Rating System

LEED BD+C: New Construction, LEED ID+C: Commercial Interiors, LEED BD+C: Core and Shell, LEED BD+C: Schools

Rating System Version

v3 - LEED 2009, v2 - Schools 2007, v2 - LEED 2.2, v2 - LEED 2.0

Inquiry

We are submitting the following appeal to the USGBC Project Manager\'s Ruling of a CIR in the Sustainable Sites category, Credit SS-4.4. The Credit Interpretation Request was submitted on 12/27/2001 for the 20 River Terrace Project. The CIR asked for clarification on the requirements of this credit in the context of an urban project with no minimum parking standards, and in the context of a multi-family residential building. We are appealing the ruling based on the following additional project information. In Manhattan there are no minimum parking capacity requirements for residential buildings in our zoning classification; rather, there is a parking capacity allowance, which is one space for every 5 residential units (20%). For our project, the number of parking spaces provided is 48, and the number of apartment units is 292 (Note: the number of parking spaces and apartment units has changed since the initial CIR was submitted). The project therefore has provided approximately 20% fewer spaces than zoning allows. We assume this meets the first requirement of this credit. For the second credit requirement (preferred parking for carpooling), the Council agreed with our designation of carpooling as a destination concept, rather than an origination concept. However, the Council states in the Ruling that the project should provide means for encouraging increased HOV usage (e.g., through flex car parking, carpool drop-offs, rider boards) and provide a calculation that indicates how increased HOV utilization is accomplished. In our project, the parking garage is leased to a separate operating company (a typical practice in New York City); therefore the parking spaces are not reserved for the building residents. The spaces will be available to the general public, and are not under the control of the general building management. We will provide rider boards in the building to encourage carpooling to other destinations and provisions for a drop-off area; however, we cannot make a direct correlation as to how this will increase the use of HOVs - this depends on the actions of the residents themselves. In summary, we believe that by reducing the number of spaces below what is allowed by zoning, and by providing rider boards and a drop-off area for the building residents, we have sufficiently met the intent of this credit in a multi-family residential context.