What You Need to Know to Become a LEED Accredited Professional

There are currently more than 7,800 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professionals (AP) who have demonstrated their expert knowledge of green building and sustainable design. As of February 2004, I have earned the designation of LEED AP. If you’re interested in becoming one as well, here’s what you need to know. By Michelle Clark Hucal

The LEED AP Examination, launched in February 2001, has acknowledged thousands of industry professionals to facilitate the LEED Certification process as well as to recognize expertise in green building and to help meet the growing demand within the industry.

According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), understanding LEED is an important step towards reducing environmental impacts and achieving superior economic performance. Architects, designers, engineers, facility managers and building owners, contractors, organization representatives and manufacturers can become knowledgeable practitioners and consumers of green design and construction processes and practices.

So, why should you become a LEED AP? Those who pass the exam also earn:

1. One point toward LEED Certification of their green building projects;
   
2. A LEED Accredited Professional Certificate;
   
3. Recognition as a LEED AP on the USGBC Web site. The USGBC’s online accredited professional directory enables consumers, local governments and others to identify and contact qualified service providers.

Workshops

To help facilitate this learning process, the USGBC offers a variety of assistance. An intensive, one-day technical overview of LEED is available at a variety of locations across the country. Find one near you by viewing the calendar of upcoming LEED Training Workshops on the Web site at www.usgbc.org.

The LEED Intermediate Workshop full-day workshop, which I attended in Holland, Mich., last fall with ED+C’s publisher Diana Brown, introduces the benefits and strategies of green-building design. In this workshop, I learned how to use and apply the LEED-NC Green Building Rating System. The workshop also highlights green building resources to use in your projects and offers the tools and insights for leveraging green design and LEED into your practice.

This was accomplished through a variety of shared experiences, case studies, conversations, examples and even an interactive game. I went home, not only with a LEED training workbook and speaker notes, but with the knowledge I needed to prepare for the LEED Accreditation exam.

The cost of attending the LEED intermediate workshop is $325 for members who register early ($355 for late registration; $425 for non-members; $475 for non-members who register late). This cost also includes:

• Online access to the LEED-NC Version 2.0 and 2.1 Reference Guides.
  
• The LEED-NC Version 2.1 Reference Package at a discounted price.
  
• Exclusive one-year access to the LEED Credit Interpretation rulings via the LEED Web site.
  
• Discounts on green building and sustainable design resources.
  
• And, of course, breakfast, lunch and break refreshments.

Introductory and advanced workshops are also available.

The Exam

The current LEED Accreditation Exam is based on Version 2.0, however the USGBC is in the process of revising the exam for release within the next few months. The current exam tests an individual’s understanding of green building practices and principles, and familiarity with LEED requirements, resources and processes.

There are no prerequisites for registering for the LEED AP Exam, however the USGBC recommends that candidates: have tenure in the building design and construction industry and/or as a building business professional, facilities staff, or executive; attend a LEED Training Workshop; review the Exam Study Guide (which contains sample questions and exam details); and study the LEED Reference Guide.

According to the USGBC Web site, areas of expertise and knowledge tested on the exam include:

• In-depth familiarity with the LEED Rating System;
  
• Understanding of LEED project registration/technical support/certification processes,
  
• Knowledge of LEED documentation requirements;
  
• Demonstrated knowledge of design and construction industry standards and process;
  
• General understanding of the various standards referenced in the Rating System;
  
• Understanding of green and sustainable design strategies and practices, and corresponding credits in the LEED Rating System; and
  
• Familiarity with key green and sustainable design resources and tools.

The two-hour, 100-question exam has four sections:

1. Green Building Design & Construction Industry Knowledge
   
2. LEED Rating System Knowledge
   
3. LEED Resources and Processes
   
4. Green Design Strategies

The exam is offered through a third-party administer, Prometric, who offers the exam electronically in over 300 locations nationwide, six days a week, all year long. The current cost of the exam is $250 for members and $350 for non-members (subject to change).

To register or obtain more information on the LEED training workshops, the exam or the rating system in general, visit the USGBC Web site. I applaud those of you that are already LEED APs. If you plan to take the current exam soon, or the revised version later this year, I commend you as well, for joining me and thousands of other LEED APs that are helping to transform the green building industry.

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Michelle Clark Hucal is the editor of Environmental Design+Construction magazine. She became a LEED 2.0 Accredited Professional in 2004.

This article has been reprinted courtesy of Environmental Design+Construction. It first appeared in the July/August issue of that publication.