The intent of this credit is to reduce exposure to indoor pollutants originating from an adjacent garage.  Our architect initially drew our garage as detached — he likes the scale and proportion of a house better without a garage.  Having a detached garage, or no garage at all, would have given us three points.  Seems like an easy 3 points!  BUT we live in Minneapolis, and if anyone can have an attached garage, anyone in their right mind would choose that.   So, given that we do have a garage and it is attached, here are the strategies to reduce our exposure to pollutants:

<Radon….that scary, silent, odorless gas that, according the EPA, is the number-one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers in the US, and the second leading cause of lung cancer overall.  LEED for Homes takes the precautionary route by requiring radon-resistant construction in high-risk areas as a prerequisite; you can get one point for radon-resistant construction in moderate-risk areas.  Hennepin County, where we live, is rated as Zone 1 — a high-risk area.

We get one point if the home is flushed with fresh air before we move in.  But there are specific requirements: It has to occur after all phases of construction are completed, for all areas of the home, for 48 hours, by keeping all windows open while running the HVAC system fan (or running the HVAC system fans and exhaust fans continuously at the highest flow rate), and the HVAC filters have to be cleaned or replaced afterward.