855773520-LEED-v5-ID-C-Reference-Guide-Launch-Edition-1 - Page 333
Extracted Content
meters) wide and horizontal features smaller than 1 feet (0.3 meters) high typically do not block views. Analysis must consider occupant positions throughout all regularly occupied area to confirm that quality views are present for at least 75% of the total area.
Exterior views through glazing, or vision glazing, must be clear and undistorted. Projects are encouraged to utilize bird-friendly or glazing with elements visible only to birds, to maintain clear views. While some patterns are permitted if they maintain visibility, avoid frits, fibers, patterned glazing, or added tints that distort color balance or obstruct the views. Neutral gray, bronze, and blue-green tints typically do not distort the color balance.
Gymnasiums and Auditoriums
- Gymnasiums and auditoriums may be excluded from the quality views requirements.
Option 2. Adaptable Environment
Optionality or flexibility Adaptable environments empower occupants to control and customize their surroundings, fostering a greater sense of comfort and belonging. This can take two forms: by providing occupants the ability to move between spaces with different sensory characteristics and to adjust conditions of the space itself. While adaptable spaces have the potential to benefit all occupants, sensory customization opportunities are particularly important for neurodivergent individuals–approximately 15 - 20% of the population–who may experience heightened sensitivities to environmental factors or stimuli like noise, light, and textures. [130] [131]
Rating system requirements are flexible to encourage highly specific design strategies. Projects must demonstrate optionality between zones or flexibility through personal comfort options for categories outlined in Table 4.
Table 4. Optionality or flexibility strategies
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
Thermal Environment | Personal control systems, warm or cool enclaves, radiant heating or cooling, transitional spaces that act as buffer zones between indoor and outdoor areas, or spaces with varying sun and shade exposure. |
| Sound Environment | Combining active, high-sensory collaboration zones with quieter areas featuring sound masking, white noise, nature sounds, or acoustic alcoves for focused work, which aligns with the requirements under Option 4 sound environment. |
130HOK, Designing a neurodiverse workplace, (2019), Downloaded from https://www.hok.com/ideas/publications/hok-designing-aneurodiverse-workplace/. Accessed October 26, 2021. 131 Doyle N.”Neurodiversity at work: A biopsychosocial model and the impact on working adults”, Br Med Bull; (2020), https://doi: 10.1093/bmb/ldaa021,
U.S. Green Building Council LEED v5 Reference Guide for Interior Design and Construction, April 2025 Launch Edition 322