This Program Manual contains all of the requirements and rule sets detailing the approved means of achieving all requirements within Zero Energy Certification 1.1.
Compliance Details
The Compliance Details identify the complete rule set for compliance and may be updated by ILFI periodically to reflect additional clarifications, exceptions, and definitions. These include updates applicable to all teams generated by the Request for Ruling process (see Additional Tools and Support later in the Introduction section). Project teams are held to the Compliance Details included in the Program Manual version that is current on the date of their project registration. Project teams may comply with changes to Compliance Details in subsequent Manual updates at their discretion.
INTENT + REQUIREMENTS
The Intent + Requirements section sets the defining requirements for that version of the program and will not change in quarterly updates to the Manual.
REQUIREMENT-SPECIFIC DETAILS
Following the Intent + Requirements are the Clarifications, Exceptions, Calculations, Scale Jumping, and Documentation Requirements sections. Collectively, these are the Compliance Details, which constitute the rule set governing how compliance is achieved.
Clarifications
Clarifications elaborate on the intent and requirements, providing more specific guidance on terminology, application, and implementation methodologies. Clarifications are generally listed in alphabetical order.
Exceptions
Exceptions to program requirements may be established at the discretion of the Institute to recognize current limitations in available tools or data, or other circumstances that pose an unreasonable barrier to achievement of particular performance levels in particular situations. The expectation is that Exceptions will be temporary until conditions evolve to render them unnecessary. Some Exceptions have eligibility criteria and/or require preapproval from ILFI. Any prerequisites, preapprovals, additional performance requirements, or documentation will be specified in the Exception.
Each Exception is identified with a two-letter abbreviation and a unique number; for example, EC-001 is the first Exception of the Living Building Challenge’s Energy Petal. Energy-related Exceptions and numbering are consistent across ILFI programs, although not all Exceptions are applicable to all programs. See the Exception Documentation and Summary Table in the Documentation Requirements for more information. Project teams must reference the appropriate Exception numbers when submitting Requests for Ruling where preapproval is required and in documentation for audit.
Scale Jumping
Scale Jumping sections provide additional detail on appropriate Scale Jumping strategies specific to applicable Imperatives.
Calculations and Documentation Requirements
The Calculations sections provide instruction and examples for calculations, and the Documentation Requirements list the documentation that must be submitted at each audit to demonstrate compliance.
Case Studies and Resources
The Program Manual closes with case studies highlighting successful approaches to requirement achievement and a list of technical resources to support design and implementation strategies.
GLOSSARY
The ILFI Program Glossary in the Program Manual defines terminology used throughout the Manual and provides an easily accessible reference for both general and program-specific language. This glossary is used for all of ILFI’s programs, including Zero Carbon Certification, Living Building Challenge, Living Product Challenge, Declare, and Just, to provide consistency across programs.
PERIODIC UPDATES
The Compliance Details will be updated periodically to reflect broadly applicable rulings from the Request for Ruling process, which might result in new Clarifications, refined or innovative pathways, equivalencies, and, when needed, new Exceptions, as well as any other amendments or additions necessary for improving the clarity and content of the guidance. When needed, updates will be published at the beginning of the quarter (January, April, July, and October), at which time the cover sheet of the Program Manual will be time stamped with the latest revision date. With each quarterly update, a list of revisions is published, summarizing all changes implemented in that update. The list of revisions is organized by Clarification section and indicates the location of the change within the Compliance Details, as well as a brief description of the change. Should project teams wish to reference previous versions of the Program Manual, they may download PDFs of early versions by using the link at the bottom of the Program Manual table of contents.
