AIAGR | ASHRAE Western Michigan Lunch & Learn: Designing for Carbon, Health, and Equity — A LEED v5 Primer
Join us for our joint AIAGR Lunch & Learn session with ASHRAE Western Michigan on May 12th, hosted at the Student Commons at Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University!
Hosted by: KCAD of FSU
Event Description:
Catalyst Partners will present during this Lunch & Learn from 11:30am to 1:00pm.
Topic: Designing for Carbon, Health, and Equity: A LEED v5 Primer
Course Description: This high-level overview of U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED v5 rating system explores how the next evolution of LEED is reshaping the roles of both architects and engineers in delivering high-performance buildings.
LEED v5 moves beyond traditional energy efficiency to emphasize carbon accountability, resilience, and human-centered design—requiring deeper collaboration between architectural and mechanical disciplines from early concept through operation. This session highlights how building form, envelope, systems, and controls must work together to meet new expectations for operational and embodied carbon, electrification, peak load management, and indoor environmental quality.
Attendees will gain practical insight into how LEED v5 influences design decisions across disciplines—from massing and material selection to HVAC system design and grid interaction—and how to translate these requirements into integrated project strategies. The presentation is designed to help architects and engineers speak a common language around performance, align design priorities, and confidently guide clients toward low-carbon, resilient outcomes.
At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:
1. Learning Objective 1: Interpret Key LEED v5 Changes Across Disciplines: Understand how LEED v5 restructures certification around carbon, resilience, and equity, and identify the implications for both architectural design (form, envelope, materials) and mechanical systems (HVAC, electrification, controls).
2. Learning Objective 2: Connect Design Decisions to Carbon Outcomes: Evaluate how early architectural decisions (orientation, massing, façade design, material selection) and engineering strategies (system selection, efficiency, electrification) collectively influence operational and embodied carbon performance under LEED v5.
3. Learning Objective 3: Integrate Resilience, Health, and Performance Strategies: Explore how LEED v5 aligns climate resilience, occupant health, and indoor environmental quality with building systems and design strategies—including ventilation, thermal comfort, passive survivability, and hazard mitigation.
4. Learning Objective 4: Apply LEED v5 to Integrated Project Delivery: Identify practical pathways for achieving high levels of certification by aligning architectural intent, engineering systems, and performance modeling, enabling more effective collaboration and informed decision-making throughout design and construction.
Schedule:
Check-In + Social | 11:30 AM
Presentation + Lunch | 12:00 PM
Presentation Concludes | 1:00 PM
Cost:
AIAGR Chapter Members: Free
AIAS Members | Students: Free
KCAD + Ferris Faculty | Staff: Free
Non-AIAGR Chapter Members: $30.00
Program Credits: AIA – 1.0 LU | HSW
