by Wiley Gross
Sustainability Associate at Green Badger
How to Manage LEED v5 BD+C Documentation Without Rebuilding Everything From Scratch
Every time USGBC releases a new version of LEED, the same question comes up on kickoff calls: are we starting from zero? New credits, a new reference guide, new terminology. It’s tempting to assume every template, tracking sheet, and workflow your team spent years building must be discarded. But it doesn’t.
LEED v5 is the biggest update to the rating system in over a decade, but a big update isn’t a blank slate. Most of the documentation habits your team built during v4 and v4.1 projects still apply directly to v5. The real work isn’t relearning everything. It’s figuring out which parts changed enough to need a new process and which you can carry forward unchanged.
Credits: New, Updated, and Familiar
| Credit | Status | What It Means |
| SSp | Mostly Familiar | Minimized Site Disturbance. Same concept as CAPP, updated to 2022 EPA CGP. |
| MRp2 | New — Required | Quantify and Assess Embodied Carbon. Every project documents GWP for structure, enclosure, and hardscape. |
| MRc1 | Updated | Building and Materials Reuse. Consolidated credit worth up to 7 points. |
| MRc2 | New | Reduce Embodied Carbon. Up to 6 points for demonstrating actual carbon reductions. |
| MRc3 | Mostly Familiar | Low-Emitting Materials. Streamlined paths, but total point allocation is reduced. |
| MRc4 | Updated | Product Selection & Procurement. Category-based scoring replaces the old BPDO credits. |
| MRc5 | Mostly Familiar | C&D Waste Diversion. New source-separation requirement makes 2 points harder. New 35% default diversion rate for commingled waste and non third-party certified recycling facilities. |
| EQp1 | Updated — Required | Construction IAQ Management is now a prerequisite; adds Extreme Heat Protection for workers. |
| EQc5 | Updated | IAQ Testing and Monitoring. Revised assessment, still up to 2 points. |
| Docs | Mostly Familiar | EPDs, HPDs, Declare labels. All still relevant, though thresholds have shifted. |
| Platinum | Updated | Must address electrification and operational carbon to reach Platinum. |
New Prerequisites and Credits
The following two credits didn’t exist in this form under v4/v4.1. There is no shortcut. This documentation must be built from the ground up.
MRp2 | Quantify and Assess Embodied Carbon (New Prerequisite)
Every LEED project must now document the embodied carbon footprint of its primary building materials. At minimum, that means quantifying GWP (Global Warming Potential, in kgCO2e) for structure, enclosure, and hardscape materials. This includes a mandatory list covering asphalt, concrete, masonry, structural steel, insulation, aluminum extrusions, cladding, glass, and structural wood and composites.
Four deliverables make up the prerequisite:
- Build a Bill of Materials (BoM) — quantities of each major structure, enclosure, and hardscape material, with units and installation locations.
- Pull EPDs for each material and record the GWP value from lifecycle stages A1–A3 (cradle to gate).
- Calculate total embodied carbon for the project.
- Identify the top 3 contributors (“hot spots”) and document a strategy to address them. You don’t have to prove a reduction here, just show you thought about it.
Green Badger offers multiple resources to support the documentation of this prerequisite, including our v5 cover sheet to track materials and software upgrades, streamlining embodied carbon calculations. Book a demo to get a full overview of how we can help with LEED v5.
It also ties into two other new prerequisites: IPp3 (Carbon Assessment, evaluating operational and embodied emissions over the building’s 25-year life) and, for Core and Shell projects, IPp4 (Tenant Guidelines, which requires the base building to hand off sustainability data, including embodied carbon, to future tenants).
This documentation has a hard expiration date. You can’t track carbon for materials already in the ground, so it must start at the permit set, alongside normal procurement, not during closeout.
MRc2 | Reduce Embodied Carbon (New Credit | Up to 6 Points)
This credit builds directly on the MRp2 data and offers three paths, benchmarked against the Carbon Leadership Forum’s 2025 Baseline:
| Option | Approach | Max Points |
| 1 | Whole Building Life-Cycle Assessment (WBLCA): covers A1–A5, B1–B7, C1–C4, and Module D; typically needs a sustainability consultant and LCA software. | 6 pts |
| 2 | EPD-Based Analysis vs. CLF benchmark: needs product-specific EPDs and exact material quantities. | 3 pts |
| 3 | Structure, Enclosure & Hardscape focus only: same documentation already built for the prerequisite. | 2 pts |
| Bonus | Track construction fuel/utility consumption on-site (1 pt) and expand to subcontractors (1 pt). | 1–2 pts |
For teams not pursuing Platinum, Option 3 is the easiest path: 2 points using data already collected for MRp2.
Where to Find GWP’s in EPD’s
With embodied carbon now part of LEED v5, the bigger question isn’t whether your team tracks it but where the number actually comes from.
