Five Observations After a Deep Dive into LEED v5

The next version of LEED is imminent. LEED v5 will be the first new version of the globally recognized framework in over a decade. 

The headline changes to the rating system were communicated at the 2024 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo and through an abundance of forums offered directly through the U.S. Green Building Council. 

LEED v5 maintains the same familiar structure of prerequisites and credits, cataloged into broad-based categories. There is still up to 100 points available, plus up to 10 additional points for project priorities and innovation. The four certification levels remain. 

However, one major structural change in LEED v5 is that every prerequisite and credit has been harmonized around three impact categories: decarbonization, quality of life, and ecological conservation and restoration.

Also, LEED will henceforth enter a five-year update cycle - meaning, LEED v5's shelf life is considered to be 2025-2030.

Changes are coming with LEED v5 BD+C

Specific to LEED v5 Building Design and Construction (BD+C): New Construction (NC), while much of the new rating system will be familiar to users of LEED, as one would expect, the new version references updated standards and information resources such that the stringency of the rating system is elevated (the acronym says "lead," after all). 

A basic review of LEED v5 makes several things apparent. For instance, LEED will heavily favor high-performance building projects that are 100% electrified in anticipation of a greatly decarbonized energy infrastructure within 25-years; anticipate interactivity with the emerging smart grid; seek to reduce embodied carbon by at least 20%; incorporate resilient design strategies; and offer indoor environments that are more accessible and foster human health and wellness.

Five observation from a deep dive into LEED v5 BD+C

A thorough read of LEED v5 BD+C reveals several particular insights that you will want your team to be aware of as you gather to tackle the latest version on your next project.

1. LEED v5 BD+C identifies seven project assessments—and five of them are required.

Under the Integrative Process, Planning & Assessments credit category, there are three new prerequisites—each of which requires project teams to conduct a uniquely-scoped assessment:

a) IP Prerequisite: Climate and Resilience Assessment.

b) IP Prerequisite: Human Impact Assessment.

c) IP Prerequisite: Carbon Assessment.

Additionally, under the SS Prerequisite: Minimize Site Disturbance, another assessment is required:

d) Site assessment (formerly, a credit under LEED v4).

The MR Prerequisite: Assess and Quantify Embodied Carbon defines one final required assessment:

e) Embodied carbon and high-priority embodied carbon sources assessment.

There are two other assessments in LEEDv4 BD+C; however, they are optional as they are defined within credits:

f) Transportation Demand Assessment (under LT Credit: Transportation Demand Management).

g) Salvage Assessment (prior to demolition work under MR Credit: Building and Materials Reuse).

2. Building enclosure commissioning will become required on all LEED v5 BD+C projects by way of adopting the latest editions of ASHRAE Standard 90.1.

LEED v5 BD+C will require that projects comply with ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2019 starting in 2025; and 90.1-2022 starting in 2028. This will raise the standard for energy-efficiency in LEED. However, the referenced standard also includes requisite language for building enclosure commissioning (BECx). Meaning, with LEED v5, a fundamental scope of BECx will become a prerequisite for certification.

Under ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2019, building enclosure commissioning is clearly specified:

Building envelope performance verification is required (5.9.1.1).

Verification of the design and installation of the continuous air barrier is required (5.9.1.2).

Energy performance of the building envelope shall be commissioned (5.9.2).

Building envelope component and assemblies shall be inspected (5.9.3); this explicitly includes fenestration, doors, load dock weatherseals, and opaque building envelope air tightness (including below-grade walls).

These requirements by extension of the reference standard is underscored in EA Prerequisite: Fundamental Commissioning.

3. Those MERV 8 filters are about to become MERV 13 - plus, other post-pandemic design strategies.

The building design and construction industry's response to the COVID-19 pandemic yielded a number of best practices to help building teams mitigate airborne virus transmission and adapt projects to the acute public health needs. USGBC introduced a number of LEED Safety First pilot credits to outline a number of response strategies. Subsequent pilot credits were introduced to address infection control. LEED v5 BD+C includes some elements from these pilot credits, which exemplify some of the lasting imprints of the pandemic on the green building movement. A few examples are:

Occupied spaces designed to operate an infection risk management mode (IRMM) for respiratory diseases under EQ Credit: Resilient Spaces - which was first introduced through INpc138: Managing Indoor Air Quality for Infection Control.

The IP Prerequisite: Human Impact Assessment requires information on demographics from the standpoint of identifying vulnerable populations - a notion previously put forth by INpc140 Safety First: Pandemic Planning.

Supplanting the long-standing MERV 8 filtration requirement are a range of filtration design strategies to choose from, including installing MERV 13 filters as specified in EQ Prerequisite: Fundamental Air Quality - an iteration of strategies offered in INpc155: Design for Indoor Air Quality and Infection Control. 

4. Don't see your favorite LEED v4/4.1 credit? It might be rolled into a "super credit."

Where did the indoor water use reduction credit go? 

What about the credit for daylight?

Did LEED bail of quality views and acoustic performance? 

In an endeavor to streamline efforts and encourage a most holistic approach to water efficiency or indoor environmental quality, etc., LEED v5 BD+C has rolled many long-standing credits into "super credits" (my terminology) worth several points each. 

For instance:

WE Credit: Enhanced Water Efficiency encouraged a whole building approach to water use reduction and is worth up to eight (8) points. The credit covers fixtures and fittings, appliance and process water, outdoor water use, optimized water use for cooling, water reuse, reuse-ready systems, and alternative water source utilization.

MR Credit: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization is worth up to five (5) points and seeks to pivot from the segmented trilogy of "BPDO credits" in LEED v4/4.1 toward a holistic approach that demonstrates achievement in one or more of the five categories defined in the AIA Materials Pledge: climate health, human health, ecosystem health, social health and equity, and circular economy.

EQ Credit: Occupant Experience encourages customization of indoor environments to best serve user needs. Worth up to seven (7) points, this credit includes options for biophilic design, quality views, adaptable spaces, thermal comfort, visual comfort, acoustic comfort, quality electric lighting, and daylight simulation.

5. Those pilot credits you labor over actually do make a difference

Pilot credits have long been a staple of LEED. USGBC defines them as "proposed credits that are used to test and evaluate a strategy before they can be considered for incorporation into the LEED consensus process for approval by USGBC membership."

Do you ever wonder how much "piloting" actually occurs through these credits? 

Turns out - a lot. In addition to the three incorporated pilot credits mentioned above, here are eleven other LEED v4/4.1 BD+C pilot credits that found their way into LEED v5 BD+C in some manner (though, with considerable adaptation in some instances): 

SSpc55: Bird collision deterrence.

EQpc78: Design for active occupants.

IPpc98: Assessment and Planning for Resilience.

IPpc99: Design for Enhanced Resilience.

WEpc115: Whole Project Water Use Reduction.

EQpc123: Designing with Nature, Biophilic Design for the Indoor Environment.

INpc125: Inclusive Design.

WEpc147: All-Gender Restrooms.

EApc160: Electrification ACP: Prescriptive Path.

EApc161: Electrification ACP: Energy Simulation Performance Path.

EQpc165: Minimum Indoor Air Quality Performance: IAQP compliance path.

This is not necessarily a complete list. However, it makes the point that those pilot credits your team has labored over are indeed serving a purpose toward the future development of LEED.

Stay tuned to USGBC for updates as LEED v5 launches

Soon to enter the ballot and member ratification phase before it opens for registration in early 2025, the latest draft of LEED v5 is available for free through USGBC.

Find more information on LEED v5 at usgbc.org/leed/v5