The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) launched LEED v5, the latest version of its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building program. LEED v5 builds on a 25-year legacy and global impact of LEED, updating the sustainability standard for the building industry while providing user-friendly tools for building owners and teams to pursue certification through enhanced technology updates.
“Since its public launch 25 years ago, LEED has profoundly impacted millions of people in cities and communities around the world,” says Peter Templeton, president and CEO at USGBC. “LEED v5 raises the bar, further defining and evolving best practices and giving stakeholders across the building industry clear pathways to address today’s challenges to our health, climate, and communities.”
LEED v5 was developed with input from thousands of building professionals to respond to today’s most pressing challenges and the significant opportunities at the intersection of sustainability and buildings. LEED v5 focuses on impact areas including decarbonization, human and ecological health, and resilience. The new standard further defines what it means to be a high-performance building, creating even greater investment potential.
Decarbonization accounts for half of all points for LEED v5 certification to confront current climate needs. The new rating system provides clear, actionable steps to deliver ultra-low-carbon buildings by targeting emissions reductions across all aspects of the building lifecycle, including operations, embodied carbon, refrigerants, and transportation. All LEED v5 projects will complete an operational carbon projection and be given tools to craft a comprehensive, long-term decarbonization strategy, creating pathways for sustainable transformation.
Quality of life credits focus on human-centric strategies that address the health and well-being of occupants and the communities in which buildings are located. Global demand for healthier and greener spaces has grown in recent years, with occupants increasingly demanding more transparency and accountability around sustainability and health in the built environment.
Resilience is another major theme across the rating system, addressing both human and natural systems to strengthen communities. All LEED v5 projects will complete climate resilience assessments to enhance awareness of hazards, increase transparency of risks, reduce vulnerabilities, and ensure long-term safety and sustainability. These assessments equip projects to conserve and restore ecosystems, mitigate risks, and minimize business disruptions while protecting asset value, contributing to economic prosperity and safety across communities. Once projects conduct their assessments, LEED v5 offers a variety of strategies that can be incorporated at every stage of the building lifecycle to reduce risk and enhance resilience.
“Investors, owners, occupants, and policymakers are asking for high-performing buildings that reduce emissions, mitigate climate risk, provide healthy, productive spaces, positively impact communities, and protect natural systems,” says Sarah Zaleski, chief products officer at USGBC. “LEED v5 provides the best practices and accountability to drive performance across all these dimensions, delivering tangible benefits to building owners and their stakeholders.”
LEED-certified assets are proven to drive return on investment and greater future earning potential. Notably, LEED buildings achieve a 21.4 percent higher average market sales price per sf over non-LEED buildings; average 11 percent higher rent rates; attract more favorable and stable financing options; and reduce water, energy, and waste by more than 20 percent. These environments also result in healthier and more productive employees and occupants.
“For more than two decades, LEED has played a critical role in transforming the real estate sector at a global scale by bridging the gap between sustainability and commercial value,” Anica Landreneau, senior principal and director of sustainability at HOK, based in St. Louis, Mo. “It has empowered organizations to develop high-performance buildings that significantly reduce environmental impacts and provide healthier, more resilient spaces for occupants, while also supporting the achievement of business goals.”