LEED CERTIFICATION- LT Credit: Sensitive Land Protection

Preserving sensitive areas often provides an additional benefit of protecting citizens and property against natural hazards. In order to reduce the environmental impact from the location of a building on site LEED has introduced a credit named Sensitive Land Protection in v4.1.

Its intent is also to avoid the environmentally sensitive lands

Total no. of Possible Points –     1-2

Credit Applies to –

New Construction (8–16 points), Core & Shell (8–20 points), Schools (8–15 points), Retail (8–16 points), Data Centres (8–16 points), Warehouses & Distribution Centres (8–16 points), Hospitality (8–16 points) & Healthcare (5–9 points)

Requirements

Option 1. Previously Developed Land

Locate the development footprint on land that has been previously developed.

The development footprint is the total area of the building footprint + area affectedby development or by project site activity; hardscape, access roads, parking lots, non-building facilities, and the building itself are all included in the development footprint.

OR

Option 2. Avoidance of Sensitive Land

Locate the development footprint on land that does not meet the following criteria for sensitive land:

• Prime farmland.

 Prime farmland, unique farmland, or farmland of statewide or local importance as defined by the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 7, Volume 6, Parts 400 to 699, Section 657.5 (or local equivalent for projects outside the U.S.) and identified in a state Natural Resources Conservation Service soil survey (or local equivalent for projects outside the U.S.).

• Floodplains.

A flood hazard area shown on a legally adopted flood hazard map or otherwise legally designated by the local jurisdiction or the state. For projects in places without legally adopted flood hazard maps or legal designations, locate on a site that is entirely outside any floodplain subject to a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

• Habitat. Land identified as habitat for the following: species listed as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act or the state’s endangered species act, or
  • species or ecological communities classified by NatureServe as GH (possibly extinct), G1 (critically imperiled), or G2 (imperiled), or
  • species listed as threatened or endangered specifies under local equivalent standards (for projects outside the U.S.) that are not covered by NatureServe data.

• Water bodies.

 Areas on or within 100 feet (30 meters) of a water body, except for minor improvements.

• Wetlands.

Areas on or within 50 feet (15 meters) of a wetland, except for minor improvements.