Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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LEED Proven Provider™
Handbook v4 June, 2020
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Getting Started ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Eligibility ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Connect ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Demonstrating Excellence ............................................................................................................................... 5
Training and Participant Agreement ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Evaluation .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
STEP 1. Identify your project .......................................................................................................................................................... 6
STEP 2. Request and hold a pre‐submission call to discuss tricky or unique issues ...................................................................... 7
STEP 3. Prepare and submit your project application for preliminary review ............................................................................... 8
STEP 4. Examine your project review report and hold a post‐review call ..................................................................................... 9
STEP 5. Prepare clarifications, withdraw unachievable points/credits and submit your application for final review ................ 10
STEP 6. Share lessons learned from this review within your organization and update your quality control tools and templates
..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Designation ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Maintaining Excellence .................................................................................................................................. 11
Maintenance.................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Adding new projects .................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Flagging unique or special project issues .................................................................................................................................... 12
Marketing ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 12
While participating organizations invest in strengthening quality control and continuous improvement LEED reviewers invest in
enhanced direct engagement with project teams. The goal is to encourage high‐quality submissions and increase the number of
credits and prerequisites you achieve at preliminary review, potentially allowing you to skip a final review.
While working to achieve LEED Proven Provider status, you’ll experience:
Greater access to LEED reviewers. Your organization may request pre‐submission and post‐review conference calls
for enrolled projects with reviewers, which can help resolve open questions.
Once your organization successfully completes the evaluation period, earning the LEED Proven Provider designation, you’ll
receive the following:
Recognition from USGBC. The LEED Proven Provider model was
created to recognize organizations with a sustained track record
of high‐quality project submissions. The USGBC directory will
make special note of this accomplishment.
Use of the LEED Proven Provider mark. This mark, much like the
LEED AP®, identifies you as a leader.
Streamlined and truncated LEED certification process. High‐
quality submissions result in your ability to skip phases in the ® ™
review process and can improve projects’ chances of achieving
LEED certification after only one review.
There are three phases to the process:
The LEED Proven Provider model does more than recognize a moment in time. Instead, it’s an ongoing commitment to delivering
results of the highest quality. With that in mind, maintaining excellence is a key part of the process. As a LEED Proven Provider
organization, you’ll have continued access to educational resources and LEED reviewers to ensure you are supported as you
continue delivering high‐quality submissions.
Getting Started
Your path toward achieving LEED Proven Provider status begins with a few simple steps. First, you’ll need to determine if the
model is a good fit based on your experience level and the work that you do. Next, fill out the interest form to connect with GBCI
and let us know more about your organization.
Eligibility
LEED Proven Provider was created specifically for organizations with prior LEED experience. Interested organizations must have
completed at least six LEED‐certified projects within the same rating system family in which members of your organization:
Served as the Project Administrator role in LEED Online and
Held responsibility for the overall quality of each project submission
Much like the different LEED AP® designations, there are several LEED Proven Provider designations, one for each applicable
rating system. During the Getting Started phase, your organization should decide which rating system designation(s) to pursue.
Table 1. Project Eligibility
RATING SYSTEMS ELIGIBLE RATING SYSTEMS
New Construction (v4 and earlier)
Core and Shell (v4 and earlier)
Schools (v4 or earlier)
BD+C
Retail (v4)
Building Design and Construction
Hospitality (v4)
Data Centers (v4)
Warehouses & Distribution Centers (v4)
Commercial Interiors (v4 and earlier)
ID+C
Retail (v4 and earlier)
Interior Design and Construction
Hospitality (v4)
Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (v4 and earlier)
Schools (v4)
O+M Retail (v4)
Operations and Maintenance Hospitality (v4)
Data Centers (v4)
Warehouses & Distribution Centers (v4)
Once you’ve confirmed your organization is eligible, with six certified projects within your chosen rating system, fill out the online
interest form (http://usgbc.wufoo.com/forms/proven‐provider‐interest/). This form can also be used to explain any unique
circumstances that may impact your organization’s eligibility. GBCI will review these unique situations on a case‐by‐case basis.
Please allow up to 10 business days for confirmation via email of your organization’s eligibility.
Demonstrating Excellence
Training and Participant Agreement
After GBCI reviews your interest form and confirms your eligibility, you’ll receive an email giving you access to an online overview
course to be completed by the individual Project Administrators within your organization. The questions at the end of the course
will test their understanding of the LEED Proven Provider model. You’ll also be asked to sign the participant agreement.
