Comments on Real Life LEED: LEED and Parking - Lessons Learned

This credit got denied by our reviewer! The projec...

2010-08-17T18:18:53.313-04:00

This credit got denied by our reviewer! The project is a very remote site in Mead, Nebraska. It is an Army facility and is very specialized. I requested to combine the carpool/Low-Emitting spots. The reviewer denied my explanation about the remote location of this project.

Its October 2009; has anyone found an answer for t...

2009-10-27T15:33:05.814-04:00

Its October 2009; has anyone found an answer for this question? We've got a project registered under v2.2 and will be submitting the Design Credits within the next 2 months.

Your project exposes some interesting difficulties...

2008-11-03T19:20:00.000-05:00

Your project exposes some interesting difficulties that surface when providing restricted parking. I appreciate that you share the information that was found while researching in addition to your opinions. As a student studying real estate development, I have found that these guidelines are becoming more important as sustainability becomes a larger issue. You mention that "less parking than is typically required [and preferred] parking for both carpoolers and Low-Emitting Vehicles" will be offered. Is this to encourage the purchase of fuel efficient cars or do building codes allow less parking if more privileged spaces are available? I believe that your audience can better infer the motive if you mention the building typology. The scheme is described as "an enormous building", but stating what the structure will be used for might be helpful for readers. Whether or not the intention was to promote using efficient methods of transportation, this parking tactic suggests its importance. Additionally, the photograph that you have selected to compliment the text is a great resource. It gives a visual reference and shows exactly what you have in mind in terms of painting as opposed to purchasing 200 costly signs. It is commendable that you are thinking about conserving materials. Despite the research that you have provided, defining low-emitting vehicles is still rather unclear. The average driver probably does not know what SmartWay Elite Certification or the American Council's rating system entail. Consequently, do you think that an honor system will take affect? It is obvious that a Prius is more likely to meet these standards than a Ford F250, but I think that a lack of general knowledge may lead to misuse of this privilege. Initially, I too thought of using MPG as a regulation, but the counter-argument that you present is strong. What do you think about using stickers similar to those which allow vehicles to use carpool lanes or handicapped parking spots? On a similar note, I am curious to know how carpool parking spots will be enforced. Is this too an honor system? I look forward to hearing your responses and kudos for the informative summary of a lesser known topic.

My main beefs with this credit (the preferred stal...

2008-10-22T17:45:00.000-04:00

My main beefs with this credit (the preferred stalls for efficient vehicles option) are: 1) that 99% of "low-emitting and fuel-efficient" vehicle drivers are not going to have any idea if their car has an EPA SmartWay certification or if it is on the ACEEE list, and 2) that there is no mechanism in place for enforcement (i.e. you can post as many signs as you want, but who is going to prevent someone from parking their Hummer in one of these stalls?). I realize that LEED certification is a "snapshot in time", as has been described to me, but the above makes the intent of this credit rather flimsy. It is not, however, stopping us from using this option on two of our projects!

My team worked on a LEED office building where the...

2008-10-21T12:38:00.000-04:00

My team worked on a LEED office building where the project manager made a last minute call to eliminate the individual signs for preferred parking. Instead he had two signs ordered, and placed one on each end of the bank of preferred spots. Each sign indicated that the spots were reserved for carpoolers or hybrids. USGBC rejected the approach, saying that it could allow hybrids to take all the spots or vice versa. They did accept the method of signs at either end of the reserved section however. So, we resolved the situation by installing signs on each end of the banks.

Ashley,

I would consider just a sign that s...

2008-10-21T11:26:00.000-04:00

Ashley,

I would consider just a sign that says "Parking for Low-Emitting Vehicles" and leave it vague.

You can leave the consumers to decide what that is or have a single explanation for all the spots somewhere nearby? Not really sure how to be effective when talking about transient occupants.

Best of luck...

Joel

I am working on our submittal for this one today.....

2008-10-17T10:58:00.000-04:00

I am working on our submittal for this one today... we are pursuing option 2, and I noticed that the preferred parking signage designed by my PM says "Preferred Parking for Hybrid Vehicles"... I am guessing we will have to come up with some sort of a "green pass" system for EPA SmartWay Elite vehicles instead, and specify that the preferred parking is only for "green pass" holders? I understand having some sort of emissions/efficiency bar that the vehicles should have to meet, but for our project (which has a good bit of retail), the whole system just gets a bit convoluted. Any suggestions?

I worked on a (much smaller) project where we only...

2008-10-15T19:53:00.000-04:00

I worked on a (much smaller) project where we only needed about 6 low-emitting preferred parking spaces. All but one of them were in a row together, with accessible parking spaces opposite. For aesthetic reasons, we decided to use the same sign poles (front and back) for both the accessible parking and preferred parking signs. Because there are fewer accessible spaces in the same amount of area as regular spaces, and we didn't want to add extra poles, we opted simply to place a sign on each end of the bank with an arrow pointing to the opposite end and the preferred parking text, designating the whole row as preferred. (There was an additional sign in the center) We earned the point on that project, but I don't know if it would work in a different situation.
Amanda

Anonymous,

Thanks for at least a partial co...

2008-10-15T17:52:00.000-04:00

Anonymous,

Thanks for at least a partial confirmation (with caveats) about the shared spaces. Can't say I've noticed a CIR disappear, but I remember seeing at some point a CIR that reversed the decision of an earlier CIR, so maybe they drop the old one then?

Thanks again,

Joel

2008-10-15T17:50:00.000-04:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

You may be in for a CIR on this one. I have playe...

2008-10-15T16:00:00.000-04:00

You may be in for a CIR on this one. I have played this issue on different projects and found that depending on the reviewer you may get differing opinions. Fortunately, the projects were small so buying a sign was not a big deal but 200?

On a previous project we did sign a parking lot (heavy snow area so striping alone wouldn't work) for both LEV and Carpools and had no problem from the toughest reviewer I have ever encountered. However always remember past acceptance does not set precedent.

I think the USGBC purposely stays vague on some of these issues to prevent the rating system from becoming too prescriptive and on small projects and low-risk credits (cheap to change) I will often opt for the beg forgiveness rather than ask permission on unclear issues for fear of setting precedent through the CIR process which is woefully communicated back to us practitioners when credit compliance paths are modified or made more prescriptive. I have eaten plenty of “humble pie” because the reviewer said: “CIR dated (sometime in the last week) mandates you do (a bunch of additional stuff)”

On a large projects and /or short-tempered clients where EVERY credit counts, I always opt on the side of safety and get the CIR.

On a side note has anyone ever seen a CIR disappear? I swear I had a couple of rulings vanish from the database.