Green Synergies

LEED v5 was developed around three impact areas: Decarbonization, Quality of Life, and Ecological Conservation and Restoration. In this post, I will address the effect of the second impact area on the new system.

We spend a lot of time in buildings. An oft-quoted statistic asserts that we spend 90% of our time indoors. Regardless of whether this is exactly true, buildings have a significant impact on the health and well-being of every human being on earth. Even when we are outside, buildings shape our lives: most of the world’s population now lives in urban areas dominated by the built, rather than the natural, environment, and the form of our cities has a major impact on our health. Buildings affect our physical and psychological health, and provide us with shelter that can, if poorly designed, turn from haven to hell in some disaster scenarios.

To address the vital role buildings play in our health, the Quality of Life impact area in LEED v5 aims to “improving health, well-being, resilience, and equity for building occupants and their communities, making spaces not just environmentally friendly but also people friendly” – in other words, it is the “people” part of the triple bottom line.

Five prerequisites for New Construction projects (six for Core and Shell) relate to this impact area, so that the consideration of human health and quality of life is a fundamental requirement of the new system, as it was in LEED v4. (However, unlike the Decarbonization impact area, Quality of Life credits are not required for LEED Platinum certification.)

LEED v4 was substantially focused on human health and well-being, especially in the Indoor Environmental Quality credit category; LEED v5 extends this concern with a more explicit focus on resilience and equity.

Resilience is the capacity of a building to withstand environmental shocks and extreme conditions such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or extreme heat. While some of LEED v4’s pilot (experimental) credits featured resilience, the new system explicitly requires and rewards considering how a building stands up to adverse conditions. All projects must complete a Climate Resilience Assessment (IPp1) which requires the project team to assess the environmental hazards the project faces or may face; this is echoed by SSc4 Enhanced Resilient Site Design, which rewards projects that are designed and constructed to withstand at least two of the hazards identified by the prerequisite assessment. To further reinforce this focus on resilience, EQc4 Resilient Spaces rewards projects that consider the protection of building occupants from adverse conditions such as extreme heat and cold, wildfire smoke, or infectious disease.

Equity is a deeper and more substantial form of justice which considers not merely strict rights but also human well-being. LEED v5 requires projects to complete a Human Impact Assessment (IPp2), investigating the project’s surroundings with an eye to demographics, local infrastructure and land use, human use and health impacts, occupant experience and other factors affecting the project’s users and neighbors. This gives the team the opportunity to identify ways in which the project may serve vulnerable populations nearby, and to explore the mitigation of the project’s negative impacts on those around it.

LTc2 Equitable Development encourages project teams to consider developing contaminated or historic sites while also employing local construction labor, providing job training, and (for residential and mixed-use projects) including affordable housing in the project. EQc3 Accessibility and Inclusion rewards projects that consider the needs of a diverse range of building users by complying with local accessibility codes and then going well beyond them by installing accessible wayfinding, multilingual signs, lactation pods, and other features.

Beyond resilience and equity, LEED v5 promotes human health by encouraging walkability in LTc3 Compact and Connected Development, Option 3: Walkable Location, which rewards projects with a high WalkScore, or encouraging biophilic design in EQc2 Occupant Experience, Option 1, and many other measures to improve building user experience while reducing exposure to harmful environmental factors such as VOC emissions and tobacco smoke. Most of these measures existed in LEED v4 and have been translated into v5 with small changes. Consideration of human health and well-being has been part of LEED’s DNA for a long time.

You can find a PDF guide to LEED v5 for Building Design and Construction on USGBC’s website.

For further reference, here is a list of the prerequisites and credits informed by quality of life considerations:

Prerequisites:

• IPp1 Climate Resilience Assessment (NC/CS): requires assessing natural hazards impacting the project to mitigate them.
• IPp2 Human Impact Assessment (NC/CS): requires understanding the project’s human context to address social inequalities.
• IPp4 Tenant Guidelines (CS): requires that tenants understand and will follow the building’s sustainable intent, including human well-being.
• EQp1 Construction Management (NC/CS): requires measures to protect the well-being of construction workers and building occupants during construction.
• EQp2 Fundamental Air Quality (NC/CS): requires designing for above-average indoor air quality.
• EQp3 No Smoking or Vehicle Idling (NC/CS): requires the prohibition of smoking in most areas and vehicle idling onsite to protect air quality.

Credits:

• IPc1 Integrative Design Process (NC/CS): rewards a holistic approach to design to maximize sustainable synergies.
• IPc2 Green Leases (CS): rewards tenant lease agreements that require compliance with sustainable objectives.
• LTc2 Equitable Development (NC/CS): rewards projects that support the economic development and social vitality of their surrounding communities.
• LTc3 Compact and Connected Development (NC/CS): rewards development that promotes walkability as well as reduced transportation demand.
• LTc4 Transportation Demand Management (NC/CS): rewards alternative transportation networks that reduce emissions.
• SSc2 Accessible Outdoor Space (NC/CS): rewards the creation of outdoor open space that encourages interaction with the environment and social and physical activities.
• SSc4 Enhanced Resilient Site Design (NC/CS): rewards projects that are designed to reduce the impact of natural hazards on building users.
• SSc5 Heat Island Reduction (NC/CS): rewards projects that reduce the local heat island and thus the adverse effects of extreme heat on building users.
• WEc1 Water Metering and Leak Detection (NC/CS): rewards projects that monitor water usage to prevent water damage and resource waste.
• MRc3 Low-Emitting Materials (NC/CS): rewards projects that specify materials without adverse effects on human health.
• MRc4 Building Product Selection and Procurement (NC/CS): rewards projects that select products with transparent materials and manufacturing information that discloses human health impacts.
• EQc1 Enhanced Air Quality (NC/CS): rewards projects designed with exceptional indoor air quality.
• EQc2 Occupant Experience (NC/CS): rewards a diverse range of human-centered design features such as daylighting and biophilic design.
• EQc3 Accessibility and Inclusion (NC/CS): rewards projects that accommodate the needs of a diverse population.
• EQc4 Resilient Spaces (NC/CS): rewards that protect indoor air quality in the event of adverse events such as natural disasters or epidemics.
• EQc5 Air Quality Testing and Monitoring (NC): rewards projects that verify indoor air quality.

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