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855773644-LEED-v5-BD-C-Reference-Guide-Launch-Edition - Page 337

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Electricity For electricity, future source energy is determined using a national average electric site-tosource conversion factor rather than a more granular determination by grid region or province to enable broader comparison of building 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:

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

  • National- or EU-average source energy conversion factor from the present through 2050 or earlier, determined based on published policy-based grid renewable projections. Calculate 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.

For example, projects in Europe may use the current default factor from the EU directive (1.9 as of this publication [94] ), a lower published factor from the project’s EU member state, or a factor determined based on policy-based published grid renewable projections through 2050 for the EU or the project’s member state.

More granular future source energy conversion factors per state, province, or eGRID region are not allowed because these necessitate greater complexity of the EAc3: Enhanced Energy Efficiency credit requirements and increase ambiguity in comparative results.

Fuel Use one of the following references for conversion factors:

  • ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager Technical Reference: Source Energy

  • Natural Gas source energy conversion factor = 1.09 per ASHRAE 90.1-2022, Table I5-1.

  • ASHRAE 100-2024, Table 5-2 or ASHRAE 228, Table 4.

94 Directive (EU) 2023/1791 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2023 on energy efficiency and amending Regulation (EU) 2023/955 (recast) (Text with EEA relevance), https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2023/1791/.

U.S. Green Building Council LEED v5 Reference Guide for Building Design and Construction, April 2025 Launch Edition 327

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