Did you know that LEED projects may qualify for up to 65 points toward SITES certification? Find out where your LEED project stands with GBCI’s new LEED to SITES Readiness Tool that is now available for LEED BD+C v4 and LEED BD+C v2009 projects.
The SITES and LEED rating systems are complementary and can be used independently or in tandem. If you would like your project to benefit from certifying to both SITES and LEED, you can take advantage of the synergies between them. The Synergies between SITES and LEED document published in October 2016 outlines the synergies between the two programs.
The LEED to SITES Readiness Tool has been developed to further strengthen the synergies between the LEED and SITES programs. The tool is an update to the 2016 document and streamlines LEED credits (see table below) that have synergies with SITES credits, and has been created to assist LEED project teams to quickly assess their readiness (and gaps) toward achieving SITES certification, based on the LEED credits achieved or anticipated. The tool provides a quick scorecard view of the available synergies between the two programs and includes newly identified credit synergies.
USGBC and GBCI have long been committed to sustainable site development. Since its origination, LEED has contained Sustainable Sites credits which are designed to ensure a project’s natural environment is valued and respected through every step of the building process—from planning to construction to management.
The SITES program fills an incredibly important gap in the market, properly addressing the space outside of and between buildings by encouraging projects to integrate sustainable landscape development practices at the onset of a project during design and then into project completion and site management. SITES also goes further, emphasizing the critical importance of ecosystem services and health benefits of being outdoors. The rating system is also available for projects with no buildings at all because while every building has a landscape, not every landscape has a building.
Projects with buildings can use the LEED to SITES Readiness tool to assess their LEED project’s readiness for SITES certification and identify strategies to further enhance health and resilience on a development project while preserving and restoring the environmental integrity of associated landscapes.
Download the LEED BD+C v4 to SITES Readiness Tool
Download the LEED BD+C v2009 to SITES Readiness Tool
We hope this tool will be valuable to both the LEED and SITES communities to better understand the synergies between LEED and SITES and the complementary nature of these programs.
LEED credits with SITES synergies
*New synergy added