LEED-ND launched as a pilot program

Robert Steuteville

LEED-ND, the first official rating system for New Urbanism and smart growth, is touted as an important new tool for developers, smart growth advocates, and municipalities. “It’s a system to distinguish good development from bad and give a seal of approval to good development,” said Kaid Benfield, Director of Smart Growth for NRDC.

BENEFITS TO DEVELOPERS, ADVOCATES
Developers could use the rating system to gain entitlements and for marketing purposes, notes Jessica Cogan Millman, director of planning at the Coalition for Smarter Growth, who served with Benfield and others on the LEED-ND core committee. The rating system will help smart growth advocates to educate citizens, she said. Municipal officials could use LEED-ND to determine whether to support a particular development. “I’m hoping that municipalities will streamline the approval process” for projects that are certified, she said. Language in LEED-ND was written so that it could be incorporated into land-use codes, noted Benfield.
However, some new urbanists, particularly those working on land never previously developed, are concerned that LEED-ND will not help their cause. The pilot is “at risk of imperfections, but I hope that people will [go through the process] anyway,” said CNU president and CEO John Norquist. Some are concerned that LEED-ND could be a “powerful tool for NIMBYism, that it will bring things to a halt — I don’t think it will work that way,” he said.
The system is set up to strongly favor infill development, Norquist said. “What we may find is that it pushes too far toward infill and we need to recalibrate.” It’s also possible that it does not go far enough to promote infill, he added. “Questions remain,” Norquist acknowledged, urging developers to give it a try anyway. “You are actually helping to define it by bringing a project in,” he said. To be considered for LEED-ND, a project must meet six prerequisites — all of which can be met through multiple options.
The program has three tiers of fees — $8,000 for 20 acres or fewer, $14,000 for 20 to 100 acres, and $20,000 for projects larger than 100 acres. No minimum or maximum acreage is set. Projects outside of the US are welcome to apply. The first to submit for LEED-ND approval, it was reported, was Dockside Green, an 11-acre brownfield redevelopment in Victoria, British Columbia, that was presented at last year’s Congress for the New Urbanism in Providence, Rhode Island.
The certification process consists of several stages. First is a preliminary review. If the review is favorable, a letter from LEED-ND is issued that could help in entitlement. After a project is entitled, a certificate is awarded. The final certification is not given until the completion of the project — which could take many years. A plaque will be awarded at that point.
The rating system is based on 100 points, plus 6 possible bonus points for innovation. Points will be awarded based on smart growth (location of a project), urbanism (which is where most of the New Urbanism design ideas are incorporated), and green building techniques. After pilot phase revisions, LEED-ND is anticipated to shift into a full program in 2008. For more information on LEED-ND or to submit a project, go to www.usgbc.org.