SPECIAL REPORT
LEEDuser expert
Marcus Sheffer
7group / Energy Opportunities
LEED Fellow
SPECIAL REPORT
LEEDuser’s viewpoint
Frank advice from LEED experts
LEED is changing all the time, and every project is unique. Even seasoned professionals can miss a critical detail and lose a credit or even a prerequisite at the last minute. Our expert advice guides our LEEDuser Premium members and saves you valuable time.
Credit language
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Intent
To reduce the environmental and economic harms associated with fossil fuel energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the supply of renewable energy and carbon mitigation projects.
Requirements
Use on-site renewable energy systems, procure renewable energy from offsite sources, or offset the greenhouse gas emissions from all or a portion of the building’s annual building energy use.
Renewable Energy
Choose one or more strategies for renewable energy procurement from the categories below. Points achieved in each category may be added for a total of 5 points.
- Tier 1: On-site renewable energy generation
- Tier 2: Off-site renewable energy produced by a generation asset(s) built within the last 5 years, or contracted to be operational within one year of building occupancy, and generated by either:
- an asset(s) in the project’s grid subregion
- an asset(s) in a grid subregion with higher greenhouse gas emissions rates** .
or
- Tier 3: Off-site renewable energy that is produced by a generation asset(s) built within the last 5 years or contracted to be operational within one year of building occupancy
- Tier 4: Off-site renewable energy that is Green-e Energy certified or equivalent
- Tier 5: Off-site renewable energy that is produced by a generation asset(s) that meet Green-e’s certification criteria (or equivalent) for eligible renewables, has a mechanism to prevent double counting in place, and is third-party certified to an ecolabel standard.
**Grid subregions with average emissions rates that are higher than the national average emissions rate OR subregions with average marginal emissions rates that are higher than the national average marginal emissions rate.
For all tiers, renewable energy must be contracted, owned or leased for a period of time between 1 and 10 years. Contract lengths less than 10 years are pro-rated linearly based on 1 and 10 year values in Table 1. Shorter contract lengths may require procurement of renewable energy in quantities that exceed the annual energy use of the building. For all tiers, the attributes (age, grid subregion, etc.) of the generation asset(s) are assessed at the beginning of the contract, and the generation asset(s) retain these attributes for the duration of the initial contract or lease term.
All eligible renewable electricity generation used to comply with this credit shall be substantiated through Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs); the project owner must contract for renewable energy and demonstrate that the EACs are retained on behalf of the LEED project.
EACs must be purchased from renewable energy projects located in the same country or region where the LEED project is located.
Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 renewable energy may contribute to GHG reductions in EA credit Optimize Energy Performance. When claiming credit in EA credit Optimize Energy Performance, projects are required to calculate GHG emissions and avoided emissions using hourly electricity GHG emissions factors for the project’s grid subregion.
Points are awarded according to Table 1, based on the percentage of total site energy use.
Table 1. Points for Renewable Energy Procurement
| Points | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 | Tier 5 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-Year | 1-Year | 10-Year | 1-Year | 10-Year | 1-Year | 10-Year | 1-Year | ||
| 1 | 2% | 20% | 150% | 30% | 225% | 40% | 300% | 50% | 375% |
| 2 | 5% | 30% | 225% | 40% | 300% | 60% | 450% | 75% | 562.5% |
| 3 | 10% | 40% | 300% | 50% | 375% | 80% | 600% | ||
| 4 | 20% | 50% | 375% | 60% | 450% | ||||
| 5 | 40% | 60% | 450% | 70% | 525% | ||||
| EP | 60% | 70% | 525% | 80% | 600% | 100% | 750% | 100% | 750% |
AND/OR
Carbon Offsets
Procure carbon offsets to offset annual building greenhouse gas emissions from energy use.
Carbon offsets must be contracted for at least 10 years.
Points are awarded according to Table 2, based on the percentage of total annual energy emissions offset by the purchase of carbon offsets.
Table 2. Points for Carbon Offsets Procurement
What does it cost?
Cost estimates for this credit
On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.
Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.
This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.
Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »Frequently asked questions
See all forum discussions about this credit »Documentation toolkit
The motherlode of cheat sheets
LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit is loaded with calculators to help assess credit compliance, tracking spreadsheets for materials, sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions, and examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects for you to check your work against. To get your plaque, start with the right toolkit.
Get the inside scoop
Our editors have written a detailed analysis of nearly every LEED credit, and LEEDuser premium members get full access. We’ll tell you whether the credit is easy to accomplish or better left alone, and we provide insider tips on how to document it successfully.
© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.
Intent
To reduce the environmental and economic harms associated with fossil fuel energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the supply of renewable energy and carbon mitigation projects.
Requirements
Use on-site renewable energy systems, procure renewable energy from offsite sources, or offset the greenhouse gas emissions from all or a portion of the building’s annual building energy use.
Renewable Energy
Choose one or more strategies for renewable energy procurement from the categories below. Points achieved in each category may be added for a total of 5 points.
- Tier 1: On-site renewable energy generation
- Tier 2: Off-site renewable energy produced by a generation asset(s) built within the last 5 years, or contracted to be operational within one year of building occupancy, and generated by either:
- an asset(s) in the project’s grid subregion
- an asset(s) in a grid subregion with higher greenhouse gas emissions rates** .
or
- Tier 3: Off-site renewable energy that is produced by a generation asset(s) built within the last 5 years or contracted to be operational within one year of building occupancy
- Tier 4: Off-site renewable energy that is Green-e Energy certified or equivalent
- Tier 5: Off-site renewable energy that is produced by a generation asset(s) that meet Green-e’s certification criteria (or equivalent) for eligible renewables, has a mechanism to prevent double counting in place, and is third-party certified to an ecolabel standard.
**Grid subregions with average emissions rates that are higher than the national average emissions rate OR subregions with average marginal emissions rates that are higher than the national average marginal emissions rate.
For all tiers, renewable energy must be contracted, owned or leased for a period of time between 1 and 10 years. Contract lengths less than 10 years are pro-rated linearly based on 1 and 10 year values in Table 1. Shorter contract lengths may require procurement of renewable energy in quantities that exceed the annual energy use of the building. For all tiers, the attributes (age, grid subregion, etc.) of the generation asset(s) are assessed at the beginning of the contract, and the generation asset(s) retain these attributes for the duration of the initial contract or lease term.
All eligible renewable electricity generation used to comply with this credit shall be substantiated through Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs); the project owner must contract for renewable energy and demonstrate that the EACs are retained on behalf of the LEED project.
EACs must be purchased from renewable energy projects located in the same country or region where the LEED project is located.
Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 renewable energy may contribute to GHG reductions in EA credit Optimize Energy Performance. When claiming credit in EA credit Optimize Energy Performance, projects are required to calculate GHG emissions and avoided emissions using hourly electricity GHG emissions factors for the project’s grid subregion.
Points are awarded according to Table 1, based on the percentage of total site energy use.
Table 1. Points for Renewable Energy Procurement
| Points | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 | Tier 5 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-Year | 1-Year | 10-Year | 1-Year | 10-Year | 1-Year | 10-Year | 1-Year | ||
| 1 | 2% | 20% | 150% | 30% | 225% | 40% | 300% | 50% | 375% |
| 2 | 5% | 30% | 225% | 40% | 300% | 60% | 450% | 75% | 562.5% |
| 3 | 10% | 40% | 300% | 50% | 375% | 80% | 600% | ||
| 4 | 20% | 50% | 375% | 60% | 450% | ||||
| 5 | 40% | 60% | 450% | 70% | 525% | ||||
| EP | 60% | 70% | 525% | 80% | 600% | 100% | 750% | 100% | 750% |
AND/OR
Carbon Offsets
Procure carbon offsets to offset annual building greenhouse gas emissions from energy use.
Carbon offsets must be contracted for at least 10 years.
Points are awarded according to Table 2, based on the percentage of total annual energy emissions offset by the purchase of carbon offsets.
Table 2. Points for Carbon Offsets Procurement
LEEDuser expert
Marcus Sheffer
7group / Energy Opportunities
LEED Fellow
