How similar is LEED v5 to v4.1 and other past versions? The newest version seeks to transform the rating system to be more accessible and holistically impactful.
The CBF Philip Merrill Environmental Center, in Annapolis, Maryland, was the first building to be LEED certified in the United States in March 2000. The center was one of the first commercial projects to utilize rainwater harvesting, which has reduced water use by 90%.
Photo: Merrill Center, USGBC Version 5 of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification program has been in the making for years. LEED v5 did not have a foreseeable public timeline a little more than five years ago (BuildingGreen, 2019). Now, to celebrate the 25th year anniversary of the first LEED for New Construction rating system, LEED v5 is finally here.
The U.S. Green Building Council released the fifth version of LEED on April 28, 2025. The latest version had been v4.1, which touched on many of the core principles that now dominate v5. Many aspects of the program will be consistent with v4.1, but v5 shifts focus to climate resiliency and actionable steps toward social equitability.
Although LEED v5 is aiming to add to LEED v4.1, it is shifting focus into more largely measurable impacts toward conservation and greater climate adaptation goals that foster the well-being of humans and the environment. The most radical change into a more accountable future from LEED v5 is its promotion of decarbonization and net-zero emissions.
Impact areas named as the focus of LEED v5 credits are as follows: ecological conservation and restoration, quality of life and decarbonization. Approximately 50% of credits will be centered around decarbonization, 25% awarded to quality of life and 25% awarded to ecological conservation and restoration.
Photo: NRMCA, USGBC
Decarbonization & Embodied Carbon
There will now be minimum requirements regarding embodied carbon and carbon reporting in buildings seeking certification. U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently hosted and will host future webinars about carbon reduction requirements and more in LEED v5. There are newly included Platinum requirements to ensure low carbon emissions and a near zero carbon future that is equitable.
LEED v5’s shift from v4.1 is that 50% of credits now mandate decarbonization. Operational, embodied and transit carbon will encapsulate these newly available carbon reduction credits. Carbon assessments will allow LEED v5 to highlight feasible ways to reduce carbon emissions long-term, both directly and indirectly.
Operational carbon credits are meant to reduce carbon emissions through energy efficiency, renewable energy, reduced peak loads and selection management of refrigerants. New example credits toward reducing operational carbon are Minimum Energy Efficiency (BD+C), Electrification (BD+C), Reduce Peak Thermal Loads (BD+C), Peak Low Reduction Performance (O+M), Renewable Energy (BD+C) and Fundamental Refrigerant Management (BD+C).
Decarbonization related to embodied carbon refers to reducing carbon by material selection and strategies to reuse materials. Some examples of these new credits include Quantify and Assess Embodied Carbon (BD+C), Reduce Embodied Carbon (ID+C, BD+C) and Waste Reduction Performance (O+M).
Transit carbon credits reduce transportation emissions through connected, compact and transit-oriented development. Examples include Transportation Demand Management (BD+C), Compact and Connected Development and Electric Vehicles (BD+C).
Quality of Life
Human-centric designs are at the forefront of the LEED v5 updates for a greater quality of life for individuals and communities. A quarter of new LEED v5 credits center around quality of life to improve human well-being and health, equity and inclusion and resilience for occupants of buildings and the communities they reside in. Elements of the rating system that support equity and inclusivity are enhanced, and there is a greater focus on creating more resilient and adaptable plans. The addition of these credits will increase the chances of communities enjoying and caring about buildings and the spaces they occupy.
Resilient and adaptable projects will be created through additional credits introduced in LEED v5. Some examples of these credits are Climate Resilience Assessment (BD+C, ID+C, and O+M), Grid Interactive (BD+C) and Enhanced Resilient Site Design (BD+C). There will also be prerequisites for resilience as well as credits. The LEED v5 Integrative Process (IP) prerequisite is a Climate Resilience Assessment for many credits such as the Sustainable Sites (SS) Enhanced Resilient Site Design credit.
In a Climate Resilience Assessment, projects must address at least 2 out of 12 site-specific natural and climate events through design strategies. The hazards include: drought, extreme heat and cold, flooding, hurricane and high winds, hail, landslide, sea level rise and storm surge, tornado, tsunami, wildfire and smoke, winter storm, or a specified other hazard. There must be a detailed response to each hazard through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emissions scenario to specify Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) involved with future modeling, hazard level and risk rating, projected service life of the project, and more.
Equity and inclusivity will be emphasized through LEED v5’s push for a greater quality of life. Elements of the system that support inclusivity and equity will be enhanced and emphasized through new credits. These credits include Human Impact Assessment (BD+C, ID+C, and O+M), Accessibility and Inclusion (BD+C) and Equitable Development (BD+C).
Occupant and direct community well-being as well as health will also be addressed through new credits in LEED v5. These new credits aimed at increasing overall human health and well-being through fostering inclusive spaces will strengthen the connection between people and their built as well as natural environments. Some examples of these new credits include Indoor Air Quality Performance (O+M), Accessible Outdoor Space (BD+C) and Low Emitting Materials (BD+C, ID+C).
Ecological Conservation and Restoration
A quarter of new credits in LEED v5 are dedicated to promoting native restoration and biodiversity conservation. The goal of these credits are to also minimize ecological harm by emphasizing actions and strategies that consider the interconnectedness of built structures and their environments. There will be a focus on conserving and restoring natural ecosystems as well as using resources efficiently when they impact the environment.
To focus on restoring and reducing impact on ecosystems, there will be many recommended strategies. These strategies include: Reducing and optimizing water use, protecting sensitive land for best use, minimizing site impact while increasing connectivity, using land for mixed-use and compact developments, considering bird-friendly design and avian patterns, creating pollinator pathways and reducing impact on wildlife.
