Hi Zahid, first congratulations! That's awesome that you passed!

The short answer, it seems, is that you should check with the Green Building Certification Institute by calling them or emailing them at marketing@gbci.org. We don't represent, and can't speak for, the GBCI. That said, I believe the GBCI would like you to refer to yourself as a LEED Green Associate. Even though "LEED GA" works great as letters after your name on a business card, we believe that the term LEED GA is actually an unofficial abbreviation of the LEED Green Associate credential.

Perhaps because the term LEED AP is the formal, trademarked abbreviation for LEED Accredited Professional, the term "LEED GA" seems like a natural abbreviation for the LEED Green Associate title. However, in reading the LEED Professional Logo Guidelines documentation available through the GBCI, we believe the GBCI actually wants professionals who earn this credential to use the full term LEED Green Associate.*

Since term "LEED GA" seems to be an informal abbreviation of the term LEED Green Associate and the GBCI and USGBC don't approve of its use, it's reasonable to believe that they would also frown on referring to the LEED Green Associate credential as simply "GA".

A quick search using the USPTO.gov trademark search tool lists the term LEED AP as a registered trademark of the U.S. Green Building Council, however, the website does not list the term "LEED GA" anywhere that I could see. As such, the use of the term LEED GA may have "just happened" on the Internet and in various print forms and publications as a synonymous shortening of the LEED Green Associate credential. I am not sure where it started but, until recently, even the USGBC was using the term LEED GA on its own website, however that page has since been updated and the reference to LEED GA removed.

If anyone is aware of a formal ruling on this, please let us know!

*Note: There is a reference in the Logo Guidelines document to "LEED Green Associate and related acronym...", however, we believe this is merely a typo, as the actual acronym itself is not referenced or defined elsewhere in the document (although we would assume that acronym to be LEED GA).

Related Advice:

• Earning Additional LEED AP Specialty Credentials: Is the LEED GA Exam Necessary?



• Is LEED GA Available Outside the U.S.?