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Environmental & Risk Management / Green Building / Scoring - Background Data

Define Credits for Certification Standards

The final step in defining a certification standard is to enter the standard's credits -- that is, the criteria against which a building is measured. Consult your standard's documentation to determine the credits defined by your particular standard as well as any associated prerequisite credits or subcredits.

When defining credits and subcredits, you must enter a number to uniquely identify this credit within this category. Typically, you will want to enter the same identifying numbers as those that are used by your standard. For example, within each LEED category, credits are identified with simple, sequential numbers such as 1,2,3.

For general information about entering a certification standard and its details, see Entering Environmental Certification Scoring Standards.

To define a credit that does not have subcredits:

If your certification standard does not include subcredits, follow the below procedure to enter your credits. For example, the BREEAM system does not offer subcredits; its numbering convention consists of a category code and a number, such as, Mat1 and Mat2 for credits under the Materials category.

1. Review your standard's documentation for background on the standard's credits and their details.
2. On the Process Navigator, choose Define Credits.
3. In the left pane, choose the Certification Standard for which you want to define credits and the credit category to which this credit belongs.
4. Choose Add Credit.
5. In the bottom pane, complete the following fields:

Credit #	Enter a number to uniquely identify this credit within this category. This should match the number of the credit as defined by the convention. For example, if you are entering the credits of the BREEAM standard's Materials category, you could enter a value of MAT1 to match the convention used by BREEAM.
Credit	Enter a descriptive name for this credit.
Subcredit Number	Enter 0 to indicate that this item defines a credit and not a subcredit. You must complete this field.
Minimum Points and Maximum Points	Since the credit does not have any subcredits, enter the same value for Minimum Points and Maximum Points. For example, if you can earn 2 points for this credit, complete both these fields with 2.

To define a credit with subcredits:

Credits that offer a range of points typically have a corresponding set of subcredits which determine the exact value within the range that the building will earn for this credit.

For example, LEED's On-Site and Off-Site Renewable Energy credit offers a point value ranging from 1 to 6. Accordingly, it has 6 subcredits,incrementally increasing in points with each incremental improvement in renewable energy, such as:

• 25 % off-site renewable energy, 1 point
• 37.5% off-site renewable energy, 2 points
• 50% off-site renewable energy, 3 points, and so on

Note the following when defining your subcredits:

• You enter the parent credit number with each subcredit record; you do not complete the credit information one time only and then enter the various subcredits. See Step 7 in the below procedure for more information.
• Each subcredit offers an exact point value, which is incrementally higher than the previous subcredit's point value. For example, a subcredit of 50 percent compliance might be worth 1; a subcredit of 75 percent compliance might be worth 2, and a subcredit of 100 percent compliance might be worth 3. You do not sum the subcredit values to determine the number of points for the credit.
• Once you enter the values for Credit # and Subcredit #, the system combines these values to form a unique number in the format of x.x for the subcredit . For example, if the subcredit is numbered in 1.5 in LEEDS, you enter "1" for Credit # and "5" for Subcredit # so that elsewhere in the application, ARCHIBUS will present this item as "credit 1.5".

Procedure:

1. Review your standard's documentation for background on the standard's credits and their details.
2. On the Process Navigator, choose Define Credits.
3. In the left pane, choose the Certification Standard for which you want to define credits and the credit category to which this credit belongs.
4. Choose Add Credit.
5. In the bottom pane, complete the following fields:

Credit #	Enter a number to uniquely identify this credit within this category. This should match the number of the credit as defined by the convention.
Credit	Enter a descriptive name for this credit.
Subcredit #	Enter 0 to reflect that this is the credit, and not a subcredit.
Minimum Points and Maximum Points	Enter the range of points that can be earned for this credit.

6. Now, define the subcredits for this credit. Choose Add Credit.
   
7. In the bottom pane, complete the following fields. Note that for each subcredit, you must explicitly enter the number and name of the parent credit

Credit #	Enter the same number as in Step 5 above.
Credit	Enter the same descriptive name is in Step 5 above.
Subcredit #	Enter a number to uniquely identify this subcredit. This should match the number of the subcredit as defined by the convention. For example, for subcredit 1.3, enter "3" for this value.
Subcredit Description	Enter a descriptive name of this subcredit.
Minimum Points and Maximum Points	Enter the points that can be earned for this subcredit.For example, if you can earn 2 points for this subcredit, complete both these fields with 2.

8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 to enter all the subcredits for this credit.

To define a prerequisite credit:

Some standards require that before a building can begin accumulating points within a particular category, the building must meet a prerequisite credit.

1. Review your standard's documentation for background on the standard's prerequisite credits and their details.
2. On the Process Navigator, choose Define Credits.
3. In the left pane, choose the Certification Standard for which you want to define prerequisite credits and the credit category to which this prerequisite credit belongs.
4. Choose Add Prerequisite.
5. In the bottom pane, complete the following fields:

Prerequisite #	Enter a number to uniquely identify this prerequisite credit.
Prerequisite	Enter a descriptive name.