USGBC & GBCI Extend LEED v3 Certification Deadline

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on business across all industries—especially those connected to buildings. Many building design, construction and renovation projects have seen a shift in their delivery timelines, making the upcoming certification deadline for projects registered under LEED v3 (which includes all LEED 2009 rating systems) difficult for some to meet.

To provide more flexibility and support recovery efforts, USGBC and GBCI are extending the LEED v3 certification deadline from June 30, 2021 to June 30, 2022, giving projects an additional year to submit for review.

About the deadline
As new versions of the LEED rating systems are introduced, earlier versions are phased out, so that we are constantly pushing for the transformation to which we aspire. At any given point, LEED rating systems are either:

• Open for registration and certification
• Closed for registration, but open for certification
• Closed for registration and certification (“sunset”)

LEED 2009 is currently in the second category (closed for registration, but open for certification). We began the move to the newest versions of the rating system, LEED v4 and LEED v4.1, by closing registration under LEED 2009 in October 2016. The next step is to support projects in the closing stages of certification. To meet the deadline, teams must submit their projects for a phase of review (either Design or Standard preliminary review) by June 30, 2022. This deadline applies to the following rating systems:

• LEED for New Construction (and Italia NC) 2009
• LEED for Core and Shell 2009
• LEED for Schools 2009
• LEED for Retail: New Construction 2009
• LEED for Retail: Commercial Interiors 2009
• LEED for Healthcare 2009
• LEED for Commercial Interiors 2009
• LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance 2009
• LEED for Neighborhood Development 2009
• LEED for Homes 2008
• LEED for Homes Midrise Pilot
• LEED India 2011 (New Construction and Core and Shell Development)

In addition to having more time to complete LEED 2009 certification projects, teams also have the option to upgrade to LEED v4 or LEED v4.1 with no additional fees. Our expert team will guide any projects that choose to make this switch with one-on-one support.