LEED-AP-BD+C USGBC LEED AP Building Design + Construction (LEED v5 AP BD+C) Free Practice Exam Questions (2026 Updated)

TheU-value (thermal transmittance), Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC), and Visible Light Transmittance (VLT)are all key metrics used to evaluate theperformance of windows and other glazing materialsin the building envelope.

U-valuemeasureshow much heat is transferred through a window assembly, impacting thermal insulation and energy efficiency.

Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC)determineshow much solar radiation is transmitted through glass and converted into heat, affecting cooling loads.

Visible Light Transmittance (VLT)indicatesthe percentage of visible light passing through the window, influencing daylighting and glare control.

These attributes arecrucial for windowsas they directly affectenergy performance, occupant comfort, and daylighting strategiesin a LEED-certified building.

(Source: Official LEED BD+C Reference Manual)

New Construction is the appropriate rating system for a new mixed-use building with 300,000 ft2 (27 871 m2) of residential units, 150,000 ft2 (13 935 m2) hotel and 50,000 ft2 (4 645 m2) of retail space.According to the LEED rating system selection guidance1,the New Construction rating system applies to buildings that are being newly constructed or going through a major renovation, and that include any of the following use types: office, retail, hospitality, education, residential, warehouse and distribution centers, or data centers2.The New Construction rating system can also be used for mixed-use buildings that have more than one use type3. Since the project involves new construction of a mixed-use building with residential, hospitality, and retail uses, the New Construction rating system is the most suitable option. The other rating systems are not applicable because they are either specific to one use type (Retail and Hospitality) or to buildings that are not complete at the time of certification (Core and Shell Development).References:

LEED rating system selection guidance | U.S. Green Building Council

LEED V5: Building Design + Construction Guide - U.S. Green Building Council

LEED V5Rating Systems | USGBC-LI

The intent of the Sustainable Sites Prerequisite. Construction Activity Pollution Prevention is to reduce pollution from construction activities by controlling soil erosion, waterway sedimentation and airborne dust generation. TheLEED V5Reference Guide for Building Design and Construction states that " construction activities can have significant negative impacts on the environment, both at the project site and beyond. Erosion and sedimentation can degrade water quality, damage aquatic habitats, and increase flooding risks. Airborne dust can affect air quality, human health, and visibility. Construction vehicles and equipment can generate noise, traffic, and greenhouse gas emissions " 1. The project team must implement an erosion and sedimentation control (ESC) plan that conforms to the 2012 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Construction General Permit or local equivalent, whichever is more stringent. The ESC plan must cover all construction activity on the project site, including clearing, grading, excavating, and demolition.

LEED V5Reference Guide for Building Design and Construction, Sustainable Sites Prerequisite:Construction Activity Pollution Prevention, page 1151

Construction activity pollution prevention | U.S. Green Building Council

Regular building occupantsare individualswho consistently use the building.According to LEED, this includes:

Staff (employees working full-time or part-time)

Primary and secondary students(school occupants)

Higher education students(university students who regularly attend)

Residents(permanent occupants of a residential building)

Retail customers, visitors, and periodic volunteersare considered transient occupantsand arenot classified as regular occupants.

(Source: Official LEED BD+C Reference Manual)

The best design approach for the office building is D. Recover waste energy through exhaust air energy recovery systems. This is because:

Installing glazing with a higher solar heat gain factor would increase the cooling load and energy consumption of the building, especially in an extremely humid climate where heat gain is high1.

Installing photovoltaic panels on the sides of the building would generate electricity from solar radiation, but it would not reduce the cooling load or energy consumption of the building, unless the electricity is used to power a heat pump or other cooling device2.

Increasing outdoor air intake quantities during summer months would provide more fresh air to dilute the indoor pollutants and improve the indoor air quality, but it would not reduce the cooling load or energy consumption of the building, unless it iscombined with a ventilation system that recovers waste energy from the exhaust air stream34.

An exhaust air energy recovery system (ERV) is a type of mechanical ventilation that uses a heat exchanger to transfer heat between two streams of air: one that enters the building and one that exits. The ERV pre-cools and dehumidifies the incoming ventilation air by sending the rejected heat into the exhaust airstream to cool the condenser coil at a lower temperature. This reduces both the cooling load and energy consumption of the building, as well as improving its indoor humidity levels34. An ERV can also provide some fresh outdoor air to meet ASHRAE Standard 62 ventilation rates5.

Therefore, an ERV is a more efficient and effective design approach than glazing, photovoltaic panels, or increased outdoor air intake quantities for reducing the annual energy cost for operating an office building in an extremely humid climate and shaded by very large adjacent buildings on all four sides.

LEED BD+C Location and Transportation (LT) Credit: High Priority Siteencourages development in locations with existing infrastructure to promotesustainable land use.

Option 1: Historic Districtapplies to projects located indesignated historic districtswhere at least75% of land within ½ mile (0.80 km) is previously developed.

Brownfields (Option C) and Federal Renewal Communities (Option D)areseparate site categoriesthat fall under differentHigh Priority Siteoptions.

