How to maintain the certification of an existing building: LEED for Existing Buildings Recertification Program
Where other rating systems in LEED verify a building’s potential prior to occupancy, LEED for Existing Buildings addresses a building’s impact once it’s in use. It’s an ongoing process which requires that projects certified under any version of the LEED for Existing Buildings rating system recertify at least once every five years and or if you chose, as often as every 12 months.
- Initial certification: any first-time application for LEED for Existing Buildings certification, including projects previously certified under a LEED Design & Construction rating system
- Recertification: subsequent application(s) for LEED for Existing Buildings: O&M certification after receiving an initial LEED for Existing Buildings certification under any version - to the extent possible, projects will be held to the requirements of the version of the rating system that is open for registration on the date the project registers for recertification
Guidance
The LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance Recertification Guidance provides clear direction for existing buildings projects that are ready to recertify. Projects that have achieved certification under a LEED Design & Construction rating system should achieve an initial LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance certification before applying for recertification.
Establishment vs. Performance
The requirements of LEED for Existing Buildings fall into two categories:
- Establishment requirements: based on building components, site infrastructure and policies and plans
- Performance requirements: require discrete actions, continuous tracking and ongoing measurement over a performance period
Each prerequisite and credit lists the establishment and performance requirements separately, where they exist.
Get started
- Download the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance Recertification Guidance
- Register for Recertification on LEED Online and review the recertification sample forms
- Check the frequency of your audits and surveys, read your building’s energy and water meters, and review the original LEED for Existing Buildings policies and plans that you put in place