Log in
LEED v4
Homes
Energy and Atmosphere
Building orientation for passive solar

LEED CREDIT

Homes-v4 EAc6: Building orientation for passive solar 3 points

LEEDuser’s viewpoint

Explore this LEED credit

Post your questions on this credit in the forum, and click on the credit language tab to review to the LEED requirements.

Credit language

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Meet all of the following requirements:

  • The south-facing glazing area is at least 50% greater than the sum of the glazing area on the east- and west-facing walls.
  • The east-west axis of the building is within 15 degrees of due east-west.
  • At least 90% of the south-facing glazing is completely shaded (by awnings, overhangs, plantings) at solar noon on the summer solstice and unshaded at noon on the winter solstice.
In areas south of 25 degrees of latitude or where topography significantly impacts insolation, orientation may be adjusted to meet local conditions provided the team provides documentation to demonstrate that its building orientation decision is based on solar and meteorological data for the site.
Credit only available for projects using the EA prescriptive path’
See all forum discussions about this credit »

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 »

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.

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Meet all of the following requirements:

  • The south-facing glazing area is at least 50% greater than the sum of the glazing area on the east- and west-facing walls.
  • The east-west axis of the building is within 15 degrees of due east-west.
  • At least 90% of the south-facing glazing is completely shaded (by awnings, overhangs, plantings) at solar noon on the summer solstice and unshaded at noon on the winter solstice.
In areas south of 25 degrees of latitude or where topography significantly impacts insolation, orientation may be adjusted to meet local conditions provided the team provides documentation to demonstrate that its building orientation decision is based on solar and meteorological data for the site.
Credit only available for projects using the EA prescriptive path’
See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Subscribe to new discussions about Homes-v4 EAc6