For “Innovative Design,” I had a long list of possibilities of what we thought might be worthy of extra consideration. Let’s revisit my original list with the filter or knowing what has/not been rewarded already in the LEED credit system:
I talked these ideas over with our LEED for Homes Provider–someone with some experience knowing for which areas the U.S. Green Building Council would award points–and the outlook is grim:
The ground-source heat pump, LED lights, and shading devices are all taken into account in the HERS index rating model for energy efficiency, so we can cross those off ths list. We already took a point for HEPA air filters in the Indoor Environmental Quality section (see post).
On to location. While I think we got penalized for being within one mile–instead of the required 1/2 mile–of a plethora of community resources, it is hard to argue for additional points for Location & Linkages. We got the maximum amount, and even took the maximum points available in the community resources credit for the number of bus stops nearby.
Low-emitting furnishings and blinds is probably a stretch. It fits in with the entire category of how we live in the house: do we leave all the lights and electronics on all the time? Do we use toxic cleaning supplies? Do we use harmful herbicides and pesticides outside? Do we take hour-long showers? The list goes on and on about how we could live more sustainably in our LEED certified home. I tackle some of these issues in this blog. But LEED cannot dictate or even prescribe all of these things; that is not what it was designed to do.
For our energy-monitoring system, I am going to lump that under a Credit Interpretation Request for “Public Awareness” in another LEED for Homes post.
That leaves the irrigation well. I had called the USGBC about this initially because I did not see any points associated with this. They confirmed that the Water Efficiency section is about efficiency, not about where you get your water. I would disagree, since the LEED point system does reward homeowners for using water that is collected in rain barrels or cisterns. We did not do this, because our lot is so wet that we would have had to put pilings underneath a cistern to hold the water. That did not make sense to me. If our property is so wet, let’s use that water. And so, we are one of the few people in the city of Minneapolis with a well. I would therefore categorize this under innovative regional design. We use no potable water to irrigate our lawn, trees and vegetable garden! That saves us money on our water bill and saves the city from having to supply that much more treated and filtered water to our home. I have to submit an “Innovative Design Request” with very specific information….My final LEED certification meeting is next Tuesday, November 23rd, so I will work on that and post it this weekend!
As a side note, if you ask my husband about our well, he hates it! We have to use something called Rid-o-Rust to add to the water so our irrigation system does not turn everything red from the iron in the water. It does not really work, and there are areas of our home and patio that look rusted. He would just as soon disconnect the well and be done with it.