You’re now ready to show your skills in the evaluation period.
Evaluation
During the evaluation period, LEED reviewers will assess your first few (usually five to six submissions) newly submitted LEED
project applications and provide feedback on the quality of each LEED project submission. They'll also be available to discuss
project specific issues during pre‐submission and post‐review conference calls. This two‐way dialogue and information exchange
between your project team and reviewers gives you the opportunity to continuously improve. By applying lessons learned from
one review to subsequent submissions you can increase the amount of attempted credits and prerequisites your projects earns
at the preliminary review.
Note: if you’re pursuing LEED Proven Provider designations for more than one rating system, an evaluation period will need to be
completed for each system.
To successfully complete the evaluation period, you must meet the following criteria:
At least three out of the most recent five project submissions must achieve a quality rating of “Above Average” or
“Excellent” (see Table 3. Submission Ratings). While it is not necessary for all these new projects to complete their
certification, the submissions must demonstrate the full range of design and construction credits in the rating
system.
None of the most recent five project submissions may have a score of Below Average.
Submissions must not demonstrate repeated documentation errors.
It is also GBCI’s expectation that your organization is committed to ensuring that the building owner is aware of the requirement
and prepared to share ongoing energy and water use data periodically in compliance with LEED.
Your organization will earn the LEED Proven Provider designation once you have successfully completed the evaluation period.
1. Identify and enroll your project in Proven Provider
2. Request and hold an optional pre‐submission call to discuss tricky or unique issues
3. Prepare and submit your project application for preliminary review
4. Examine your project review report and hold an optional post‐review call
5. Prepare clarifications, withdraw unachievable points/credits and your submit application for final review
6. Share lessons learned from this review within your organization and update your quality control tools and templates
Don’t forget, LEED Proven Provider does not change the LEED rating system requirements or the documentation required to
demonstrate compliance with LEED credits and prerequisites. Additionally, LEED Proven Provider does not increase review
scrutiny or stringency for project applications. You should continue to complete and submit all required LEED documentation
within LEED Online for review while pursuing the LEED Proven Provider designation and after designation has been achieved.
STEP 1. Identify your project
After completing the overview course and submitting your signed participant agreement you will be prompted to enroll any
registered, un‐submitted, LEED projects in which your organization is serving in the Project Administrator role. Projects must
meet the following guidelines:
Only projects that have not yet submitted for any phase of review are eligible (with one exception, projects that have
only completed LEED‐CS Pre‐certification are still eligible).
LEED v4 and earlier rating systems are eligible, per Table 1.
Campus Program Master Site and individual or multiple building submissions are eligible for LEED Proven Provider. It
is highly recommended that all related projects are included and submitted for review. Master site submissions will
be reviewed under Proven Provider, but will not be provided with a Proven Provider quality ranking as they contain
only a limited number of credits. Quality scores will be provided for each of the individual building project
submissions within a campus or multiple building submission.
Pilots, expedited review requests, and LEED volume program projects are not eligible for LEED Proven Provider.
Projects should be enrolled via the online LEED Proven Provider form page, which can be accessed at
http://usgbc.wufoo.com/forms/proven‐provider. Please note, projects that are not enrolled will not be eligible for Proven
Provider review and quality scoring once their initial review begins.
As a participant, all your eligible projects shall be submitted under LEED Proven Provider. Project teams may request that certain
projects (for example, projects which include complex or highly complex project characteristics) be excluded from LEED Proven
Provider with written explanation. At all times, GBCI reserves the right to determine whether projects are included or excluded
from LEED Proven Provider review.
After preparing your submission and performing a thorough quality check, you should be confident that your LEED project
submission can successfully document compliance for all or most attempted credits and prerequisite requirements without the
need for major clarification requests from the reviewer. Table 2. Potentially Complex Project Characteristics provides some
examples of project characteristics that, under certain scenarios, may increase the complexity of a project submission. Projects
with these characteristics should receive additional scrutiny during the quality control process and may in some cases warrant
exclusion from Proven Provider.
CHARACTERISTIC DESCRIPTION
Multiple contracts Multiple construction or property management contracts
Casinos, healthcare facilities, multi‐family residences, warehouses,
Unique project types
manufacturing facilities, data centers, etc.
Alternative compliance paths Projects with multiple alternative compliance paths pursued
Group submissions that contain different building types (e.g.
