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FUTURE SOURCE ENERGY METRIC

All projects must use the future source energy metric for credit compliance. This metric reflects the average environmental impact of project energy consumption through 2050, considering the primary energy sources and their associated emissions.

Future Source Energy Conversion Factor (Primary Energy Factor — PEF)

The terms “source energy” and “source energy conversion factor” referenced below may be used interchangeably with the corresponding terms “primary energy” and PEF commonly used in the European Union.

Source energy is defined as the site energy plus the estimated energy consumed or lost in the extraction, processing, and transportation of primary energy forms such as coal, oil, natural gas, biomass, and nuclear fuel; energy consumed in conversion to electricity or thermal energy; and energy consumed or lost in transmission and distribution to the building site.

Source energy conversion factors must be at least one for all electricity and combustible fuel sources.

Electricity Future source energy is determined using a national average electric site-to-source conversion factor rather than a more granular determination by grid region or province to enable broader comparison of project energy efficiency across the entire spectrum of projects, and to account for the interconnectedness of electric grids.

• For projects located in the U.S., use a national average electricity source energy conversion factor of 2.0 based on projections through 2050.

• Projects located in other countries must use this same source energy conversion factor of 2.0 or provide data supporting a lower average source energy conversion factor for the project’s country. EU-average values may be used instead of the national average for projects in the European Union. The source energy conversion factor must be one of the following:

o Current published national- or EU-average source energy conversion factor.

o National- or EU-average source energy conversion factor from the present through

2050 or earlier, determined based on published, policy-based grid renewable projections. This can be calculated by averaging the current published national or EU-average source energy conversion factor and the predicted source energy conversion factor for the year 2050 or earlier; or by an average that accounts for year-to-year source energy projections.

U.S. Green Building Council LEED v5 Reference Guide for Interior Design and Construction, April 2025 Launch Edition 179