Regional Priority Credit

LEED projects span the entire globe. They exist in different climate zones and in different population densities, and they have different water and energy availabilities and different local problems to deal with. A credit may be much easier to achieve for a project in location A than a project in location B.

Since each location has different regional issues and different environmental problems, USGBC identifies 6 credits from the existing LEED credits in each rating system that contribute more to those regional issues for that particular location. And, if a project decides to earn some of those credits as a bonus, the project will also be awarded points from the “Regional Priority” credit, which is the only credit under the Regional Priority credit category. Projects can see the regional priority credits available for their location online at USGBC’s website.

For example, a project located in Los Angeles, California, should first enter the exact project location in USGBC’s “Regional Priority Lookup” page online. This web page will show the regional priority credits for that project’s location. In this case, they are listed as the following:

• Optimize Energy Performance
• Surrounding Density and Diverse Use
• Access to Quality Transit
• Reduced Parking Footprint
• Rainwater Management
• Indoor Water Use Reduction

Let’s say that the project has already earned the “Rainwater Management” and the “Access to Quality Transit” credits, which would also mean that the project would receive 2 bonus points from the “Regional Priority” credit in addition to the points received from the “Rainwater Management” and “Access to Quality Transit” credits.

For another location with low potable water availability, the “Indoor Water Use Reduction” and “Outdoor Water Use Reduction” credits could make up 2 of the 6 regional priority credits. Alternatively, if a specific location contained mostly sensitive lands, then the “Sensitive Land Protection” credit could be 1 of the 6 regional priority credits.

The “Regional Priority” credit contains 4 points, which means that if the project had achieved 4 out of the 6 regional priority credits, 4 points would thus be awarded. If the project had achieved 6 out of the 6 regional priority credits, 4 points would be awarded. If the project had achieved 2 out of the 6 regional priority credits, then 2 points would be awarded.