LEED Consulting and Administration

Overview

Candid Sustainability is a LEED consulting practice working with general contractors, architects, and building owners. As LEED Accredited Professionals, we run certification from the first scorecard to the final plaque: setting goals with the owner, writing the plans the general contractor and subcontractors work from, verifying the work on site, and managing submittals and reviewer responses. Our LEED-certified projects include offices, schools, retail, and housing, and we are a USGBC National Member.

Getting LEED Certification

We guide clients through the entire LEED registration and certification process, through design, construction, and occupancy. LEED administration means documenting and implementing the measures that cut a building’s carbon, energy, and water use and improve the health of the people inside it. Much of that work happens on the construction side, where documentation is most often lost: we stay involved with the whole project team so the building is certified on time and with the points it was designed to earn.

LEED v5 is now the standard

USGBC released LEED v5 in April 2025. Since July 1, 2026, it has been the only version open for new LEED BD+C, ID+C, and O+M registrations. Projects already registered under LEED v4 or v4.1 keep their version and have until June 30, 2032 to submit for certification. We are working in both: v4.1 projects still under construction, and new projects starting under v5.

What changes for your project

  • The work starts earlier. Every v5 BD+C project must complete three assessments while design is still flexible: a Climate Resilience Assessment, a Human Impact Assessment, and a Carbon Assessment projecting 25 years of emissions from operations, refrigerants, and materials.
  • Carbon is half the scorecard. Credits are weighted 50% to Decarbonization, 25% to Quality of Life, and 25% to Ecological Conservation and Restoration.
  • Carbon is now a prerequisite. Projects must quantify the embodied carbon of the structure, enclosure, and hardscape, and prepare an operational carbon projection with a 25-year decarbonization plan.
  • 80 points no longer guarantees Platinum. Platinum projects must also reach minimum performance in Electrification, Enhanced Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and Reduce Embodied Carbon.
  • The jobsite has new requirements. The construction management prerequisite now includes heat protection for workers, alongside indoor air quality and a no-idling policy.

Where we help

  • v5 gap analysis. We score the project against v5 at the start, so the owner knows what Silver, Gold, or Platinum will actually require before the budget is set.
  • The three assessments. We prepare the Climate Resilience, Human Impact, and Carbon Assessments and turn their findings into design decisions, so they shape the scorecard instead of sitting in a file.
  • Embodied carbon, from design to delivery. We coordinate the embodied carbon calculation with the structural and envelope designers, then track Environmental Product Declarations through submittals so the materials installed match the materials calculated.
  • Energy and decarbonization planning. With our energy modeling service, we provide the early energy analysis and annual energy estimate the operational carbon prerequisite calls for.
  • Construction-phase prerequisites. We write the construction management and pollution prevention plans for the general contractor’s crews, coordinate them with local requirements (in Chicago: the Illinois ILR10 permit, the MWRD Watershed Management Ordinance, and city stormwater rules), and verify them on site.
  • v4.1 projects in progress. Registered under v4 or v4.1? We keep the project on track for its submission deadline.

About LEED

The Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is one of the most widely recognized certification standards for building design, construction, and operation. LEED offers a consensus-based, third-party verification process to certify that a building’s design, construction, and operation reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve energy and water, protect ecosystems, and support the health of the people who use it. Certification levels can be earned across a range of building types, from new construction and major renovations to interiors and existing buildings in operation.

To qualify, a project must meet the minimum program requirements and every prerequisite, then earn points from credits. LEED for Building Design and Construction (v4, v4.1, and v5) is scored out of 110 points: Certified at 40, Silver at 50, Gold at 60, and Platinum at 80 or more. Under LEED v5, Platinum also requires minimum performance in electrification, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and embodied carbon. Projects are reviewed by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), the independent body that administers LEED certification.

Scope of Work

LEED administration covers every step of documenting and submitting a project for certification. This includes registering the project in LEED Online, assigning credits to team members, reviewing drawings, specifications, and construction documents, tracking credits, completing the LEED Online forms, submitting documentation to GBCI for review, and preparing responses to reviewer comments and Credit Interpretation Requests. The scope also includes scheduling meetings and providing project reports and updates. We can take on the LEED administrator role for the project team or work alongside an existing LEED administrator and the project architect.

Candid Sustainability joins in pre-design to align everyone on the project around its LEED goals. We lead a design charrette to work through design decisions and options, and to explain the benefits and process of LEED to the whole team. From the charrette comes a preliminary LEED scorecard showing which certification level is within reach, and responsibilities are assigned. On LEED v5 projects, this is also when we prepare the Climate Resilience, Human Impact, and Carbon Assessments, so their findings feed the scorecard. The Owner’s Project Requirements are recorded here and followed through to the end of construction.

During design, Candid Sustainability works with the architect and building owner to make sure the Owner’s Project Requirements and LEED requirements are built into the design and every prerequisite is met. We review specific materials, systems, and technologies, and with the general contractor, we prepare the LEED requirements subcontractors will need in their scopes. This leads to the Basis of Design, the record of design intent. On LEED v5 projects, we coordinate the embodied carbon calculation and the operational carbon projection with the design team while there is still time to act on them. Toward the end of design, the written plans for construction and occupancy are completed, and design-phase credits are submitted to LEED Online for review.

During construction, Candid Sustainability is on site and keeps the documentation current. We write the Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan and the erosion and sedimentation control plan for the general contractor, verify both on site with photos and logs, and manage the flush-out or indoor air quality testing before occupancy. We collect product data, Environmental Product Declarations, and recycling tickets from subcontractors as the work happens, not at closeout. We keep LEED goals within the project budget, and if what is delivered differs from what was specified, we tell the general contractor right away. Any unfinished design credits or reviewer comment responses are submitted with the construction-phase credits.

At substantial completion, we submit the final construction-phase credits, or the full combined design and construction review, and work through every reviewer comment with the project team until certification. Once credits are approved, the owner receives the certificate and plaque, and we provide the documentation and summary the owner needs for marketing and reporting. About a year into occupancy, we review the building with the owner to confirm its systems are working as intended, so the benefits to occupants, the environment, and operating costs can be shown, not just claimed.

For existing buildings certifying under LEED Operations and Maintenance (O+M), we work with owners, facility staff, and occupants through the performance period, documenting actual energy, water, waste, transportation, and occupant-experience results for certification.

A LEED BD+C certification describes the building as designed and built. Recertification under LEED O+M shows how it performs in use. LEED v4.1 and v5 O+M certifications are valid for three years, and recertification is based on at least 12 months of energy and water data, reported through Arc, GBCI’s performance platform.

Candid Sustainability sets up data collection with the facility team, benchmarks the building’s performance, identifies where operation has drifted from design intent, and prepares the recertification submittal. Where performance falls short, our energy auditing service can find the cause.

Frequently Asked Questions

To help potential clients, we’ve provided answers to some frequently asked questions. If you need any further information or have any questions, feel free to contact us, or see all FAQs.

Related Services

LEED Resources & Links

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Address

5030 N. Marine Dr. #807 Chicago, IL 60640

Phone

P: 312.235.2225

Email

contact@candidsustainability.com