Atlanta pilot project for emerging LEED standards holds promise for similar neighborhood developments.

Sustainable or "green" development has changed tremendously during the last 10 years. Initially focused on the building envelope, sustainable development then moved to include renewable energy and the entire building development. Now, sustainable development encompasses whole neighborhood sites and master developments.

The West Town redevelopment in Atlanta is one of 238 projects selected for the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Develoment pilot program.

Design and construction team Project name: West Town Owner: Brock Built City Neighborhoods, Atlanta Civil engineer: Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., Atlanta Architect: Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates, Atlanta Contractor: Built City Neighborhoods LEED Program Management: Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.

LEED-ND is the first certification program to truly concentrate on neighborhood design components such as smart growth, new urbanism, and naturally green or sustainable building. The criteria for site location encourages redevelopment of brownfield and infill sites with favorable access to existing infrastructure, public transportation, jobs, civic uses, and essential neighborhood retail services. LEED-ND site-design criteria address development density, construction and development impact zones, stormwater management, utilization of existing natural features and topography, reduction of heat islands, pedestrian orientation, and other site design-driven features. Credit is given to green building construction, but is not required for LEED-ND certification. Unlike other LEED programs, LEED-ND encourages an all-encompassing concept of healthy living by concentrating on compact, walkable neighborhoods with greenspace, as well as foot and bike connections to nearby communities and commercial/retail centers.

Currently, LEED-ND is in its pilot stage. Developers can attain a total of 106 points including 9 prerequisites, compared with 69 points for LEED-New Construction (NC). LEED-ND is divided into four point categories: Smart Location & Linkage; Neighborhood Pattern & Design; Green Construction & Technology; and Innovation & Design Process.

Applications for entrance into the pilot program were accepted in the spring/summer of 2007. The USGBC is scheduled to launch LEED-ND as an available LEED program in the spring of 2009. Of the 238 projects included in the pilot study, only one is in Atlanta—West Town by Brock Built City Neighborhoods.

West Town, a 42-acre redevelopment of a predominantly industrial area in Atlanta’s upper west side industrial corridor, was a perfect fit for the LEED-ND pilot program. The southern border of the property lies along Huff Road and is generally bordered by Ellsworth Industrial Dr. on the west, and English St. to the east. Fairmont Ave. acts as the east-west border for the upper and lower phases of the project, while Atlanta’s beltline corridor is an east-west axis through the middle of the site. In total, West Town consists of more than 9.6 acres of open green space, up to 1,450 housing units, mixed-use residential space, and approximately 150,000 square feet of commercial space.

One challenge of LEED-ND is to protect the existing topography, environment, and habitat while creating a dense but walkable development. To accomplish this, LEED-ND requires a team effort in planning, staging of development, as well as restorative plans and programs. Within West Town, the development team includes Brock-Built City Neighborhoods and AMLI Residential. AMLI Residential is developing three blocks of mixed-use residential and commercial/retail sites along Huff Road, while Brock-Built is developing the remainder of the site in two phases. West Town will provide an expansive mix of residential choices including townhomes, single-family, and multi-family (apartment and condominium) living.

Many integrated aspects of this project are significant, but two major components of West Town are stormwater management and open/greenspace. The team wanted to embrace the LEED-ND concept of whole-site water resources, but the stormwater-related issues were not limited to the LEED-ND points.

First, the city of Atlanta’s stormwater ordinance requires a 30-percent reduction in post-development peak discharge compared with pre-development conditions. Second, we needed to be able to harvest rainwater wherever possible for irrigation reuse. Third, since water quality is important, the team wanted to be able to remove 80 percent of the annual load of total suspended solids wherever possible.

Finally, stormwater flows into an urban, extremely channelized perennial stream that flows through the middle of the site. This channel was completely overgrown with invasive plant species and also had a city of Atlanta water main running parallel to its banks. The team was able to determine a variety of innovative measures that helped to accomplish our goals, including Atlantis, Corp. drainage cells beneath single-family driveways for rainwater harvesting, bioretention and rain gardens in open areas, infiltration trenches in the alley ways between housing blocks, and a comprehensive restoration program for the stream through the center of the site.

Another key component of LEED-ND is open space. As with stormwater, this issue requires a delicate balance between meeting or exceeding the jurisdictional requirements for open space/greenspace, providing ample open space for the neighborhood development, and maintaining the feel of living in an in-town, urban neighborhood community. Within LEED-ND, this corresponded to five prerequisites and credits. The integration of pedestrian pathways and corridors (hard or softscape), pocket parks (including those along the beltline corridor), and natural areas along the streams create the experience of outdoor living within the city.

The LEED-ND pilot program provided an extensive menu of options to incorporate green and sustainable features into site development and building construction. These options provided a way for a wide variety of sites to comply with program requirements. In fact, sites in the LEED-ND pilot ranged in size from one-half acre to more than 4,000 acres. Examples of available credit options included dark sky lighting, green building, reduction of heat island effect, use of renewable energy, and proximity to jobs.

West Town is incorporating several specific solutions to create this sustainable neighborhood, including LED lights from Beacon Products, EarthCraft/Energy Star-certified single-family residences and townhomes, integration of transit stops to encourage use of mass transit, rainwater harvesting, and use of native and drought-resistant plant materials.

As this project moves from the design phase into construction, the development and design team has developed the following guidelines to assist with successful LEED-ND implementation:

• Gain jurisdictional cooperation. Work with local municipalities as partners through the process because some LEED-ND points may conflict with existing ordinances.
• Pull the team together early and engage LEED Accredited Professionals.
• Develop computer-based project boundary and key maps for ease of revision and duplication.
• Develop LEED tools and select one firm to manage the LEED-ND documentation.
• Anticipate revisions during the process, but set a design deadline upon which the LEED-ND documentation is based to minimize re-work.

The LEED-ND program provides the best of green building and sustainable living by dividing the development process into four distinct credit sections. By using these principles, implementation of this program becomes vastly more manageable.

The main point of LEED-ND is to create a healthy and livable neighborhood by encouraging sustainable living, protection of the environment and natural resources, and social neighborhood networking. West Town in Atlanta, GA is an excellent example of how the program can be successfully implemented in an urban setting.


Andrea Pinabell, CPSEC, LEED AP, senior program manager, Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., has more than 14 years of experience in professional consulting related to all aspects of environmentally sustainable development and water/stormwater management. She can be contacted at 404-201-6128 or via e-mail at andrea.pinabell@kimley-horn.com.