Building certification criteria LEED
Find out more about the LEED certification criteria for buildings here
LEED criteria
LEED certification evaluates 9 environmental categories based on prerequisites and credits.
Points are awarded for the fulfillment of the credits.
LEED offers customized certification systems with different evaluation criteria for new buildings, existing buildings and renovations.
The most frequently used system is LEED New Construction & Major Renovation, with a maximum of 110 achievable points.
Prerequisites are minimum requirements that must be met for certification, but do not earn any points.
Credits are additional requirements that can be fulfilled in various environmental categories.
There are no requirements for the selection of credits, and the fulfillment of these earns points that influence the certification result.
The most important criteria, which specifically consider the materials and building products, are:
LEED Building Design and Construction V4 (2015):
- MR Credit BPDO – Environmental Product Declarations
- MR Credit BPDO – Sourcing of Raw Materials
- MR Credit BPDO – Material Ingredients
- EQ Credit Low-Emitting Materials
* BPDO = Building Product Disclosure and Optimization
LEED certification is based on the percentage of the total number of points achieved. At least 36% or 40 points are required for the “Certified” level. The “Silver” level requires at least 45% or 50 points, “Gold” at least 55% or 60 points and the highest level “Platinum” at least 73% or 80 points.
Criteria LEED v4 for BD+C: New Construction and Major Renovation
Integrative Process - integrative planning process
| Nr. | Kriterium |
| Credit 1 | Integrative Process |
Location/Transportation - infrastructural integration of the location
| Credit 1 | LEED for Neighborhood Development Location |
| Credit 2 | Sensitive Land Protection |
| Credit 3 | High Priority Site |
| Credit 4 | Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses |
| Credit 5 | Access to Quality Transit |
| Credit 6 | Bicycle Facilities |
| Credit 7 | Reduced parking footprint |
| Credit 8 | Green Vehicles |
Sustainable Sites - Sustainable location / property qualities
| No. | Criterion | ||
| Prereq 1 | Construction Activity Pollution Prevention | ||
| Credit 1 | Site Assessment | ||
| Credit 2 | Site Development-Protect or Restore Habitat | ||
| Credit 3 | Open Space | ||
| Credit 4 | Rainwater Management | ||
| Credit 5 | Heat Island Reduction | ||
| Credit 6 | Light Pollution Reduction | ||
Water Efficiency - Water efficiency
| Nr. | Kriterium |
| Prereq 1 | Outdoor Water Use Reduction |
| Prereq 2 | Indoor Water Use Reduction |
| Prereq 3 | Building-Level Water Metering |
| Credit 1 | Outdoor Water Use Reduction |
| Credit 2 | Indoor Water Use Reduction |
| Credit 3 | Cooling Tower Water Use |
| Credit 4 | Water Metering |
Energy and Atmosphere - Energy and global environmental impacts
| Nr. | Kriterium |
| Prereq 1 | Fundamental Commissioning and Verification |
| Prereq 2 | Minimum Energy Performance |
| Prereq 3 | Building-Level Energy Metering |
| Prereq 4 | Fundamental Refrigerant Management |
| Credit 1 | Enhanced Commissioning |
| Credit 2 | Optimize Energy Performance |
| Credit 3 | Advanced Energy Metering |
| Credit 4 | Demand Response |
| Credit 5 | Renewable Energy Production |
| Credit 6 | Enhanced Refrigerant Management |
| Credit 7 | Green Power and Carbon Offsets |
Materials and Resources - Material cycles and resource conservation
| Nr. | Kriterium |
| Prereq 1 | Storage and Collection of Recyclables |
| Prereq 2 | Construction and Demolition Waste Management Planning |
| Credit 1 | Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction |
| Credit 2 | Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Environmental Product Declarations |
| Credit 3 | Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Sourcing of Raw Materials |
| Credit 4 | Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Material Ingredients |
| Credit 5 | Construction and Demolition Waste Management |
Indoor Environmental Quality - Indoor (air) quality and comfort
| Nr. | Kriterium |
| Prereq 1 | Minimum Indoor Air Quality Performance |
| Prereq 2 | Environmental Tobacco Smoke Control |
| Credit 1 | Enhanced Indoor Air Quality Strategies |
| Credit 2 | Low-Emitting Materials |
| Credit 3 | Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan |
| Credit 4 | Indoor Air Quality Assessment |
| Credit 5 | Thermal Comfort |
| Credit 6 | Interior Lighting |
| Credit 7 | Daylight |
| Credit 8 | Quality Views |
| Credit 9 | Acoustic Performance |
Innovation
| Nr. | Kriterium |
| Credit 1 | Innovation |
| Credit 2 | LEED Accredited Professional |
Source: LEED rating system | U.S. Green Building Council (usgbc.org)
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