On Jan. 24, 2013, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that a can be used toward Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. This optional pilot credit rewards projects that take specific steps to reduce emissions from diesel engines during the construction phase of the project.
In late 2011, 鶹Ƶlearned that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a prominent equipment rental company and leading clean advocacy groups had recommended to USGBC that the Council add a mandatory clean diesel prerequisite for all LEED projects. 鶹Ƶpromptly reached out to the involved parties to express our objection to the potential prerequisite — mainly because it would amount to a “backdoor” mandate for clean diesel, which is in conflict with the Clean Air Act. As further support for the proposition that voluntary retrofit measures are the best fit for construction, 鶹Ƶpointed to the potential safety concerns with a one-size-fits all retrofit approach as well as the high possibility that EPA's data on the population of off-road construction diesels and associated emissions is exaggerated. As a result of those discussions, the groups chose to abandon the mandatory prerequisite proposal and instead pursued an optional credit proposal, which USGBC then introduced as a pilot credit.
According to the USGBC, the Clean Construction Pilot Credit (SSpc75) requires the project team to “develop and implement a plan to reduce particulate matter (PM) emissions from nonroad and on-road diesel fueled vehicles, construction equipment, and temporary power generation used during construction projects.” The plan should include:
- Pollution standards for on-road and nonroad equipment;
- Idling limits;
- Staging area requirements; and
- Data gathering.