855773644-LEED-v5-BD-C-Reference-Guide-Launch-Edition - Page 216

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Projects subject to a carbon-based or EUI-based BPS must generate a BPS Carbon BAU or BPS Energy BAU, depending on which is applicable. Teams must overlay the BPS caps on the project’s BAU projection and calculate the expected fees if they exceed the caps.

Additional requirements Grid emissions factors, which step down over time, are often mandated in carbon-based BPSs. Use these values in the BPS Carbon BAU rather than USGBC’s assumed grid emissions factors used in the BAU carbon projection.

Understanding whether the project will meet the BPS requirements and, if not, the fees it may incur over the next 25 years can also impact key decisions during the design phase. The owner’s review of this information provides awareness of the exposure to future fees.

Decarbonization Plan

If the current design has not been substantially electrified, projects must create a two-page decarbonization plan. The plan aims to inform design teams and building owners of the future costs and disruption they may incur when retrofits for all-electric equipment occur postoccupancy.

This requirement has two paths for compliance.

PATH 1. DESIGN FOR ELECTRIFICATION

Projects that have been substantially electrified, as documented by achieving four or five points in EAc1: Electrification, are exempt from having to create a plan since they have already been designed for the low-carbon future.

PATH 2. DECARBONIZATION PLAN

Projects without substantial electrification must create a plan outlining the future retrofits required to achieve substantial decarbonization as the grid decarbonizes. Developing this plan is meant to show project teams and building owners how much less expensive it would be to build it right the first time than to retrofit it later. The required retrofits would include invasive and expensive envelope improvements. The replacement of new, costly heating equipment and potentially new heating distribution systems might encourage design teams going through this exercise to amend their designs to avoid the worst avoidable future costs on this project or future projects.

U.S. Green Building Council LEED v5 Reference Guide for Building Design and Construction, April 2025 Launch Edition 206