LEED v5 Compliance: Why Manufacturers Need HPDs in 2025

As we move through 2025, the landscape of chemical disclosure in building products has evolved dramatically, driven by regulatory changes, market demands, and the growing recognition that the built environment directly influences occupant health. The convergence of new standards, enhanced…

Building Healthier Spaces: How LEED’s Rating System Combats Harmful Chemicals

The modern built environment profoundly impacts human health, with Americans spending approximately 90% of their time indoors. Yet for decades, the construction industry operated with limited awareness of how building materials and their chemical components affect occupant wellbeing. LEED has…

Forever Chemicals in Building Products: How HPDs Provide Solutions

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of over 14,000 synthetic chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products for more than 70 years. Often called "forever chemicals," PFAS are valued for their unique properties: they resist…

What Is the LEED v5 Low-Emitting Materials Credit?

The overall purpose of the LEED v5 Low-Emitting Materials credit is to protect indoor air quality and human health by requiring the use of building materials with low or no emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This helps reduce indoor…

4 Simple Ways to Get Your Products Specified for LEED v5

The release of LEED v5 marks a seismic shift in green building — not just another update, but a radical realignment of what it means to build sustainably. This isn’t incremental change. This is a full-on sprint toward climate resilience,…

Understanding LEED v5 Reduce Embodied Carbon Credit

The LEED v5 BD+C Materials and Resources Credit: Reduce Embodied Carbon marks a transformative shift in sustainable design, placing embodied carbon at the forefront of green building certification. For design professionals, this credit introduces both a challenge and an opportunity to…

LEED v5 Building Product Selection and Procurement Credit

The Building Product Selection and Procurement credit is one of the most important LEED v5 credits for building product manufacturers. The credit is also critical for design professionals to understand since it significantly affects product specification. Some sustainability experts call…

Integrative Process in LEED v5 Explained

The USGBC emphasizes the importance of the Integrative Process in its LEED v5 rating system, particularly through the Integrative Process credit for New Construction and Core and Shell projects. This credit promotes a collaborative, early-stage approach to building design and construction,…

LEED v5 Embodied Carbon Prerequisite: What Product Manufacturers Must Know

The release of LEED v5 in 2025 marks a pivotal shift in sustainable construction, with embodied carbon now front and center.  Assessing and reporting embodied carbon is a mandatory prerequisite for LEED certification. This change compels building product manufacturers to…

How to Meet LEED v5’s Human Impact Assessment Prerequisite

In the world of green building, it's no longer enough to design a structure that simply checks boxes for energy use, water efficiency, or recycled materials. With LEED v5, the bar is being raised to include something deeper: a commitment to people.…

How LEED v5’s Climate Resilience Assessment Requirement Will Reshape the Role of Design Professionals

As climate change tightens its grip, LEED v5 is throwing down the gauntlet with a powerful new prerequisite:  Climate Resilience Assessment. This isn’t just another checkbox for architects and engineers—it’s a paradigm shift in how we approach building design. This…

Green Building Programs Surge Despite Federal Pushback

Despite potential federal rollbacks of clean energy initiatives, water protection rules, and air quality standards, the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry continues to embrace sustainability at an accelerating pace. New research from 2025 indicates that programs like LEED (Leadership…

The Rise of HPDs: Essential Tools in Building Specifications

In today's market, an HPD is essential. Manufacturers who don't provide them are effectively removing themselves from consideration significant projects. The shift towards mandatory HPDs is revolutionizing the AEC industry. It's pushing manufacturers to be more accountable and design professionals…

The LEED v5 Credit That Manufacturers Need To Prepare For

What LEED v5 credit should building product manufacturers focus on? What LEED credit will offer most manufacturers the highest ROI? Today we will discuss one of the most important LEED v5 credits and how it can benefit manufacturers. LEED v5:…

Banned: How Manufacturers Without HPDs Lose Specs

A product manufacturer called me last week in a panic. A prominent AEC firm had banned his products. “How is the possible?” asked the manufacturer. “This AEC firm has specified us for years. We can’t afford to lose the business!”…