LEED certification to deepen alignment with Level(s) and EU Taxonomy in the European market

On 2 April 2025, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building certification scheme officially released their updated criteria for the European market to mirror key areas of the EU Taxonomy, which guides investments towards sustainable activities, and Level(s), the European common language for assessing and monitoring building performance. These two policy instruments are closely linked, as Level(s) provides the sustainability performance indicators that help report on the sustainable construction and real estate activities covered by the EU Taxonomy.

Evolution of LEED's alignment with Level(s) and the EU Taxonomy

The journey of LEED's alignment with Level(s) and the EU Taxonomy in the European market began in January 2022 with the publishing of a whitepaper on how LEED supports the EU Taxonomy. Then, in the spring of 2023 an alternative compliance path was introduced, which gave users the option to measure whole building life cycle global warming potential (GWP) according to the Level(s) criteria. LEED established a points system to recognise compliance with Level(s) at Level 1 (conceptual design stage), Level 2 (detailed design stage) and Level 3 (as-built and in-use stage).

LEED version 4 (v4), addresses most EU Taxonomy requirements and includes the Arc self-assessment tool, allowing users to assess compliance against the EU Taxonomy criteria and to demonstrate this with a certificate and detailed report.

LEED v4 introduced several pilot credits to align with EU Taxonomy criteria in the area of Climate Change Mitigation. These credits required projects to document their sustainability credentials against the EU Taxonomy, focusing on, for example, climate change adaptation, water management, circular economy, pollution prevention, and biodiversity.

The newly released LEED version 5 (v5) will further enhance alignment. In v5 the EU Taxonomy requirements will be introduced through a combination of standard credit language and a central Taxonomy credit, which picks up all items not directly matching individual credits in v5.

A welcome step 

Josefina Lindblom, Policy Officer with responsibility for Level(s) at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment, welcomed LEED’s closer alignment with the EU Taxonomy and Level(s): ‘Certification scheme providers have the opportunity to support the concepts that Level(s) puts forward and promote the adoption of the framework, thereby aligning with EU buildings policies. To learn that LEED will strengthen this integration further in its new version is great news for Europe’s built environment.’

Kay Killmann, Managing Director of Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) Europe, the certifying body for LEED projects in the EU market added: ‘Aligning LEED criteria with the Level(s) framework is a regional pathway, which helps European project teams to simplify documentation requirements as well as navigating the broad landscape of schemes.’  

Conclusion

LEED’s journey is shared by an increasing number of certification scheme providers working to integrate EU standards and legislation into their criteria. For example, the German-based certifier, DGNB (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen), early on incorporated Level(s) into its methodology to align its approach to assessing building performance with the EU.

By providing a common language for sustainability performance, Level(s) streamlines reporting requirements across the EU building sector and ensures buildings meet high environmental standards. This supports the broader goals of the EU Green Deal and the transition to a carbon-neutral society by 2050, fostering a more sustainable built environment across Europe.

Find out more

You can find more information about LEED v5 on USGBC’s website.

GBCI Europe’s LinkedIn page keeps you updated about European events and education offerings.

The first in-person LEED v5 workshops globally will take place during the GBCI Circle event in Prague on 14-16 May. 

If you operate an assessment or certification scheme or are developing a new scheme, you can use the LIFE Level(s) mapping tool LIFE Level(s) mapping toolto measure the conformity of your scheme with the Level(s) framework of macro-objectives and indicators. The tool is a useful starting point to identify opportunities for closer alignment, which you can address in future scheme updates.

Or, to learn more about why certification bodies are aligning with Level(s), read the European Commission factsheet ‘Level(s), A common language for building assessment’.