LEED Certification for Homes – SS CREDIT: HEAT ISLAND REDUCTION
Requirements
HOMES, MIDRISE
Ensure that at least 50% of hardscapes and roofs, but not including common roads that serve multiple buildings, on the project site meet one or more of the following requirements. Points are awarded according to Table 1.
Table 1. Points for percentage area with shading or nonabsorptive material
| Percentage of hardscape area | Points |
| 50–75% | 1 |
| > 75% | 2 |
Option 1. Shading (1–2 points)
- Locate trees or other plantings to provide shading of hardscapes.
- Shading should be calculated when the sun is directly overhead (noon on the summer solstice), based on ten years’ growth after installation.
Option 2. Nonabsorptive Materials (1–2 points)
Install light-colored, high-albedo materials or vegetation-covered hardscapes.
Acceptable strategies include the following:
   using ENERGY STAR qualified roof products in appropriately sloped applications
- installing vegetated roofing;
- using open pavers or engineered grass pavers; and using paving materials with a solar reflectance (SR) of at least 0.28.