Log in
LEED v4
Homes
Energy and Atmosphere
Education of homeowner, tenant, or building manager

LEED CREDIT

Homes-v4 EAp3: Education of homeowner, tenant, or building manager Required

LEEDuser’s viewpoint

Explore this LEED credit

Post your questions on this credit in the forum, and click on the credit language tab to review to the LEED requirements.

Credit language

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Provide to all individuals or organizations responsible for ongoing maintenance of the home (e.g., occupants, building managers, maintenance contractors) an operations and maintenance manual, binder, or CD that includes all the following items:

  • the completed checklist of LEED for Homes features;
  • copies of all ENERGY STAR for Home, version 3, checklists;
  • product manufacturers’ manuals for all installed equipment, fixtures, and appliances;
  • general information on efficient use of energy, water, and natural resources;
  • operations and maintenance guidance for any installed equipment, including space heating and cooling, mechanical ventilation, humidity control, radon protection, renewable energy, and irrigation, rainwater harvesting, or graywater systems (following 2009 EPA WaterSense Single-Family New Home Specifications, item 5.0, Homeowner Education);
  • guidance on occupants’ activities and choices, including cleaning materials and methods, water-efficient landscaping, integrated pest management, effects of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, irrigation, lighting selection, and appliance selection;
  • information on local green power options; and
  • information on sharing utility data with USGBC via a USGBC-approved third party.
In addition, conduct a minimum one-hour walkthrough of the home with the occupants. For buildings with building managers, include the building manager. The walkthrough must feature the following:
  • identification of all installed equipment;
  • instruction in how to use and operate the equipment; and
  • information on its maintenance.
Prerequisite required for all projects, whether they use the EA performance or EA prescriptive path
See all forum discussions about this credit »

What does it cost?

Cost estimates for this credit

On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.

Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.

This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.

Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »

Addenda

7/8/2017Updated: 7/10/2017
Rating System Correction
Description of change:
Under Requirements, delete the following bullet point:

"a copy of each signed accountability form"
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
4/5/2016Updated: 4/7/2016
Rating System Correction
Description of change:
Remove the second bullet under requirements "a copy of each signed accountability form;"
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
4/5/2016
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:

According to the US DOE “Zero Energy Ready Homes are at least 40%-50% more energy efficient than a typical new home. This generally corresponds to a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index Score in the low- to mid-50s, depending on the size of the home and region in which it is built.”

Interpretation 10398 states that projects that receive ENERGY STAR for Homes v3 certification may automatically earn a HERS 70. Can projects that earn the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home label also receive a HERS equivalency?

Ruling:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 or more

Floor Area (square feet)
1,000
1,600
2,200
2,800
3,400
4,000
4,600
+ 600 ft2 per additional bedroom

Floor Area (square meters)
93
148
204
260
315
371
426
+ 55.6 square m2per additional bedroom

Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
See all forum discussions about this credit »

Documentation toolkit

The motherlode of cheat sheets

LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit is loaded with calculators to help assess credit compliance, tracking spreadsheets for materials, sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions, and examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects for you to check your work against. To get your plaque, start with the right toolkit.

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Provide to all individuals or organizations responsible for ongoing maintenance of the home (e.g., occupants, building managers, maintenance contractors) an operations and maintenance manual, binder, or CD that includes all the following items:

  • the completed checklist of LEED for Homes features;
  • copies of all ENERGY STAR for Home, version 3, checklists;
  • product manufacturers’ manuals for all installed equipment, fixtures, and appliances;
  • general information on efficient use of energy, water, and natural resources;
  • operations and maintenance guidance for any installed equipment, including space heating and cooling, mechanical ventilation, humidity control, radon protection, renewable energy, and irrigation, rainwater harvesting, or graywater systems (following 2009 EPA WaterSense Single-Family New Home Specifications, item 5.0, Homeowner Education);
  • guidance on occupants’ activities and choices, including cleaning materials and methods, water-efficient landscaping, integrated pest management, effects of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, irrigation, lighting selection, and appliance selection;
  • information on local green power options; and
  • information on sharing utility data with USGBC via a USGBC-approved third party.
In addition, conduct a minimum one-hour walkthrough of the home with the occupants. For buildings with building managers, include the building manager. The walkthrough must feature the following:
  • identification of all installed equipment;
  • instruction in how to use and operate the equipment; and
  • information on its maintenance.
Prerequisite required for all projects, whether they use the EA performance or EA prescriptive path
See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Unsubscribe from discussions about Homes-v4 EAp3