A high-profile environmental certification program has updated its framework for the first time in about a decade as sustainability features become a selling pitch of top-tier office and other properties around the world.
The U.S. Green Building Council unveiled the fifth version its flagship Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, better known as LEED, that was introduced 25 years ago.
The changes reflect what’s considered some of the pressing environmental and other issues of today, the nonprofit said. For instance, decarbonation now accounts for half of all points for certification, up from 35% previously. The changes came after USGBC got feedback from building owners, designers and other subject matter experts, Sarah Zaleski, chief products officer of USGBC, said in an interview.
The changes “respond to the marketing imperatives for high-performance” buildings that parties including investors and building occupants are looking for, buildings that are resilient and can be “good ecological stewards of their environments where they're located,” she said.
There are more than 125,000 LEED-certified total projects globally, including commercial and residential properties as well as homes and neighborhood projects, a spokesperson told CoStar News, adding USGBC has seen an increase in certifications for commercial projects since 2020. Projects get their certifications and rankings based on the points they accrue from various areas they choose.
The rollout of the latest version of LEED comes as demand grows for so-called sustainable buildings.
For instance, green certified Class A office spaces have a rental premium of nearly 12% across eight major markets in the United States and Canada, according to a JLL study. In New York, where office leasing is dominated by finance and professional services that tend to be “highly carbon conscious,” 72% of the city’s leased footprint of the top 100 occupiers is tied to a “carbon commitment,” JLL said.
“Pressure to lease spaces that both support corporates’ low carbon goals and meet employees’ rising expectations will intensify in the next few years,” JLL said.
As lowering carbon emissions takes up half of the points of the new LEED program, USGBC has provided what Zaleski described as “the most comprehensive framework for buildings to decarbonize at each stage of their asset life cycle” to include not just energy efficiency, but also areas such as using renewable energy to electrify a building, how buildings interact with the grid, and the refrigerant management and electric vehicle infrastructure.
The LEED update requires buildings to complete assessments in such areas as “climate resilience.” For instance, in regions that are prone to a wildfire risk, buildings can win points when they show what they can do to mitigate against those risks, according to Zaleski.
The new program also expands the ability to allow projects to custom tailor how they win points based on their locations or the types of buildings involved. A healthcare facility, for example, may get points by providing “acoustics” that can block noise for patients, she said.
“We recognize it’s not a one-size-fits-all” approach, Zaleski said. “High performance for one isn’t the high performance for another building. … The projects and teams can tailor their sustainability approach. … We build out other credits that are region specific.”