Complex multiple building projects laboratory, residence hall, dining facility, and administration buildings
within a single application)
Unfinished/TI space(s) Presence of unfinished space within the LEED boundary
District energy systems District and campus thermal energy
Exceptionally large projects
Projects over 1,000,000 SF
(BD+C)
Multi‐tenant projects
Multiple tenants are required to contribute data
(Existing Buildings: O+M)
EAp2 case 2
Projects not eligible for ENERGY STAR rating
(Existing Buildings: O+M)
Projects in which key team members who are responsible for LEED
Inexperienced project team
documentation preparation have little or no experience with LEED
On an on‐going basis, you must add all your newly registered projects in order to submit them under LEED Proven Provider. You
may also remove unsubmitted projects you’ve previously added with written explanation. Projects must be added or removed at
least five business days before their preliminary review submission in LEED Online. Projects must wait to submit for Proven
Provider reviews in LEED Online until email confirmation of project enrollment is received. Participants can request a list of
enrolled projects to confirm project enrollment via a link on the LEED Proven Provider Form Page.
Your organization must submit at least one new project review in LEED Proven Provider every 24 months to continue
participating in the program. If you have no activity in the program during the noted time period, you will be sent an email noting
the inactivity and may subsequently be removed from Proven Provider. You may request to re‐enroll in the program and begin
the evaluation period again a minimum of six months following removal.
STEP 2. Request and hold a pre‐submission call to discuss tricky or unique issues
You may request a one‐hour pre‐submission call for each project to discuss any tricky issues prior to your preliminary LEED
submission. This call is optional, but highly recommended for projects that will be submitted during the evaluation period.
Typically this call is held for projects that plan to submit an energy model. GBCI is also available to discuss other credits or
prerequisites where you have been unable to find a solution within existing published guidance and standards, and to discuss any
special circumstances that may apply to your project. If you’d like to discuss the energy model, we recommend scheduling the
When you request a pre‐submission call you’ll be required to provide an agenda listing the details of the topics you’d like to
discuss and attach appropriate supporting documentation. The call should be requested a minimum of 10 business days prior to
your desired call date.
While up‐front communication with the reviewer is encouraged, you still have to do your homework. For questions about a
specific credit, the call will be much more productive if you know the relevant credit requirements and are familiar with LEED
guidance published by USGBC in the LEED reference guides, LEED Addenda, and other published resources.
Please note that pre‐submission calls are not intended to be a pre‐review of credit documentation, nor can credits be awarded or
denied during a call. These calls are intended to provide clarification and guidance regarding LEED compliance and the associated
credit documentation only.
Following any call, GBCI will provide written notes detailing any discussions and/or decisions reached during the call. It is the
responsibility of the project team to upload copies of the call notes within LEED Online for each applicable credit. Upload of the
notes will help to ensure consistency between the call and the review.
STEP 3. Prepare and submit your project application for preliminary review
Complete and submit all required LEED documentation within LEED Online just as you would for any other project. Your project
review will follow GBCI’s standard review timeline during the evaluation period.
Common characteristics of high‐quality submissions include:
Relevant information that is clearly highlighted within the documentation
File attachments that are clearly and intuitively labeled
Only required documentation is provided (no unnecessary file attachments)
Only achievable credits or thresholds are attempted
Narratives are used to clearly describe project‐specific circumstances and unique approaches to document credit
requirements
Successful organizations have well‐developed, comprehensive and robust quality control tools and processes that result in high‐
quality submissions. We have assembled a brief list of tips, best practices and resources to help you get started.
Once the preliminary review is complete you will receive an automated message from LEED Online. Within three business days,
you will also receive an email from the reviewer assigned to the project that will provide a high level assessment of the quality of
your overall submission and a brief summary of the review findings. Table 3. Submission Ratings outlines the possible ratings for a
submission. Don’t forget, you’ll need to achieve a rating of “Excellent” or “Above Average” for three consecutive reviews to
successfully complete the evaluation period.
Table 3. Submission Ratings
RATING DESCRIPTION
All documentation submitted for preliminary review is clear, well organized and consistent,
Excellent demonstrating excellent overall understanding of credit requirements. Reviewers are able to
easily confirm compliance for all or almost all credits and all prerequisites.
The vast majority of documentation submitted for preliminary review is clear and consistent,
Above Average demonstrating above average overall understanding of credit requirements. Reviewers are able
to easily confirm compliance for the vast majority of credits and prerequisites.
