LEED v4 Changes: New Credit Categories?

One hundred and twenty two projects have already tested the rating system while it was in beta. And while USGBC is extending the transition period for LEED v4 out to October 2016, the organization is hopeful that professionals will start choosing the new rating systems for their projects.

Among LEED v4’s most significant changes are simplified and improved project tools and customer service, an emphasis on project performance post-construction or renovation, additional impact categories (such as climate change and human health), and rating systems for new market sectors (such as data centers and warehouses). To learn more about these overarching changes to the rating systems, see my previous article (link to article 1).

To understand how much the LEED v4 rating system differs from the 2009 version, I compared each Building Design + Construction v4 credit category to 2009’s credit categories. I learned how the prerequisites and credits have been adjusted and adapted for v4.

LEED v4 Credit Categories

Sustainable Sites

Many of the v4 Sustainable Sites credits are similar to those in version 2009, though some of the credits, such as “Bicycle Facilities”, “Access to Quality Transit” and “Green Vehicles”, have been moved from this category to the new “Location & Transportation” credit category. LEED v4's Sustainable Sites credit category still contains credits for construction activity pollution prevention, heat island reduction, light pollution reduction, open space, and protect or restore habitat.

One notable change is that the stormwater management credits are now referred to as “Rainwater Management”. The credit is quite different from the previous stormwater credits, in that it allows two options for compliance: 1) percentile of rainfall events and 2) natural land cover conditions. For percentile of rainfall events, the project must manage the runoff on the site for a certain “percentile of regional or local rainfall events”. For the natural land cover conditions option, the project must “manage on site the annual increase in runoff volume from the natural land cover condition to the post developed condition”.

Another new feature is the “Site Assessment” credit for new projects, which awards one point for projects that assess the site’s condition before design for features such as topography, hydrology, climate, vegetation, soils, human use, and human health effects. The project can use the survey or assessment to make informed decisions about sustainable options for the project.

Water Efficiency

While similar in principle, there are some significant changes to the Water Efficiency credit category. Instead of “Water Use Reduction” and “Water Efficient Landscaping”, the credits are now “Indoor Water Use Reduction” and “Outdoor Water Use Reduction”. While the indoor water use prerequisite and credit are similar to the “Water Use Reduction” credit from LEED 2009, outdoor water use reduction is now required as a prerequisite (with room for additional improvement with an optional credit). Previously, Water Efficient Landscaping was only an optional credit. Innovative Wastewater Technologies is no longer a credit, since its concepts have been spread among other credits in the category.

Water metering is perhaps the most significant update to this credit category. Building-level water metering is required as a prerequisite. Projects can meet the requirement by installing water meters for a selection of various water subsystems, such as irrigation, domestic hot water, and indoor plumbing fixtures. Projects can earn an additional point for installing more water meters on more types of subsystems.

Energy & Atmosphere

The Energy and Atmosphere credit category is similar in structure to the LEED 2009. It still addresses commissioning, refrigerant management, minimum and optimized energy performance, green power and renewable energy.

Like Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere now requires building-energy metering in a new prerequisite. The building must install a meter (or submeters) that track the total building energy consumption at least monthly. The project must commit to providing that data to USGBC for at least five years. A project can also earn an additional point for more rigorous metering and tracking of its energy usage. This is consistent with USGBC’s increased emphasis on building performance, rather than just design.

Another significant addition is “Demand Response”. This credit awards points to projects that participate in a utility’s existing Demand Response program or, in cases where they are not available, provide infrastructure to participate in a future program.

Materials & Resources

The Materials and Resources credit category has arguably changed the most out of all of the existing credit categories. The only prerequisites and credits that look remotely similar to the LEED 2009 version are “Storage and Collection of Recyclables” and “Construction and Demolition Waste Management Planning”. The new credits include “Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction”, and “Building Product Disclosure and Optimization” for Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), Sourcing of Raw Materials, and Material Ingredients.

The Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction has four options: historic building reuse, renovation of abandoned or blighted buildings, building and material reuse, or a whole-building life-cycle assessment. The intention of the credit is to encourage reuse and lessen the building’s environmental impact.

The Building Product Disclosure and Optimization credits aim to encourage the use of products with limited impacts throughout their lifetimes, and from manufacturers that provide transparency about the product’s ingredients and manufacturing processes. In LEED 2009, these credits really focused on individual features like FSC-certified wood or a certain percentage of recycled material. These new credits attempt to capture more of a comprehensive view of the material’s sustainability throughout its life cycle. They not only encourage the project teams to use more sustainable materials, but also incentivizes product manufacturers to provide better, detailed information about where their products came from, how they were produced, and what they contain.

Indoor Environmental Quality

Unlike Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality is very similar to the original credit category from 2009. It still addresses minimum indoor air quality performance and environmental tobacco smoke control in its prerequisites. It also addresses daylight, views, thermal comfort, low emitting materials, and a construction indoor air quality management plan in its credits.

“Enhanced Indoor Air Quality Strategies” is a new credit in this category that builds on Increased Ventilation from the previous rating system. It does include a requirement for increased ventilation, but also for carbon dioxide monitoring, entryway systems, cross-contamination prevention, filtration, and air contamination prevention and monitoring. Depending on whether the building uses mechanical, natural, or mixed-mode ventilation, it must meet certain elements of the credit.

Innovation

Formerly called “Innovation in Design” or “Innovation in Operations”, Innovation is very similar to its LEED 2009 counterparts. Projects can still earn points for using innovative strategies, achieving exemplary performance, or attempting pilot credits.

There is also one point available for having at least one LEED AP with specialty as a principal participant of the project. It’s important to note that this means legacy LEED APs are no longer eligible for an Innovation point.

Regional Priority

Regional priority is essentially identical to the credit in LEED 2009. Projects can earn up to four out of six points available for using strategies identified by that region’s USGBC council or chapter.

Integrative Process Credits. While USGBC has always strongly stressed integrated project design, or “IPD”, it now awards one point for using a collaborative design process from the pre-design phase through the design phases. The project team must identify potential synergies across credit categories and document how their early analyses informed their project requirements and basis of design.

Location & Transportation

This new credit category addresses sustainable communities and land use. Many of the credits in this category were originally found in the Sustainable Sites credit category in LEED 2009, but have been amended and included here. For example, credits include “sensitive land protection”, “access to quality transit”, “green vehicles”, “surrounding density and diverse uses”, and “bicycle facilities”, all which have their slightly varied counterparts in LEED 2009.

Some notable new features in this category include points for projects that build on LEED for Neighborhood Development certified sites, as well as a credit for “high priority sites”. New projects can earn points for building in historic districts, on brownfield remediation sites, or on a site with “priority designation”, such as a site on an EPA National Priorities List or that is sited as a Federal Empowerment Zone.

As you can see, LEED v4 has kept some prerequisites and credits virtually the same, but has made some significant changes to nearly every major credit category. Many of these additions, such as the water and energy metering requirements, focus on the certified building’s continued performance, rather than just the design. Similarly, it encourages the use of materials that are sustainable from extraction to disposal. It has also made site selection and consideration an important part of the LEED decision-making process, and provides extra incentive for integrated project design.

If you're interested in becoming a LEED professional, read our article on passing the LEED v4 exam here.