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LT
Location and

Location and transportation

Transportation (LT)
OVERVIEW
The Location and Transportation (LT) category rewards thoughtful project team decisions about the location of
their tenant space, with credits that encourage compact development, alternative transportation, and connection
with amenities, such as restaurants and parks. The LT category is an outgrowth of the Sustainable Sites (SS) category,
which formerly covered location-related topics.
Well-located tenant spaces are those that take advantage of existing infrastructure—public transit, street
networks, pedestrian paths, bicycle networks, and services and amenities. By recognizing existing patterns of
development and land density, project teams can reduce strain on the environment from the social and ecological
costs that accompany sprawling development patterns. In addition, the compact communities promoted by the
LT credits encourage robust and realistic alternatives to private automobile use, such as walking, biking, vehicle
shares, and public transit. These incremental steps can have significant benefits: a 2009 Urban Land Institute
study concluded that improvements in land-use patterns and investments in public transportation infrastructure
alone could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation in the U.S. by 9% to 15% by 20501; globally, the
transportation sector is responsible for about one-quarter of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.2
If integrated into the surrounding community, a well-located tenant space can also offer distinct advantages
to the owner and users of the space. For owners, locating the tenant space in a vibrant, livable community makes
it a destination for residents, employees, customers, and visitors. For occupants, walkable and bikable locations
can enhance health by encouraging daily physical activity, and proximity to services and amenities can increase
happiness and productivity.
Design strategies that complement and build on the project location are also rewarded in the LT section. For
example, by limiting parking, a project can encourage building users to take alternative transportation. By providing
bicycle storage, a project can support users seeking transportation options.

1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Smart Growth and Climate Change, epa.gov/dced/climatechange.htm (accessed September 11, 2012).
2. International Council on Clean Transportation, Passenger Vehicles, theicct.org/passenger-vehicles (accessed March 22, 2013).
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Consistent Documentation
Walking and bicycling distances are measurements of how far a pedestrian and bicyclist would travel from a point
of origin to a destination, such as the nearest bus stop. This distance, also known as shortest path analysis, replaces
the simple straight-line radius used in LEED 2009 and better reflects pedestrians’ and bicyclists’ access to amenities,
taking into account safety, convenience, and obstructions to movement. This in turn better predicts the use of these
amenities.
Walking distances must be measured along infrastructure that is safe and comfortable for pedestrian: sidewalks,
all-weather-surface footpaths, crosswalks, or equivalent pedestrian facilities.
Bicycling distances must be measured along infrastructure that is safe and comfortable for bicyclists: on-street
bicycle lanes, off-street bicycle paths or trails, and streets with low target vehicle speed. Project teams may use
bicycling distance instead of walking distance to measure the proximity of bicycle storage to a bicycle network in LT
Credit Bicycle Facilities.
When calculating the walking or bicycling distance, sum the continuous segments of the walking or bicycling
LT

route to determine the distance from origin to destination. A straight-line radius from the origin that does not follow
pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure will not be accepted.
Refer to specific credits to select the appropriate origin and destination points. In all cases, the origin must be
accessible to all building users, and the walking or bicycling distance must not exceed the distance specified in the
LEED Reference Guide for Interior Design AND Construction

credit requirements.