Designate construction staging areas
To protect trees and topsoil from damage on construction sites, provide in advance construction “staging areas” for all construction activities. Designating these areas minimizes the risk of on-site surprises and tree injury. Designate where vehicles or construction trailers will turn around or park, where excavated soil or building materials will be stockpiled, where excavation equipment will be unloaded and loaded, where job-site waste will be stored for recycling, etc.
Setting up and ensuring use of staging areas requires effort from the project manager. And, if these areas result in more walking or troublesome access, construction progress may be slowed, increasing costs.
GREEN POINTS
LEED for HomesLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED for Homes is the residential green building program from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). While this program is primarily designed for and applicable to new home projects, major gut rehabs can qualify. Anything you do outdoors will generally give you greater bang for "green buck" than anything you do in the structure. This is also true with LEED-H. The easiest to earn are often those related to landscape. These include SS2 (Sustainable Sites) — up to 7 points, SS3 — 1 point, SS4 — up to 7 points, and WE2 (Water Efficiency) — up to 4 points. Up to 4 Innovation points can be earned for exemplary performance with regard to these credits.
NGBSNational Green Building Standard Based on the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines and passed through ANSI. This standard can be applied to both new homes, remodeling projects, and additions. /ICC-700: Under Chapter 4 - Site Design and Development: 4 pts. for On-site supervision and coordination (404.1); 4 pts. for installing fencing to protect trees and other plants (404.2.1); 4 pts. for avoiding soil compaction, trenching, and significant grade changes near critical root zones (404.2.2); 5 pts. for staking out limits to clearing and grading areas prior to construction (404.3.1); 4 pts. for creating "no disturbance" zones with fencing or flagging to protect sensitive areas from vehicles, material storage and washout (404.3.2}; 4 pts. for reducing soil compaction from construction equipment. Placing lightweight geogrids, mulch, chipped wood, plywood, OSB (oriented strand board), metal plates, etc. in the pathway of the equipment distributes its weight over a larger area. (404.3.5)
Learn more in the Green Building Encyclopedia:
