I am working on a v4 project that is about to submit for final construction review. We must reach Gold and are right on the threshold, going in with 62 points, if all are earned. We don't want to pay anything if we don't have to. I have a quote for Green Power that shows it is cheaper under the v4.1 substitution path than under the v4 path. If I take the substitution for both renewable energy and green power in exchange for v4.1 Renewable Energy and the Green Power portion is denied (which it would be if we don't pay for it unless we have to), will the Renewable Energy portion still be granted (assuming that it is compliant under both versions of the credit for 2 pts, which we believe to be the case)?
Anyone have experience with this wait and see approach to paying for green power?
Thanks!
Allan Robles
Sustainability AssociateUrban Fabrick, Inc.
7 thumbs up
February 7, 2020 - 2:02 pm
I believe so. Here's a response from LEED Coach I received on this very topic:
As outlined in the article 'Substitute any LEED v4 credit for LEED v4.1 (https://www.usgbc.org/articles/substitute-any-leed-v4-credit-leed-v41) and on page 10 of the LEED v4.1 BD+C Guide (https://build.usgbc.org/bdc41betareq), projects must substitute both LEED v4 EAc Renewable Energy Production and LEED v4 EAc Green Power and Carbon Offsets for LEED v4.1 EAc Renewable Energy, for up to a maximum of 5 points. There is no change to the total number of points available when LEED v4.1 credit substitution is used.
We're having to confirm one final detail as our project is a core and shell project, but I hope this is helpful for your project!