Sustainable Sites
What the category covers
SS addresses what happens on and to the site: erosion control, site assessment, habitat, open space, stormwater, heat islands, and light trespass. The only prerequisite is Construction Activity Pollution Prevention, which requires an erosion and sedimentation control plan meeting the EPA Construction General Permit or the local equivalent, whichever is stricter.
Concepts to know
- Site Assessment (a credit, not a prerequisite): document soils, hydrology, vegetation, climate, human health effects, and surrounding context, then use the findings.
- Protect or Restore Habitat: limit disturbance and restore native/adapted vegetation on previously developed or degraded land.
- Open Space: a percentage of total site area as open space, with a portion vegetated.
- Rainwater Management: replicate natural hydrology, typically by retaining the 95th-percentile rainfall event on site using green infrastructure; also protect receiving waters from pollutants.
- Heat Island Reduction: solar reflectance index (SRI) on roofs and hardscape, plus shade or vegetation; typical v4 thresholds are SRI 78 for low-slope roofs and 29 for nonroof hardscape.
- Light Pollution Reduction: use BUG-rated (backlight/uplight/glare) exterior luminaires and control interior light spill.
Traps
- Site Assessment is frequently misremembered as a prerequisite. Only pollution prevention is.
- Heat island, light pollution, and rainwater are site credits - do not confuse them with energy or water-efficiency credits elsewhere.
- Open space allows some pedestrian-oriented paving; the vegetated portion is what earns the higher tiers.
Rule of thumb
Match the credit to the resource it protects: stormwater → Rainwater Management; habitat → Protect or Restore Habitat; neighbors' night sky → Light Pollution Reduction.