PART II: How Does LEED Work?

Certification

LEED points are awarded on a 100-point scale, and credits are weighted to reflect their potential environmental impacts. Additionally, 10 bonus credits are available, four of which address regionally specific environmental issues. A project must satisfy all prerequisites and earn a minimum number of points to be certified.

In LEED 2009 there are 100 possible base points plus an additional 6 points for Innovation in Design and 4 points for Regional Priority. Buildings can qualify for four levels of certification:

USGBC LEED 2009 (v3):

Note that the LEED for Homes rating system is much different than LEED v3, with different point categories and thresholds that reward efficient residential design

 USGBC LEED v2.2:

In LEED v2.2 for new construction and major renovations for commercial buildings there are 69 possible points and buildings can qualify for four levels of certification: