I have documented LEED projects since the dawn of time. Well, at least since the first certified NC v2 project that was not a special test case: Ford Premier Automotive Group NA vs. PNC Firstside Center. I also helped develop LEED CI and was vice-chair of the LEED IEQ Technical Advisory Group for several years; unpaid volunteer positions.

At least back when I was helping develop LEED NC v2.2 I can state for an absolute fact, that what the Technical Advisory Groups develop for LEED had no bearing on the final requirements that somehow appear in the LEED Reference Guides, the Forms (Templates), and the reviewer cheat sheets. The rating systems yes, but not the details below.

I also tell you that I was told by the USGBC VP of LEED (long gone), when I complained that requirements the Technical Advisory Group had drafted had been tossed and haphazardly been rewritten without the following the LEED development rules, something to the effect: "You are an Advisory Group only. We (the USGBC) do not need to use what the Groups develop. We have outside consultants paid to develop technical content."

Figure out who those outside consultants are and I am certain you will find them heavily involved today inventing new LEED requirements. Some of those consultants likely still work on certifying their own LEED buildings. LEED Consultants were working on their own LEED projects, writing Reference Guides, developing Forms and Templates, and reviewing their competitors LEED projects. In the past this was the case, and it appears to still be the case with the exception of reviewing LEED projects.

Unfortunately, if my thoughts about how these hidden requirements get invent are true, then we don't get to find out about them until the LEED Review. Others know about them, and use them to their advantage, long before you learn they even exist.