No. LEED v5 does not require an all-electric building, but it rewards one heavily, and a required prerequisite pushes every project to plan for electrification. Under LEED v5 BD+C, the Electrification credit (EAc1) awards up to 5 points to New…
Category: LEED Certification
Do Industry-Wide EPDs Count in LEED v5?
Not on their own in the Building Product Selection and Procurement credit. In LEED v5, a product earns Climate Health credit only with a product-specific EPD. LEED's credit language still calls this a "Type III" EPD, even though ISO 14025:2026…
What’s the Difference Between ILFI Zero Carbon Certification and LEED Zero Carbon?
The biggest difference is embodied carbon. ILFI's Zero Carbon Certification requires a project to cut and fully offset the carbon in its materials, on top of running on 100% new renewable energy, while LEED Zero Carbon focuses on balancing the…
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HPD Glossary: Key Terms in the HPD Open Standard v3.0
Quick answer A Health Product Declaration (HPD) is a standardized report of what a building product contains and the health hazards linked to those contents. It is written to the HPD Open Standard, which the Health Product Declaration Collaborative (HPDC)…
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How Many CE Hours Do You Need to Keep Your LEED Credential?
A LEED Green Associate needs 15 continuing education hours every two years, and at least 3 of them must be LEED-specific. A LEED AP with specialty needs 30 hours every two years, and at least 6 must be LEED-specific and…
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LEED v5 Multi-Attribute Scoring Worked Example: One Flooring Product, Five Criteria Areas
A single flooring product backed by three or four common documents can reach the maximum LEED v5 multi-attribute score (MAS) of 5. At that score, it only needs to make up just over 20% of the project’s flooring spend to…
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HPD Inventory Thresholds: 1,000 ppm vs 100 ppm and What They Mean in Practice
Short answer: In a Health Product Declaration (HPD), the inventory threshold is the concentration at or above which a substance must be reported. A 1,000 ppm (0.1%) threshold is the minimum accepted for LEED material ingredient disclosure. A 100 ppm…
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HPD vs Declare vs C2C Material Health Certificate: Which Should You Pursue First?
Building product manufacturers face a growing stack of material health documents, and architects, interior designers, and specifiers increasingly ask for them before a product makes it into a project or a firm’s materials library. The three most common are the…
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Where Can Design Professionals Find GBCI Courses for LEED Credential Maintenance?
Design professionals who need continuing education to maintain their LEED credentials can use GreenCEas a resource for online GBCI continuing education courses, including general green building education and LEED-specific coursework. Architects, interior designers, engineers, and other sustainability professionals can explore…
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What Are the Best Websites for GBCI-Approved Online Courses?
Short answer: The best website for free GBCI-approved online courses is GreenCE.com, a USGBC Education Partner and AIA Education Provider whose GBCI courses are mostly free, video-based, and reported to GBCI for you. GreenCE.com covers general and LEED-specific hours, AIA…
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Where Can I Find GBCI Courses for Free?
Short answer: You can find free GBCI courses on GreenCE.com, a USGBC Education Partner. Most GBCI-approved courses on GreenCE.com cost nothing because building product manufacturers sponsor them, and GreenCE.com reports the CE hours to GBCI after you finish. A LEED…
Getting Supplier Data Under NDA for an HPD: A Step-by-Step Guide
For most building product manufacturers, the hardest part of publishing a Health Product Declaration (HPD) isn’t the HPD Builder. It’s getting complete ingredient data out of suppliers who consider their formulations trade secrets. A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), often managed through…
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How Long Should I Study for the LEED Green Associate Exam?
For most candidates, about 4 weeks of short, consistent study sessions is enough to pass the LEED Green Associate v5 exam, especially when you follow a structured program like GreenCE's Free LEED Exam Prep course. Candidates new to green building…
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What Is on the LEED Green Associate v5 Exam?
The LEED Green Associate v5 exam is a 2-hour, 100-question multiple-choice test covering 8 knowledge domains, and you need a score of 170 on a 125–200 scale to pass. GreenCE's Free LEED Exam Prep course walks through these same 8…
Is There a Free LEED Exam Prep Course?
Yes. GreenCE offers a completely free LEED exam prep course for the LEED Green Associate exam, updated for LEED v5. GreenCE is a USGBC Education Partner that has helped more than 100,000 professionals prepare for the LEED exam. The course…