To aid in using resources efficiently that impact natural habitats, there will also be many recommendations in LEED v5. Examples of strategies include whole building lifecycle assessment for building materials as well as reducing waste and planning for zero waste operations.
The project scorecard for BD+C is broken down into three sectors: Decarbonization, Quality of Life and Ecological Conservation and Restoration. There are a number of prerequisites now required for qualification for certain credits.
Photo: USGBC
Guides for LEED v5
The current scorecard for LEED v5 for Design and Construction: New Construction. There are 110 possible points with several prerequisites required for multiple categories of credits, such as Energy and Atmosphere as well as Indoor Environmental Quality.
Photo: USGBC New reference guides are available from USGBC, which include the rating system requirements, documentation requirements, referenced standards, explanation of Minimum Program Requirements (MPRs) and more for the LEED v5 rating system. View the reference guides available for Building Design and Construction, Interior Design and Construction and Operations and Maintenance from the April 2025 launch:
Credit libraries and scorecard guides are also newly available for Building Design and Construction, Interior Design and Construction and Operations and Maintenance. View LEED v5 scorecards and credit libraries below:
In addition to earning LEED v5 O+M: Existing Buildings certification in October 2024, Portobello Shop Jardim Social achieved LEED Zero certification in Energy and Carbon in January 2025.
Photo: Portobello, USGBC
The first worldwide as well as the first retail project to earn LEED v5 O+M certification is Portobello Shop Jardim Social in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Portobello Shop Jardim Social specializes in architecture as well as products, such as ceramic tiling and decorative interior fixtures. They have a long-held dedication to sustainability, especially through their partnered product designs like high-efficiency water fixtures. Portobello Shop Jardim Social was also certified Platinum in 2023 under LEED v4 for Interior Design and Construction. Portobello Shop Jardim Social not only achieved LEED v5 O+M certification through air purification systems and more, they also received certification for LEED Zero Energy and Carbon.
The graded scorecard for Portobello Shop Jardim Social, which earned LEED v5 Platinum.
Photo: USGBC
Andre Belloni of Petellini Engineering stated that while working on LEED v5 certification for Portobello Shop Jardim Social, he noticed a change from LEED v4 into an emphasis on measured performance of the building. This change was a shift from care and intent to evidence and real-time reports in LEED v5.
Citigroup Center in Miami, Florida, achieved LEED v5 O+M: Existing Buildings certification in December 2024.
Photo: Citigroup, USGBC
Citigroup Center, which was built in Miami, Florida, in 1983, is the first office building in the U.S. that is certified under LEED v5. Citigroup Center is a 34-story office tower with a café, restaurant and many lounging spaces. Health and wellness have always been at the center of their goals, with LEED v5 making them even more accessible. LEED v5 certification for Citigroup Center was possible because of how far the building has come in updating itself sustainably with occupant health in mind. Health and wellness was expanded through optimizing the ventilation system as well as highlighting available modes of sustainable transportation.
The graded scorecard for Citigroup Center, which earned LEED v5 Silver.
Photo: USGBC LEED v5 makes it possible for office buildings like Citigroup Center to achieve LEED certification, considering they were unable to achieve other forms of LEED certification in the past. Existing buildings are being prioritized as well in LEED v5, since there is a greater understanding that the most sustainable building is probably one that has already been built.
BranchPattern in Omaha, Nebraska, achieved LEED v5 O+M: Existing Buildings Platinum certification in January 2025.
Photo: BranchPattern, USGBC
USGBC’s third example and first Platinum project in the U.S. certified under LEED v5 O+M is BranchPattern in Omaha, Nebraska. BranchPattern, a sustainable building consultancy company, had their office certified LEED Platinum in 2010. Real-time tracking and long-term plans for decarbonization were one of the biggest differences between LEED v4.1 and LEED v5 that BranchPattern found when gaining certification. They also mentioned a shift from design intent and one-time additions to being based on long-term performance in LEED v5. Being an all-electric building wasn’t enough; there had to be a long-term decarbonization plan for managing sourcing electricity for LEED v5 certification.
LEED v5 vs. LEED v4.1
New key LEED v5 takeaways include a transformation into long-term decarbonization, ecological conservation and restoration and quality of life. Half of the credits available in LEED v5 are dedicated to decarbonization, while ecological conservation and restoration as well as quality of life each have a quarter of LEED v5 credits dedicated to them.
There is a larger movement toward transparency in the rating system in LEED v5, without a need to use Arc, a platform to measure the operational performance of a space or building, which is different from LEED v4.1. Prerequisites are also required for many credits in LEED v5, to make projects truly energy efficient and leaders in decarbonization and sustainability. By conducting a Whole-Building Life Cycle Assessment (wbLCA) and addressing carbon reductions in the construction phase, a project can gain more points in LEED v5. There are more strict requirements for Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) in LEED v5 as well as offering more points to buildings that preserve existing structures and reuse building materials.
To support those seeking LEED v5 certification, USGBC will be offering many initiatives to effectively implement LEED v5 in projects. There are multiple webinars coming up throughout the year as well as in-person workshops about the LEED v5 rating system. The USGBC-partnered Greenbuild International Conference and Expo will take place November 4-7 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The Future of LEED
LEED v5 is the first step toward a more frequently evolving, comprehensive and impactful environmentally just human standard. Updates will be coming every five years, with the next projected update scheduled for 2030. LEED v6 is also planned to be launched as a balloted rating system, just like LEED v5.
The final date to register for LEED v4 and v4.1 is coming up shortly. Registration for LEED v4 and v4.1 will close at the end of the first quarter of 2026 (but will still remain open for residential projects). Registration is currently open for LEED v5 and certification will be open for application in the third quarter of this year. Register and find more information at USGBC.org.
