Green Building Certification Lookup

Introduction to Green Building Frameworks

Green building certification systems provide structured pathways to design, construct, and operate high-performance buildings. However, the leading frameworks approach this goal from distinct philosophies. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) focuses on whole-building environmental performance across energy, water, materials, site, and indoor quality. The WELL Building Standard (WELL) prioritizes human health and well-being outcomes across ten core concepts, validated through rigorous performance verification. Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) targets resource efficiency, requiring measured improvement against a local baseline specifically for energy, water, and materials.

The Green Building Certification Lookup serves as a reference for an already selected path rather than a recommendation engine. It does not assess a project, calculate likely points, identify the best program, or verify whether a building holds an active certification. Instead, it provides a consistent reading order for LEED, WELL, and EDGE summaries without treating their scores as comparable.

Understanding Certification Levels and Thresholds

Each certification system uses a distinct method to define and measure its achievement levels. Because of these structural differences, points and percentages cannot be compared as equivalent scores across different systems.

LEED Point Thresholds

LEED projects accumulate points across various environmental categories. The total score determines the certification level:

• Certified: 40–49 points
• Silver: 50–59 points
• Gold: 60–79 points
• Platinum: 80+ points

WELL Concept-Based Scoring

WELL v2 uses a point-based system combined with mandatory preconditions. For owner-occupied projects, achieving a level requires meeting a total point threshold alongside a minimum point score within each of the ten WELL concepts:

• Bronze: 40+ total points · no per-concept minimum
• Silver: 50+ total points · at least 1 point per concept
• Gold: 60+ total points · at least 2 points per concept
• Platinum: 80+ total points · at least 3 points per concept

WELL caps each concept at 12 points and the ten concepts at 100 points, with up to 10 additional Innovation points available. For WELL Core projects, there is no per-concept minimum, though feature values and applicability vary based on leased and non-leased scope.

EDGE Percentage Savings

EDGE does not use a point scale. Instead, it measures performance as a percentage of resource savings against a localized baseline model:

• EDGE Certified: Requires at least 20% energy, 20% water, and 20% material savings.
• EDGE Advanced: Requires at least 40% on-site energy, 20% water, and 20% material savings.
• EDGE Zero Carbon: Requires 100% of operational energy emissions accounted for.

The Critical Role of Prerequisites and Preconditions

A key rule across these frameworks is that achieving a specific point threshold or savings percentage is insufficient on its own; all mandatory program requirements must also be met. Points alone cannot compensate for a failed prerequisite or precondition.

In LEED v4.1 and v5, projects must meet every applicable minimum program requirement and prerequisite before any points can contribute toward a certification level. Furthermore, higher levels may introduce specific performance mandates. For example, earning 80 points alone is not sufficient for LEED v5 Platinum; the project must also meet minimum outcomes for energy efficiency, electrification, renewable energy, and embodied-carbon reduction.

In WELL v2, projects must satisfy all applicable Preconditions before they can earn points from Optimizations. For EDGE, projects must be modeled in the EDGE App, provide the required evidence, and complete a formal audit and certification review to verify that the baseline savings are authentic.

Navigating Project Paths and Scopes

Requirements, mandatory conditions, and scopes vary significantly between versions and project paths. Users must select the exact program path and version before reading a level threshold.

• LEED BD+C (v4.1 and v5): Applies to new construction or a major renovation of a whole building.
• WELL v2 (Owner-Occupied): Applies to projects where the occupant controls the space. The project boundary and eligible features are set directly in the WELL scorecard.
• WELL v2 Core: Designed for buildings where the owner occupies a limited area. Feature values and applicability differ from owner-occupied projects, and requirements vary by leased and non-leased scope.
• EDGE: Applies to new or existing building types supported by the EDGE App, assessed against a location-specific base case.

Reading the EDGE Savings Categories

The EDGE system relies on independent category thresholds rather than a combined average. For a project to achieve EDGE Certified, each of the three savings categories—energy, water, and materials—must independently reach at least a 20% reduction against the local baseline. An average score above 20% across all categories cannot compensate for a single category falling short. For example, a project with 35% energy savings, 25% water savings, and 15% material savings cannot be certified, as the materials category sits below the 20% threshold.

To achieve EDGE Advanced, the project must first meet all EDGE Certified thresholds. The higher 40% requirement applies specifically to on-site energy savings, while water and material savings must remain at or above 20%.

Decarbonization and Advanced Certifications

The transition to EDGE Zero Carbon introduces operational data and occupancy requirements. To achieve EDGE Zero Carbon, a project must:

1. First earn final EDGE Advanced certification.
2. Submit 12 months of actual operating data at a minimum of 75% occupancy.
3. Cover 100% of remaining operational energy emissions with renewables or eligible offsets.

This ensures that the carbon-neutral status is verified through real-world performance rather than predictive modeling alone.

Verification and Registration Best Practices

Before registering a project with any certification body, design and engineering teams should verify their targets using official digital tools and scorecards.

• For LEED: Confirm the rating-system selection, registration deadline, current credit language, and official addenda in the USGBC LEED rating system or USGBC LEED v5 support.
• For WELL: Confirm the project boundary, space type, feature applicability, and the current digital scorecard using the IWBI WELL v2 architecture.
• For EDGE: Confirm building-type eligibility, the current base-case model, evidence rules, and certification provider requirements via the EDGE certification levels page.

The packaged reference data in this tool was last checked against official program pages on 6 August 2026. Users should check official links for any subsequent addenda, registration deadlines, or digital-scorecard updates before making design or registration decisions.

Privacy and Processing

Your selections stay on this device. The page does not accept, send, or look up project information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can this page verify a building’s certification?

No. It does not query a project directory or accept a certificate number. Use the certification body’s official project listing or certificate and check the program, version, level, award date and current validity there.

Can I compare points between LEED, WELL and EDGE?

Not as equivalent scores. LEED uses prerequisites and credits, WELL combines preconditions with concept-based points, and EDGE uses savings against a local base case. The page aligns their requirement structure for reading, not their performance scales.

Why does the version or project path matter?

The same program name can cover new construction, interiors, operations or a limited owner scope, and new versions can add mandatory conditions. Select the path matching the project before using any level threshold.

How current is the packaged reference?

The reference was checked against the linked official program pages on 6 August 2026. Programs can publish addenda, registration deadlines and digital-scorecard updates, so follow the official link before making a registration or design decision.