What stays the same
If you have certified under LEED v4, the machinery is familiar. v5 keeps the parts that make a LEED rating worth pursuing:
- Mandatory, pass/fail prerequisites before any points count.
- A 110-point commercial scale and the same four levels — Certified 40, Silver 50, Gold 60, Platinum 80+.
- Independent GBCI certification — the body that writes the standard is still not the body that certifies against it.
What changes
The emphasis moves. v5 re-centres the rating around decarbonization and broadens what a "green" building has to account for:
- Decarbonization moves to the centre. Energy and Atmosphere is reframed around carbon, not just energy-cost performance.
- Three mandatory assessments. Every project now addresses climate resilience, human impact, and carbon.
- Same ladder, new weighting. The 110 points and the four levels remain, but where the points sit shifts toward decarbonization and equitable outcomes.
The timing decision
For commercial projects there is a real choice between v4 and v5 right now, and it is governed by dates:
- v4 / v4.1 registration closes 30 June 2027.
- Those projects must certify by the 30 June 2033 sunset.
- From 1 July 2027, v5 is the only version available for new commercial registrations.
Where your project sits against those dates — and how far along its design is — decides whether v4 or v5 is the smarter route. It is one of the first questions worth settling.
What to do now
- Model carbon early. With EA re-centred on decarbonization, an early energy-and-carbon model changes design decisions while they are still cheap.
- Decide v4 vs v5 deliberately. Map your timeline against the registration and sunset dates before you register.
- Design for the new assessments. Resilience and human-impact thinking are easiest to build in at concept, not retrofit at submission.
Talk to us about LEED v5
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