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REQUIREMENTS EXPLAINED

This prerequisite requires that the project team comprehensively evaluate and understand the social, economic, and environmental context of the local community, workforce, and supply chain before developing the project. Teams will gather and analyze this understanding through methods such as site analysis, community outreach, census reports, GIS mapping, and partnerships with local organizations to ensure the project aligns with community needs and promotes equitable outcomes. Teams must select key characteristics to evaluate within the categories of demographics, local infrastructure and land use, human use and health impacts, and occupant experience. These analyses and findings should go on to inform the project’s planning, design, operations, and maintenance strategies.

Ultimately, this assessment balances environmental goals with the needs and aspirations of the people affected, fostering projects that are both ecologically and socially responsible. It supports frameworks for how designers ensure the health, safety, and welfare of those they design for. This will be an educational process for teams, especially for those who have not conducted similar assessments previously. With intentional planning, teams can integrate project-specific strategies by identifying potential disparities and work collectively toward creating a more inclusive and equitable community.

Human Impact Assessment

A Human Impact Assessment is a process in which quantitative and qualitative data for a proposed project is collected through identifying characteristics unique to the project site and its surrounding community. It requires projects to understand the sociopolitical context of the site, such as the cultural makeup of neighboring residents or average income rates. Additionally, it asks projects to identify relevant infrastructure and policy, such as zoning restrictions or accessibility codes. The assessment also requires taking stock of what resources may be accessible to the residents or potential end users, such as transit availability or healthcare. Last, it evaluates impacts on occupant experience, such as air and water quality. Project teams must consider how these elements interact with and impact one another to ensure that they guide project development with a comprehensive understanding of its social context.

Defining community Project teams must first establish the scope of their assessment by identifying the community. Communities have both geographic and functional definitions. Geographic communities start with the project’s neighborhood — the people who live and work in and near the project and interact with it by proximity. Geographic communities can also extend beyond to include towns, cities, or counties. Functional communities include all occupants, construction workers, and visitors who come to the building. These people may or may not live nearby. Teams can also define community through various affinities or commonalities, such as age, ethnicity, income

U.S. Green Building Council LEED v5 Reference Guide for Interior Design and Construction, April 2025 Launch Edition 27