Steps in the Green Direction...

Regional Priority credits are a step in the right direction in LEED v3. In an attempt to make certain LEED credits more applicable for specific regions, the USGBC has created 'Regional Priority' credits. These are not new credits, they are basically bonus points for achieving pre-existing credits that have been deemed important in your region by the local USGBC Chapter, varying by zip code.

Each local chapter was limited to selecting 6 of the pre-existing credits to award additional credit for. However, even if a building satisfies the requirment for all 6, you are limited to receiving only 4 points.
The credits that the Greater Houston Area Chapter has selected are...

•  SSc3: Brownfield Redevelopment --rehabilitate damaged sites with environment contamination and reduce pressure on undeveloped land.
  
• SSc5.1: Site Development-Protect or Restore Habitat --conserve natural areas, or to restore damaged areas by promoting bio-diversity.
  
• SSc6.1: Stormwater Design- Quantity Control --creating a plan to increase on-site infiltration and limit post development run-off.
  
• SSc6.2: Stormwater Design- Quality Control --creating a management plan for water runoff to limit polluting natural water flows.
  
• EAc2: On-site Renewable Energy --produce atleast 1% of overall energy consumed by building through on-site renewable sources (solar, wind, geothermal, etc.)
  
• MRc2: Construction Waste Management --Recycle or salvage atleast 75% of construction waste.
  

Do the Regional Priority credits selected in Houston make sense for our region?
Should there, or could there have been better choices for which credits were selected? If so, which ones and why.
Do you feel like LEED is moving towards region specific guidelines for ALL credits?