The ¾ mile (1.20 km) radius in Option A is incorrect, as LEED specifically sets the requirement at½ mile (0.80 km).

Toearn this credit under Option 1, a project in a historic districtmust demonstrate that the surrounding land is predominantly redeveloped.

(Source: Official LEED BD+C Reference Manual)

According to theLEED V5Reference Guide for Building Design and Construction, the project team must conduct a waste stream audit to identify the top five recyclable waste streams generated by the building and its occupants. The audit must cover a representative time period of a minimum of 24 hours, and must account for variations in the type and quantity of waste generated by different building uses and operations. The project team must then provide dedicated areas for the collection and storage of these materials for recycling. The project team must also provide dedicated areas for the collection and storage of batteries, mercury-containing lamps, and electronic waste, or demonstrate that a local program is in place to properly dispose of these materials.

LEED V5Reference Guide for Building Design and Construction, Materials and Resources Prerequisite: Storage and Collection of Recyclables, page 5441

LEED V5Credit Tutorials: Materials & Resources (BD+C/ID+C), Prerequisite: Storage and Collection of Recyclables2

ISO 14044 establishes requirements and guidelines for performing life-cycle assessment, including goal and scope definition, life-cycle inventory, impact assessment, and interpretation. USGBC guidance for whole-building LCA has required the use of LCA tools and data sets consistent with ISO 14044 methodology when comparing proposed and baseline buildings. LEED v5 MRc2 continues the Whole-Building Life-Cycle Assessment approach, requiring a cradle-to-grave assessment of structure, enclosure, and hardscape and reporting impact categories including Global Warming Potential. ISO 21930 primarily establishes core rules for environmental declarations of construction products and services, while ISO 50001 is an energy-management-system standard. Therefore, of the choices given, ISO 14044:2006 is the applicable methodological standard for performing the LCA itself. U.S. Green Building Council

To comply with Indoor Environmental Quality Credit, Thermal Comfort, the standard that needs to be followed is ASHRAE 55-2010, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, with errata or a local equivalent1.This standard specifies the combinations of indoor thermal environmental factors and personal factors that will produce thermal environmental conditions acceptable to a majority of the occupants within the space2.The standard also provides methods for measuring and evaluating thermal comfort, as well as guidance for design, operation, and maintenance of thermal comfort systems2.References:Thermal comfort;ASHRAE 55-2010

Including the material requirements in the project specifications(D) ensures that all project team members are aware of and prioritize materials compliant with theMaterials and Resources (MR) Credit: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization. Clearly defined specifications communicate the importance of sustainability criteria, such as environmental product declarations and sourcing. Whole-building life-cycle analysis (C) is part of separate LEED credits and doesn’t directly influence material prioritization by the team.

Discovery

The discovery phase of the integrative process gives the team the greatest chance of success in meeting the project’s environmental goals cost-effectively.The discovery phase is the initial stage of the project, where the team establishes the vision, goals, and performance criteria, conducts a site assessment, identifies synergies and trade-offs among systems, and performs preliminary analysis and modeling of energy and water use1.By engaging in this phase early and iteratively, the team can explore various design options, identify potential savings and benefits, and optimize the project outcomes2.

Reference Guide for Building Design and Construction v4 – Pages 28-291

Understanding Integrative Design inLEED V5- BuildingGreen2

IPp2: Human Impact Assessment requires teams to evaluate the project ' s social context, human-use impacts, local infrastructure, vulnerable populations, and occupant experience and then use these findings to inform project design. A publicly accessible café with seating in an adjacent plaza provides both community-oriented space and a positive occupant experience. It creates opportunities for interaction, social inclusion, gathering, and engagement between building occupants and the surrounding community. Transit proximity and bicycle storage primarily address transportation access, while filtration and low-emitting materials principally address indoor environmental quality. Neither combines social interaction and occupant experience as directly as the café/plaza strategy. Therefore, Option A best demonstrates how ground-floor space can respond simultaneously to social-equity considerations and human experience identified during the Human Impact Assessment.

Detailed Explanation:

To qualify as reused material under the Materials and Resources Credit, furniture must have been purchased at least two years prior to the project’s registration date. This ensures that the materials meet the definition of reuse, aligning with LEED ' s goal of reducing the demand for new materials and promoting the conservation of resources.

Furniture is the only type of product that needs to be evaluated for both VOC content and VOC emissions in the LEED BD+C Low-Emitting Materials credit.Flooring, composite wood, and wet applied products only need to meet the VOC content requirements, while other types of products, such as ceilings, walls, thermal and acoustic insulation, and exterior applied products, only need to meet the VOC emissions requirements1.

LEED V5: Building Design + Construction Guide

Low-Emitting Materials | U.S. Green Building Council

Regional Priority (RP) creditsareawarded based on local environmental concerns.

Projects must register for credits that align with local sustainability priorities.

Points are NOT automatic—projects must achieve the related credits.

