LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), standard developer; Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), certification/review body · Washington, D.C., USA
AG Process Grade
Grade A See the Certification rubric →LEED is a fee-based certification whose review is conducted by GBCI, a third party independent of the paying applicant, so the vendor-certifies-own-customer structural cap does not fire. The rating system is a substantive, versioned, consensus-governed standard with published criteria, a published process and point thresholds, a public verifiable project registry, and disclosed fees. Third-party independence is strong (separate review body, ANSI-accredited), failure is real (minimum 40 points and possible credit denials), and there is no documented pay-to-pass. The single largest scoring factor is the tiered assessment-depth leaf (1.3): the GBCI certification decision rests on an independent review of documentation and performance data submitted by the project team rather than a GBCI-conducted on-site audit with ongoing surveillance, placing it at the documentation/data-review tier (5 of 10). The only undisclosed item is a formal aggregate pass/denial rate (leaf 4.4), which is dashed and removed from the denominator rather than penalized. Net: 92 of 97 assessable points = 95% (A).
Founded 1998 · U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), standard developer; Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), certification/review body · HQ Washington, D.C., USA · Real Estate, Construction & Architecture · Entry Paid
LEED is a green-building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC, founded 1993; first LEED pilot 1998). Projects register, submit documentation and performance data through LEED Online, and are reviewed by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), a separate third-party body, which awards one of four tiers based on points earned on a 110-point scale: Certified (40-49), Silver (50-59), Gold (60-79), Platinum (80+).
Profile data
| Organizer | U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), standard developer; Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), certification/review body |
| Location | Washington, D.C., USA |
| Entry fee | $0.056-$0.076 |
| Cost to receive award | Undisclosed |
| Winner rate | Undisclosed |
| Selection authority | Measured data |
| Data confidence | ● Fully documented |
| Official site | https://www.usgbc.org/leed(nofollow) |
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Industry Alternatives
Other certifications in the same industry (Real Estate, Construction & Architecture), graded A or B -- real judging, disclosed criteria, and genuine selectivity.