The key figure you’ll need constantly is Global Warming Potential (GWP). Structure, enclosure, and hardscape materials all require a GWP value before you can quantify anything.
So where does that number come from? The EPD. Every Environmental Product Declaration reports GWP for the product it covers, and that’s your source of truth. Teams need to identify the GWP for A1-A3 embodied carbon emissions using the TRACI rule. See the example below:
What Got Elevated or Restructured
These credits existed in some form under v4/v4.1, but the mechanics changed enough to require fresh attention.
EQp1 | Construction Management (Now a Prerequisite)
The v4/v4.1 Construction IAQ Management Plan (formerly a credit) is now a prerequisite called Construction Management. The underlying SMACNA measures remain: no smoking within 25 feet; HVAC protection with MERV-8+ filtration during construction and MERV-13+ before occupancy; source control (including protecting absorptive materials from moisture); pathway interruption; housekeeping; and scheduling.
New is Extreme Heat Protection for workers, adapted from OSHA heat-prevention guidance. It covers nine areas that must appear in your plan and on-site: work scheduling around heat events, hydration access, shade and cooling stations, mandatory rest breaks, clothing/PPE adjustments, acclimatization for new workers, heat-illness training, monitoring and communication, and a written emergency response plan.
Refer to Green Badger’s LEED v5 Indoor Air Quality Management Plan Template for additional support to successfully meet the credit requirements here.
MRc1 | Building and Materials Reuse (Updated | Up to 7 Points)
LEED v5 consolidates what used to be separate building reuse and material reuse credits into one, with two options:
| % Retained | NC Points | C&S Points |
| 20% (NC) / 10% (C&S) | 1 pt | 1 pt |
| 35% (NC) / 20% (C&S) | 2 pts | 2 pts |
| 50% (NC) / 30% (C&S) | 3 pts | 3 pts |
| 40% (C&S only) | — | 4 pts |
| 50% (C&S only) | — | 5 pts |
Option 1 (Building Reuse) is calculated by surface area: total square footage of existing structural/enclosure elements retained divided by total. Option 2 (Materials Reuse, up to 2 points) requires a salvage assessment prior to demolition, targeting materials such as carpeting, ceilings, furniture, and interior walls. Reusing 15% of one target material earns 1 point; 30% of one type, 15% of two types, or 15% of four types earns 2 points.
MRc4 | Building Product Selection and Procurement (Updated | Up to 5 Points)
This replaces the old BPDO (Building Product Disclosure and Optimization) credits with a category-based, weighted scoring system across five criteria: Climate Health, Human Health, Ecosystem Health, Social Equity, and Circular Economy. Products earn Level 1, 2, or 3 based on performance, and 1 point is awarded per product category that reaches 100% of its weighted value, up to 5 categories.
The biggest procedural shift is that you must track cost and quantity for every product in a category, not just those with green attributes, because the platform calculates your compliance percentage. A new category, Plumbing Fixtures (water closets, urinals, faucets, showerheads), joins familiar ones like paints, flooring, walls, ceilings, insulation, furniture, and composite wood.
Good news: we’re not reinventing the wheel. The documents your team collects under v4/4.1 (EPDs, HPDs, Declare Labels, Bio-Based Content, Recycled Content, Cradle to Cradle certifications) still matter. What changed is how they are scored.
Take EPDs as an example. Under v4.1, teams earned points for EPD Option 2 by having at least 5 weighted products from 3 different manufacturers. Under v5, there is no longer a manufacturer requirement, and the 5-weighted product total has been completely removed in favor of a single EPD requirement.
- 20% GWP reduction: 3 points total — 2 under Climate Health, 1 under Ecosystem Health
- 40% GWP reduction + 10% in three additional categories: up to 5 points — 3 under Climate Health, 2 under Ecosystem Health
EPDs are not the only piece of documentation required for LEED v5. Recycled Content can earn teams up to 1 point under Circular Economy. Third-party verified, Red List Free (or Red List Approved) Declare Label products can earn up to 2 points under Human Health.
The new rule of thumb: what matters is the type of documentation you bring and how much it contributes across those five categories. That framing actually makes points easier to hit than it sounds. Paints, flooring, ceilings, and insulation are the best categories to target first. Refer to Green Badger’s Material Certification Examples resource to view what pieces of documentation contribute to each category, including their total Multi-Attribute score.
EQc5 | Indoor Air Quality Testing and Monitoring (New Credit | Up to 2 Points)
Previously IEQc4 in v4, this credit is now standalone and worth up to 2 points, with two paths that can be combined:
- Option 1 — Pre-Occupancy Air Testing: Path 1 tests particulate matter and inorganic gases (CO, PM2.5, PM10, ozone) for 1 point; Path 2 tests VOCs (formaldehyde, benzene, and others against health-based limits) for 1 point.
