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LEED certified buildings and recertification

LEED certified buildings have the opportunity to undergo a LEED Recertification process, which involves verifying that, over time, the building continues to meet rigorous LEED standards. This process requires providing up-to-date performance data in areas such as energy, water, waste management, transportation, indoor air quality, environmental sustainability and occupant satisfaction. In addition, Recertification can even make it possible to raise the level of building certification.

In short, this article provides you with a clearer understanding of what LEED Recertification involves for projects that have already obtained this prestigious certification.

Requirements and processes

Any LEED project, whether from the past, present or future, including those that belong to the Building Design and Construction (BD+C) and Interior Design and Interior Construction (ID+C) categories, has the opportunity to undergo a recertification process. This applies regardless of the rating system or the initial version of the project.

To carry out the recertification, it is necessary to provide 12 consecutive months of updated data in each of the corresponding evaluation categories.

LEED-certified projects for Existing Buildings (LEED-EBOM)

In the case of projects certified under any version of LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EBOM), is It is necessary to carry out a recertification at least once every five years to maintain the current certification, highlighting the importance of continuous improvement.

During this process, it is possible to add new credits that have not been previously documented, covering the performance period from the initial certification to the new application.

Considerations for LEED v4.1

However, in projects that use the most recent version of LEED, LEED v4.1, this period is called the “reporting period” and lasts 12 months.

In some categories, such as energy and water, it is required to provide data corresponding to the 12 consecutive months of total consumption in the building. On the other hand, other categories allow for at least one analysis per year, within the reporting period.

Benefits of LEED Recertification

• It is essential to maintain and perfect your building to ensure that it continues to meet the standards that were evaluated when your initial certification was obtained. This means being aware of new requirements and improvements.
• Providing updated annual performance information in areas such as energy, water, waste management, transportation, indoor environmental quality and occupant experience is essential. This allows the building to continue to evolve and adapt to the latest technologies and advances in service management.
• In addition, this recertification process offers the opportunity to raise the building's certification level, migrating to the most recent available version of the rating system, currently known as LEED v4.1 O+M.

Do you want to recertify your LEED project? Get in touch with us