(Source: Official LEED BD+C Reference Manual)

The Materials and Resources Credit, Building Product Disclosure and Optimization - Sourcing of Raw Materials rewards projects that use materials that have optimized extraction processes by limiting or eliminating the extraction of new resources, the reuse of materials or the use of recycled materials1. According to the LEED Reference Guide for Building Design and Construction2, the credit has two options: Option 1. Raw Material Source and Extraction Reporting and Option 2. Leadership Extraction Practices. Option 1 requires the project to use at least 20 permanently installed products from at least five different manufacturers that have publicly released a report from their raw material suppliers which include extraction locations, a commitment to long-term ecologically responsible land use, a commitment to reducing environmental harms from extraction and/or manufacturing processes, and a commitment to meeting applicable standards or programs voluntarily that address responsible sourcing criteria2. Option 2 requires the project to use products that meet at least one of the responsible sourcing criteria below for at least 25%, by cost, of the total value of permanently installed building products in the project:

Extended producer responsibility. Products purchased from a manufacturer (producer) that participates in an extended producer responsibility program or is directly responsible for extended producer responsibility.

Bio-based materials. Bio-based products must meet the Sustainable Agriculture Network’s Sustainable Agriculture Standard. Bio-based raw materials must be tested using ASTM Test Method D6866 and be legally harvested, as defined by the exporting and receiving country. Exclude hide products, such as leather and other animal skin material.

Wood products. Wood products must be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council or USGBC-approved equivalent.

Materials reuse. Reused products must include salvaged, refurbished, or reused products.

Recycled content. Recycled content is the sum of postconsumer recycled content plus one-half the preconsumer recycled content, based on cost. Products meeting recycled content criteria are valued at 100% of their cost for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.

USGBC approved program. Other USGBC approved programs meeting leadership extraction criteria.

Therefore, among the given options, only Option A is relevant to the use of reused/salvaged materials or recycled content, as they can contribute to the materials reuse or recycled content criteria under Option 2. Option B is a prerequisite that requires the project to develop and implement a construction and demolition waste management plan that identifies the materials to be diverted from disposal and whether the materials will be sorted on-site or co-mingled2. Option C is a credit that requires the project to use at least 20 different permanently installed products from at least five different manufacturers that use any of the following programs to demonstrate the chemical inventory of the product to at least 0.1% (1000 ppm):

Health Product Declaration. The end use product has a published, complete Health Product Declaration with full disclosure of known hazards in compliance with the Health Product Declaration Open Standard.

Cradle to Cradle. The end use product has been certified at the Cradle to Cradle v2 Basic level or Cradle to Cradle v3 Bronze level.

REACH Optimization. The end use product is compliant with REACH Optimization criteria.

GreenScreen v1.2 Benchmark. The product’s chemical ingredients are inventoried using the GreenScreen v1.2 Benchmark.

Declare. The Declare product label must indicate that all ingredients have been disclosed down to 1000 ppm.

Option D is a credit that requires the project to use at least 20 different permanently installed products that have environmental product declarations. The products must be sourced from at least five different manufacturers. The environmental product declarations must conform to ISO 14025, 14040, 14044, and EN 15804 or ISO 21930 and have at least a cradle-to-gate scope2.

For major renovation and new construction projects, the required energy and water-related system analyses should be the same except for plug and process load needs. Plug and process loads are the electrical loads that are not related to lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, such as computers, appliances, equipment, and machinery. Plug and process load needs may vary depending on the type and function of the building, and they can have a significant impact on the energy performance and demand of the building. Therefore, the project team should analyze the plug and process load needs for each project and design strategies to reduce or optimize them. The other factors, such as site conditions, massing and orientation, and building envelope performance, are common to both major renovation and new construction projects, and they should be analyzed in the same way for both types of projects.

Temporary air filters should be installed when HVAC equipment or ductwork is operated during construction. Construction activities generate dust, fibres, aerosols, and other contaminants that can enter air-handling equipment, accumulate inside ducts, foul coils, or later be distributed through occupied spaces. Temporary filtration helps prevent this contamination and should be accompanied by sealing unused duct openings, protecting equipment, maintaining clean work areas, and replacing filters before occupancy. Low-emitting materials reduce chemical emissions from installed products, but they do not protect HVAC components from construction dust and debris. Extreme-heat protection addresses worker or occupant safety under high-temperature conditions rather than construction-related air-system contamination. Proper HVAC protection supports healthier indoor air and aligns with LEED v5’s quality-of-life emphasis on occupant health and well-being.

Advanced metering provides granular energy-use information that can be analyzed to identify abnormal loads, unexpected operating patterns, and sudden demand increases. Automated alerts allow facility personnel to respond rapidly when consumption deviates from normal operation, helping identify equipment faults, scheduling errors, simultaneous heating and cooling, or other energy waste. Option A relies only on outdoor temperature and ignores occupancy, internal loads, schedules, and other control variables. Option C is considerably less responsive than continuous metering and automated analysis. A terminology update is important: the standalone Advanced Energy Metering credit from earlier LEED versions was removed in LEED v5 BD+C, with portions incorporated into Grid Interactive strategies. Nevertheless, the operational use described in Option B is consistent with the purpose of detailed metering and automated building-management data.