As you probably know by now, it is possible on a v4 Building Design and Construction (BD+C) project to substitute any v4.1 credit or prerequisite, with no limit on the number of substitutions. If you are having trouble deciding which ones to upgrade, though, here is a handy cheat sheet from Dave Hubka of green building consulting firm Rivion.

As you can see from the excerpt shown, almost all the Materials & Resources credits are worthy of a look for substitution. But download the whole thing and you will find Energy & Atmosphere to be the opposite. (Upgrading energy credits may still be desirable for project teams wishing to pursue true environmental leadership.)

Keep in mind that, as always with LEED, the devil is in the details. Depending on your particular project situation, you may find these susbstitutions to be a poor fit. (For example, Protect or Restore Habitat is quite a bit easier under v4.1—unless you were planning on donating to a land trust; that option has been removed.)

Have your own thoughts on what makes sense to upgrade? Share them in the comments!