Regional Priority
What the category covers
Regional Priority (RP) is a bonus category. USGBC identifies, for each ZIP code or region, a set of credits that address the most pressing local environmental issues - things like water scarcity, air quality, habitat loss, or energy supply. When a project earns one of those flagged credits, it also earns one RP bonus point.
Concepts to know
- RP points are additive: the project earns the credit's normal points plus one RP point.
- The cap is typically four RP points in BD+C.
- The list of regionally priority credits is determined by the project's location, looked up by ZIP code; there are usually six identified credits per region.
- RP never imposes a new technical requirement - it only redirects attention to which existing credits matter locally.
Traps
- You cannot earn an RP point for a credit you did not achieve. RP is a bonus on top of an earned credit, never a substitute.
- The RP list is location-specific; a project cannot shop the list of another region.
- RP points do not change the credit's own point value or its documentation.
Worked example
A desert project's regional list flags the outdoor water use and cooling tower water credits. If the project earns the cooling tower credit for two points, and that credit appears on its ZIP code RP list, the project banks two points plus one RP point - capped by the overall RP maximum.
Rule of thumb
Think of RP as a multiplier on good local choices: identify the flagged credits early in design so the team pursues the ones that are both regionally important and technically achievable.