Most documentation submitted for preliminary review is clear and consistent, demonstrating an
Average average understanding of credit requirements. Reviewers are able to confirm compliance for
most credits and prerequisites.
Little documentation submitted for review is clear and consistent, demonstrating a below
Below Average average understanding of credit requirements. Reviewers are able to confirm compliance for few
credits and prerequisites.
If the project has achieved all the credits and prerequisites submitted in the preliminary review – congratulations! The
preliminary review can be accepted as final in LEED Online. If, however, there are credits and prerequisites that require
clarification, the LEED reviewer will offer to hold a one‐hour post‐review call. This call is optional for all projects and highly
recommended for projects that receive an Average or Below Average rating.
The post‐review call provides an opportunity to address any questions your team may have about the preliminary review
comments prior to preparing and submitting your clarifications for final review. You will need to submit a detailed agenda
outlining the items that you would like to discuss and questions that you’d like clarified. You should also indicate a few dates and
times when your team is available for the call. Please select dates at least ten business days from the date of the request to allow
for schedule coordination. LEED reviewers will attempt to coordinate and schedule calls within three to ten business days of
receiving the request. All communication for scheduling of the post‐review call should be conducted directly with the reviewer
via email.
The post‐review call is not meant to be a “pre‐final review” of your updated documentation, but rather an opportunity for you to
ask questions about the review comments or your intended approach. The call is an opportunity for you to resolve any remaining
issues before submitting for final review. As such, it is expected that there will typically be no need for reviewers to issue mid‐
review clarification requests during the final review, nor a need for you to file an appeal. Additionally, new credits should not be
submitted for the first time during the final review since one of the primary goals of LEED Proven Provider is for projects to
achieve their desired LEED certification threshold at the preliminary review phase.
Once the post‐review call is complete and meeting notes have been distributed, prepare and submit any needed
credit/prerequisite clarifications in LEED Online; the quality of this final submission will also be evaluated.
BEST PRACTICES FOR PREPARING YOUR CLARIFICATIONS
Provide a narrative response to each item of technical advice to explain how it has been addressed.
Label any new supporting document file names appropriately (e.g., “CLARIFICATION,” “FINAL REVIEW,” etc.).
Highlight or circle specific items that need to be brought to the LEED reviewer’s attention.
Withdraw any unachievable credits/credit thresholds from the LEED Online scorecard.
Perform an independent and comprehensive quality control check before submitting clarifications.
STEP 6. Share lessons learned from this review within your organization and update your quality control tools and templates
A continuous cycle of improvement is key to your success as a LEED Proven Provider. Your organization should apply relevant
corrective actions from reviews to all future submissions and continuously update your methodologies and quality control
tools/templates.
Designation
Once you’ve completed a maximum of six reviews that span both design and construction credits, GBCI will make a
determination on whether or not your organization has successfully completed the evaluation period based on the following
success criteria:
Your three most recent project submissions reviewed as part of the LEED Proven Provider in the evaluation period
are rated “Excellent” or “Above Average”.
No documentation errors have been repeated in any subsequent submissions.
Project submissions demonstrate consistent high quality across both design and construction phase credits.
If your organization meets the criteria above GBCI will send you a congratulatory letter and marketing package via email
informing you that you've received the LEED Proven Provider designation.
If your organization does not meet the criteria above after review of the first six LEED Proven Provider submissions the following
next steps may be taken at GBCI’s discretion:
At its discretion, GBCI may extend the evaluation period if there is significant evidence of improved submission
quality.
GBCI may request and hold a feedback meeting with you to discuss your quality issues and provide best practices to
help you improve.
After extended evaluation reviews with mixed improvement, GBCI may send a feedback email that provides one
additional opportunity to complete the evaluation period within the next three submissions before removal from the
evaluation period.
If, after receiving the feedback email, your organization does not meet the evaluation period success criteria within the next
three submissions, your organization may be removed from the LEED Proven Provider evaluation period for the selected rating
system. You may submit a request to restart a new evaluation period after 12 months.
Maintaining Excellence
After successfully completing the evaluation period, your organization will earn the LEED Proven Provider designation –
congratulations! GBCI will notify you of your success and next steps via email.
As a LEED Proven Provider you receive:
Recognition from USGBC. The LEED Proven Provider model was created to recognize organizations with a sustained
track record of high‐quality project submissions. The USGBC directory will reflect this accomplishment.
