Arlington County’s Green Building Density Incentive Policy for Site Plans permits additional density for Administrative Regulation 4.1 site plans through commitments to pursue LEED Gold certification or higher. The existing policy was most recently updated by the Arlington County Board on December 12, 2020.

While it was intended that the policy be updated every three-to-five years, the current policy includes an “Automatic Update,” contained in Appendix 3 to the policy, to increase the minimum requirements for energy optimization specified for each level of participation. This update applies to all 4.1 site plans accepted by the County after June 30, 2023.

Projects seeking density under the 0.25 and 0.35 FAR bonus levels must achieve one of the following:

• At least 14 percent performance improvement for LEED version 4.1 EA credit Optimize Energy Performance; OR
• At least 24 percent performance improvement for LEED version 4 EA credit Optimize Energy Performance/Annual Energy Use; OR
• A HERS index of 60 or lower if pursuing LEED version 4.1 Multifamily EA credit Optimize Energy Performance Option 3 HERS index rating; OR
• A HERS index of 60 or lower if pursuing Earthcraft Multifamily certification.

Projects seeking density under the 0.45 FAR and higher FAR bonus levels must achieve one of the following:

• At least 18 percent performance improvement for LEED version 4.1 EA credit Optimize Energy Performance; OR
• At least 28 percent performance improvement for LEED version 4 EA credit Optimize Energy Performance/Annual Energy Use; OR
• A HERS index of 55 or lower if pursuing LEED version 4.1 Multifamily EA credit Optimize Energy Performance Option 3 HERS index rating; OR
• A HERS index of 55 or lower if pursuing Earthcraft Multifamily certification.

For reference, the full policy may be accessed here.