.
Property Area
The total area within the legal property boundaries of a site; it encompasses all areas of the site, including constructed and nonconstructed areas.
Public Transportation
Bus, rail, or other transit services for the general public that operate on a regular, continual basis.
Remediation
The process of cleaning up a contaminated site by physical, chemical, or biological means. Remediation processes are typically applied to contaminated soil and groundwater.
Residential Area
Land zoned primarily for housing at a density of 10 units per acre or greater. These areas may have single-family and multifamily housing and include building types such as townhomes, apartments, duplexes, condominiums, or mobile homes.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
An EPA-established act that addresses active and future facilities and was enacted in 1976 to give the EPA authority to control hazardous wastes from cradle to grave, including generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal. Some nonhazardous wastes are also covered under RCRA.
Retention Ponds
Ponds that capture stormwater runoff and clear it of pollutants before its release. Some retention pond designs use gravity only; others use mechanical equipment, such as pipes and pumps, to facilitate transport. Some ponds are dry except during storm events; others permanently store water.
Safety and Comfort Light Levels
Light levels that are local code requirements and must be adequate to provide a safe path for egress without over lighting the area.
Sedimentation
The addition of soil particles to water bodies by natural and human-related activities. Sedimentation often decreases water quality and can accelerate the aging process of lakes, rivers, and streams.
Shielding
A nontechnical term that describes devices or techniques that are used as part of a luminaire or lamp to limit glare, light trespass, or sky glow
Site Area
See property area.
Site Assessment
An evaluation of a site’s aboveground and subsurface characteristics, including its structures, geology, and hydrology. Site assessments are typically used to determine whether contamination has occurred, as well as the extent and concentration of any release of pollutants. Information generated during a site assessment is used to make remedial action decisions.
Sky Glow
Sky glow is caused by stray light from unshielded light sources and light reflecting off surfaces that then enters the atmosphere and illuminates and reflects of dust, debris, and water vapor. Sky glow can substantially limit observation of the night sky, compromise astronomical research, and harm nocturnal environments.
Solar Reflectance (or Albedo)
A measure of the ability of a surface material to reflect sunlight–visible, infrared, and ultraviolet wavelengths–on a scale of 0 to 1. Black paint has a solar reflectance of 0; white paint (titanium dioxide) has a solar reflectance of 1.
Solar Reflectance Index (SRI)
A measure of a material’s ability to reject solar heat, as shown by a small temperature rise. Standard black (reflectance 0.05, emittance 0.90) is 0 and standard white (reflectance 0.80, emittance 0.90) is 100. For example, a black surface has a temp rise of 90 F in full sun, and a white surface has a temp rise of 14.6 F. Once the maximum temperature rise of a given material has been computed, the SRI can be calculated by interpolating between the values for white and black. Materials with the highest SRI values are the coolest choices for paving. Because of the way SRI is defined, particularly hot materials can take slightly negative values, and particularly cool materials can even exceed 100. (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Cool Roofing Materials Database)
Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan
This plan includes all measures planned to prevent stormwater contamination, control sedimentation and erosion during construction, and comply with the requirements of the Clean Water Act.
Stormwater Runoff
Water from precipitation that flows over surfaces into sewer systems or receiving water bodies. All precipitation that leaves project site boundaries on the surface is considered stormwater runoff.
Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
Particles that are too small or light to be removed from stormwater via gravity settling. Suspended solid concentrations are typically removed via filtration.
Transient Users
Occupants who do not use a facility on a consistent, regular, daily basis. Examples include students in higher education settings, customers in retail settings, and visitors in institutional settings.
Vertical Footcandles
Footcandles that occur on a vertical surface. They can be added together arithmetically when more than one source provides light to the same surface.
