855773520-LEED-v5-ID-C-Reference-Guide-Launch-Edition-1 - Page 206

Extracted Content

Environmental Attributes

When procuring off-site electricity, environmental attributes must meet specific requirements for ownership, source, vintage, and location.

An EAC is a transferrable certificate, record or guarantee used to track the environmental attributes for a unit of energy and the rights to those attributes. Examples of EACs include Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and Guarantees of Origin (GOs), where one REC or one GO corresponds to one megawatt-hour (MWH) of renewable electricity.

Ownership

Ownership of the renewable energy environmental attributes must reside with the LEED AP BD+C project, demonstrated through retirement of the EACs on behalf of the LEED project.

If the renewable attributes are not retained by the project owner, the renewable project is disqualified from credit compliance. For example, if the project cedes ownership of the RECs from on-site PVs in exchange for a utility incentive, the system is ineligible for credit.

The renewable energy contract does not permit the replacement of EACs from one project with that of a different renewable energy project (referred to as REC Arbitrage) unless the contract specifies that the replacement EACs meet all relevant LEED criteria. For example, the contract shall not allow replacement of Tier 2 EACs with those of an asset older than five years at the time of contract execution.

RENEWABLE ENERGY ALLOCATION FROM BASE BUILDING EACs from base building renewable energy may be allocated to the project. Use one of the following approaches:

Equal allocation Allocate the renewable energy equally for the entire building area (including tenant area and base building core area).

For the Tier 1 rated capacity method for demonstrating compliance, the capacity per unit of project area allocated in a LEED BD+C: Core and Shell base building application must equal the capacity per unit of project area allocated to the tenant project.

When allocating as a percent of annual site energy, a lease agreement or similar contract must confirm equal allocation of EACs across all building spaces. Determine the total annual site energy use for the building (including base building contribution and tenant spaces); and the total annual renewable energy for each Tier supplied or

U.S. Green Building Council LEED v5 Reference Guide for Interior Design and Construction, April 2025 Launch Edition 195