Learn about the requirements for the LEED Sustainable Sites Credit for Rainwater Management, including managing 90th percentile rainfall events using structural and non-structural measures.
Table of Contents
Question
One of the requirements for the Sustainable Sites Credit. Rainwater Management is that projects must
A. maximize open space within the LEED project Boundary
B. calculate the total rainwater runoff for 75th percentile rainfall events
C. use Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development techniques within the LEED project boundary
D. use a combination of both structural and non-structural measures to manage a 90th percentile rainfall event
Answer
C. use Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development techniques within the LEED project boundary
Explanation
One of the requirements for the Sustainable Sites Credit: Rainwater Management is that projects must use Green Infrastructure (GI) and Low Impact Development (LID) techniques within the LEED project boundary.
GI and LID are design approaches that mimic natural hydrologic processes to manage stormwater runoff at its source. GI and LID techniques include strategies such as rain gardens, bioswales, permeable pavements, green roofs, rain barrels, cisterns, and vegetated buffers.
The other options are not requirements for the Sustainable Sites Credit: Rainwater Management. Maximizing open space within the LEED project boundary is a requirement for the Sustainable Sites Credit: Open Space. Calculating the total rainwater runoff for 75th percentile rainfall events is a requirement for the Sustainable Sites Credit: Site Assessment. Using a combination of both structural and non-structural measures to manage a 90th percentile rainfall event is an option for meeting Option 1 of the Sustainable Sites Credit: Rainwater Management.
To earn the Sustainable Sites Credit for Rainwater Management, LEED projects are required to manage the rainwater runoff from the 90th percentile of regional or local rainfall events using low-impact development (LID) and green infrastructure (GI) techniques. This means the project must have measures in place to capture and manage the rainwater from all but the largest 10% of storms for that area.
The project must use a combination of both structural measures (like rainwater cisterns, vegetated roofs, and pervious pavements) and non-structural measures (like directing runoff to landscaped areas and protecting undeveloped areas from excessive runoff). Simply calculating runoff (choice B) or maximizing open space (choice A) is not sufficient. And while using GI/LID techniques within the LEED boundary (choice C) is required, it’s only one part of the credit requirements – projects must manage 90th percentile events using both structural and non-structural approaches.
So in summary, to earn this rainwater management credit, LEED projects must implement a variety of green infrastructure solutions and low-impact development techniques that together are able to capture and manage the rainwater from 90% of the rainfall events expected for that region. Choice D best captures the full scope of these requirements.
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