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
Source: LEED rating system | U.S. Green Building Council (usgbc.org)
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