How to Read LEED Codes, Plus a Plain-English v5 Glossary

Updated July 2026 Figures verified against LEED v5 BD+C Rating System, February 2026 edition

The rating system is written in shorthand. Once you can read a code like EAc3 on sight, and once the acronyms stop being noise, most of the exam gets easier. This page does both. Start with the code anatomy, then use the glossary as a reference while you study.

How to read a LEED code

Every prerequisite and credit has a short code. It has three parts, and once you see them the code tells you almost everything.

EAc3

EAThe category. Two letters for one of the eight sections of the rating system.

cThe type. p for prerequisite, c for credit.

3The number. Its order within that category.

So EAc3 reads as Energy and Atmosphere, credit, number three, which is Enhanced Energy Efficiency. And WEp2 reads as Water Efficiency, prerequisite, number two, which is Minimum Water Efficiency. The letter in the middle is the one to lock in first, because it tells you the single most tested thing about any item.

The one distinction to master: p versus c

A prerequisite (p) is mandatory and worth zero points. Miss one and the project cannot certify at any level. A credit (c) is optional and earns points toward the total. The exam tests this constantly, often by naming an item and asking whether it is required or optional. The code gives you the answer for free.

Source: LEED v5 BD+C Rating System, February 2026 edition, scorecard

The eight category codes

Code	Category	What it covers, in one line
IP	Integrative Process, Planning and Assessments	Front-end planning and the early-design workshop
LT	Location and Transportation	Where the building sits and how people reach it
SS	Sustainable Sites	The site itself and its ecology
WE	Water Efficiency	Water use inside and out
EA	Energy and Atmosphere	Energy use and operational carbon, the largest category
MR	Materials and Resources	Materials, embodied carbon and waste
EQ	Indoor Environmental Quality	Air, light, sound and comfort for occupants
PR	Project Priorities	Regional priorities and the LEED AP point

Two traps live in this table. Indoor Environmental Quality codes as EQ, not IEQ. And the category names are worth reading in full, because the exam uses the exact wording.

Category codes read directly from the per-credit pages of the LEED v5 BD+C Rating System, February 2026 edition.

Plain-English glossary

The terms a Green Associate candidate meets most often, in plain language, with the part of the rating system each one ties to.

A C E G I L M O P S U W

Appendix I: The list of extra requirements a project must meet to reach Platinum, over and above scoring 80 points. It sets minimum achievement on four decarbonization items. Published by USGBC as part of the rating system. Ties to: Platinum certification.
ASHRAE: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
A standards body. Two of its standards show up on the exam and are easy to confuse. Standard 62.1 is the ventilation standard. Standard 52.2 is the filter test method. Ties to: EQp2 Fundamental Air Quality.
Charrette: A working session early in design where the project team sets goals together, before decisions are locked in. It is the heart of the integrative process. Ties to: IPc1 Integrative Design Process.
Commissioning (Cx): Checking that the building's systems are installed and actually perform the way the design intended. Fundamental commissioning is a prerequisite, enhanced commissioning is a credit. Ties to: EAp3, EAc5.
Core and Shell (CS): A rating system for projects that build the base building, structure, envelope and core systems, but not the interior fit-out, which a future tenant completes. Some credits carry different point values under Core and Shell than under New Construction, so the exam will tell you which one it means. Ties to: point values throughout.
Cradle-to-gate (A1 to A3): A material's carbon footprint up to the point it leaves the factory gate, before it reaches the site. This is the scope the embodied-carbon prerequisite asks you to quantify. Ties to: MRp2 Quantify and Assess Embodied Carbon.
Cradle-to-grave (modules A to C): A wider scope than cradle-to-gate. It carries on past the factory through construction, use and end of life. This is what a whole-building life-cycle assessment measures for the embodied-carbon credit. Ties to: MRc2 Reduce Embodied Carbon.
Credit: An optional item that earns points toward certification. Its code carries a lowercase c. The opposite of a prerequisite.
Embodied carbon: The carbon locked into a building's materials, their manufacture and its construction. Distinct from operational carbon. Lives in Materials and Resources. Ties to: MRp2, MRc2.
EPD: Environmental Product Declaration
A standardized report of a product's environmental impact, including its carbon footprint. A project can use EPDs as one path to the embodied-carbon credit. Ties to: MRc2, Option 2.
GBCI: Green Business Certification Inc.
The body that reviews projects and awards certification, and that administers the LEED exams. It does not write the rating system. Remember the split: USGBC writes, GBCI certifies. Ties to: the certification process.
GWP: Global Warming Potential
A measure of how much a given amount of a substance contributes to warming. Embodied-carbon math is a material's GWP per unit times the amount used. Ties to: MRp2.
Impact Area: A second way v5 organizes the same prerequisites and credits, alongside the familiar category view. The three impact areas are Decarbonization, Quality of Life, and Ecological Conservation and Restoration. Ties to: the Impact Area View.
Integrative process: Designing the building as one connected system from the start, with the whole team involved early, rather than in separate handoffs. It has its own category, IP. Ties to: IPc1.
LEED AP: LEED Accredited Professional
The credential above Green Associate. It shows specialized knowledge of a rating system, for example BD+C. Having one on the team can earn a project a point. Ties to: PR, the Project Priorities point.
LEED GA: LEED Green Associate
The foundational LEED credential, and the exam this platform prepares you for. No prerequisites to sit it.
Life-cycle assessment (LCA): A method for adding up a product or building's environmental impact across its whole life. A whole-building version (WBLCA) is one route to the embodied-carbon credit. Ties to: MRc2.
MERV: Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value
A rating for how well an air filter captures particles. Higher is finer. The air-quality prerequisite sets a floor of MERV 13, tested to ASHRAE Standard 52.2. Ties to: EQp2.
MPRs: Minimum Program Requirements
Basic eligibility rules a project must meet before it can pursue LEED at all, such as being a permanent structure. Separate from prerequisites.
Operational carbon: The carbon from running a building over its life, mostly from the energy it uses. Distinct from embodied carbon, and it lives in Energy and Atmosphere. Ties to: EAp1.
Prerequisite: A mandatory item worth zero points. Its code carries a lowercase p. Miss one and the project cannot certify. The opposite of a credit.
Project Priorities (PR): The category holding regionally weighted priorities and the point a project can earn for having a LEED AP on the team.
Scorecard: The checklist of every prerequisite and credit in a rating system with its available points. Reading it fluently is half the exam. Ties to: the whole rating system.
USGBC: U.S. Green Building Council
The body that writes and maintains the LEED rating system and its appendices. It does not certify projects. Remember the split: USGBC writes, GBCI certifies.
WBLCA: Whole-Building Life-Cycle Assessment
A life-cycle assessment run across the whole building's structure and envelope, cradle-to-grave. One of the paths to the embodied-carbon credit. Ties to: MRc2, Option 1.

About these definitions. Every figure here is checked against the LEED v5 BD+C Rating System, February 2026 edition, the current published standard. Definitions are written to be understood, not to replace the rating system. When you meet one of these terms in a module or a practice question, this is what it means.