This credit, at first glance, seemed to belong in Location & Linkages, since it is about the location we chose to build our house.  But upon further reading, it is more about how we use our specific site.  The USGBC encourages efficient land use — basically, squishing us humans together as much as possible to make sure there’s enough space for undeveloped land.   Compact development also promotes community livability, transportation efficiency, and walkability.  No argument there (except from the Cato Institute).

This is a good requirement, because it addresses something you can do upfront to prevent health hazards later.  It should be titled “Pest Prevention,” though  – “nontoxic pest control” is what we would want to use once we see that there are pests in the house.

Oh, this is a timely posting.  What is interesting here is that all the LEED requirements are design and build requirements; now that we have lived in our house for a little over a year, we can see if what we planned to happen is indeed the case.