- Option 2 — Continuous Indoor Air Monitoring: permanent building-grade monitors that track CO₂, PM2.5, TVOCs, temperature, and humidity, with one monitor per 25,000 sq ft minimum, for 1 point.
Platinum Certification
Reaching Platinum under v5 now requires directly addressing electrification and operational carbon. Materials and site credits alone won’t get you there the way they sometimes did under v4.
What’s Barely Changed
Here’s where your team’s existing muscle memory actually pays off. A surprising amount of what you already do carries over with little to no change.
SSp1 | Minimized Site Disturbance (formerly Construction Activity Pollution Prevention)
Still fundamentally an erosion and sedimentation control (ESC) plan. USGBC folded the old CAPP prerequisite together with the Site Assessment credit, but the core requirements like developing and implementing an ESC plan, keeping dirt on-site and out of storm drains, and controlling dust haven’t changed.
What’s new: compliance now references the 2022 EPA Construction General Permit (CGP) instead of the 2017 version in v4.1 (or 2012 in v4), and v5 explicitly requires written narratives and photographs documenting compliance, not just a plan on file.
MRc5 | Construction and Demolition Waste Diversion
The diversion-rate math is the same tier structure as before, and 1 point is still readily achievable:
LEED v5 BD+C
| Path | Diversion Rate | Source-Separated On-Site | Points |
| 1 | ≥50% | ≥10% of materials as single streams | 1 pt |
| 2 | ≥75% | ≥25% of materials as single streams | 2 pts |
LEED v5 ID+C
| Path | Diversion Rate | Source-Separated On-Site | Points |
| 1 | ≥35% | ≥10% of materials as single streams | 1 pt |
| 2 | ≥50% | ≥50% of materials as single streams | 2 pts |
| 3 | ≥65% | ≥30% of materials as single streams | 3 pts |
| 4 | Target Materials: Clean Gyp Board, Carpet, Ceilings, & Furniture | ≥10% of target materials from C&D | 1 pt |
The real change is that on-site source separation is now mandatory to earn either point. Unlike v4, you can’t send everything to a commingled recycling facility and have them sort it for credit anymore. Commingled loads default to a 35% diversion rate unless the facility provides a third-party letter or is RCI-certified. This is the one “familiar” credit where the Green Badger team has found it meaningfully harder to hit than under v4.1. Green Badger has created two cheat sheets based on each rating system to support project teams across the board. Use the following link for v5 BD+C and v5 ID+C Construction and Demolition Waste Diversion credit assistance.
Refer to Green Badger’s LEED v5 Construction Waste Management Template to get started on the right footing.
MRc3 | Low-Emitting Materials
The best news in the whole documentation load rating system: VOC content tracking. The g/L limits you used to check for every adhesive, sealant, and coating are no longer in effect. The only requirement now is emissions compliance under the CDPH Standard Method v1.2-2017 (California Section 01350), the same testing standard most GreenGuard Gold, SCS Indoor Advantage, and CRI Green Label Plus products already carry.
The tradeoff: the path structure changed, and total points dropped. For New Construction, >90% compliance in paints/coatings, flooring, and ceilings earns 1 point; adding two more categories (or furniture at >80%) earns the second point. Core and Shell caps at 1 point total. Formaldehyde compliance also got stricter. Manufacturer letters no longer suffice; you need actual EPA TSCA Title VI or CARB ATCM certification for ULEF or NAF resins.
Refer to Green Badger’s Low Emitting Materials BD+C v5 Cheat Sheet and Low Emitting Materials ID+C v5 Cheat Sheet for additional guidance.
Documentation: EPDs, HPDs, and Declare Labels
All of it is still relevant. EPDs, HPDs, Declare labels, and certifications like GreenGuard Gold remain the backbone of your submittal documentation. You’re not collecting anything fundamentally new. What changed is how that documentation gets used: v5 weights it toward proving real performance (lower embodied carbon, safer ingredients, third-party verification) rather than just checking a box for participation. If you’re already collecting EPDs for MRp2/MRc2 and HPDs for submittals, you’re also building MRc4 credit.
Bottom Line
For BD+C teams, LEED v5 asks more in a few specific, high-visibility places: embodied carbon, worker heat protection, and on-site waste separation. Everywhere else, it relies on the same documentation methods that made the v4 and v4.1 projects run smoothly. Inspect early and often, organize submittals as they come in, and keep documentation, such as EPDs and HPDs, on hand. Start embodied carbon tracking at permit set rather than closeout, move your waste sorting on-site instead of relying on a commingled facility, and treat the rest of your process as an extension of what you already have, not a rebuild.
Need a head start on the new pieces? Dig into the full Ultimate Guide to LEED v5 for the complete credit-by-credit breakdown.