Use of the LEED Proven Provider mark. This mark, much like the LEED AP®, identifies you as a leader.
Streamlined and truncated LEED certification process. High‐quality submissions result in the ability to skip phases in
the review process and can improve your projects’ chances of achieving LEED certification after only one review.
Maintenance
Earning the LEED Proven Provider designation isn’t the end of the story. To maintain your status your organization must continue
to deliver high‐quality submissions; GBCI will continue to evaluate the quality of your submissions through the abbreviated and
evaluation (full) review process as described in the next section. The quality of your reviews may impact the rate at which your
projects are subject to an evaluation review.
Maintain your LEED Proven Provider designation by:
Submitting projects that are predominantly rated as “Excellent” or “Above Average” during an evaluation (full)
review, and
Submitting at least one project review through LEED Proven Provider every 24 months.
If two or more evaluation reviews are rated as “Average” or “Below Average” within a 12‐month period, GBCI will request a
feedback meeting regarding your status to review quality issues, providing an opportunity for two‐way dialogue and process
improvement.
If two additional evaluation reviews are rated as “Average” or “Below Average” within 12 months of the quality status update you
will lose your LEED Proven Provider designation and associated benefits. This means that you will no longer be eligible to submit
for streamlined and truncated reviews, your LEED Proven Provider designation will be removed from the USGBC directory, and
you must cease marketing your involvement with LEED Proven Provider. You’ll also automatically be moved into a new evaluation
period. Once this additional evaluation period has been successfully completed your LEED Proven Provider status will be
reinstated.
Adding new projects
On an on‐going basis, you must add all of your newly registered projects via the LEED Proven Provider Form Page
(http://usgbc.wufoo.com/forms/proven‐provider) in order to submit them under LEED Proven Provider. You may also remove
projects you’ve previously added with written explanation. Projects must be added or removed at least five business days before
their preliminary review submission in LEED Online. Projects must wait to submit Proven Provider reviews in LEED Online until
email confirmation of project addition is received. Participants can request a list of enrolled projects to confirm project
enrollment via a link on the LEED Proven Provider Form Page.
In an abbreviated review GBCI will complete a review of select credits and prerequisites only. GBCI targets (but does not
guarantee) delivery of an abbreviated review between 10 and 15 business days after the payment for review has cleared. GBCI
will continue to monitor the quality of project submissions as part of the review process. If, during an abbreviated review, the
LEED reviewer has concerns over the quality of the project submission and/or the complexity of the project, that project will
transition into an evaluation (full review) and you will be notified. Quality rankings and post preliminary review quality emails will
be sent following evaluation reviews only. You will not receive a quality ranking email for abbreviated projects.
Please note, post‐review calls for abbreviated reviews, if needed, should be requested via the online LEED Proven Provider Form
Page (http://usgbc.wufoo.com/forms/proven‐provider.)
Proven Provider projects are not eligible for expedited reviews. In order to request an expedited review, the project team must
remove the project from Proven Provider prior to request of an expedited review.
As part of the ongoing quality evaluation process, certain projects will be randomly selected for evaluation after submission. For
these projects, GBCI will complete a full review including all attempted credits and prerequisites. You will be notified when a
project is selected for audit, and all evaluations will follow our standard review timeline.
Flagging unique or special project issues
Because LEED Proven Provider projects may receive abbreviated reviews, you should be confident that your LEED project
submission can successfully document compliance without the need for major clarification requests from the reviewer. However,
there may be cases where unique or special project issues require additional attention in an otherwise high‐quality submission.
These issues should be properly flagged for the reviewer prior to submitting the project. Examples of issues that should be
flagged include:
Credits or prerequisites using alternative compliance paths
Non‐standard Innovation In Design (ID) credits
Credits that are overly complicated by your building type or region
Issues should be flagged in the Special Circumstance Narrative within the PIf4 Schedule and Overview Documents for LEED Online
v2009 or in the General Submittals tab for LEED Online v2. The specific issue and the credit affected should be clearly highlighted
with the text “FLAGGED ISSUE FOR PROVEN PROVIDER REVIEW.”
Marketing
What’s next? Promotion. We encourage you to use the LEED Proven Provider identity mark, sample text and sample press
release to publicize the work you’ve done. GBCI will send you a marketing toolkit via email, upon promotion to Proven Provider
status, to support your promotion efforts.