Hi Paul, thank you for your question and comments.

GBCI provides some guidance in their free LEED Green Associate Candidate Handbook.

The Candidate Handbook includes several references to primary and ancillary study materials.

The downside of this guide is that it is not very helpful as study material. Many people find it frustratingly broad. Helping them focus on what will be on the exam is why most people choose a LEED Green Associate study guide.

Five Free Study Tools for LEED GA

If you are not interested in spending any money to prepare, in addition to the free handbook mentioned above, there are ways to save or spend no money when studying for your LEED Green Associate exam.

1) Free Practice: If you haven't already taken advantage of it, try the FREE LEED GA practice exam and see how you fare. If you're a glutton for punishment, there are also free practice tests for LEED AP BD+C and O&M here.

2) Free Informational Webinars: GreenStep offers very helpful 30 minute free webinars on the LEED Green Associate exam and the LEED AP exam. Alex Spilger, the principal of GreenStep, has taken these exams about 12 times, so he knows his stuff.

3) Free LEED Green Associate flash cards for iPhone/iPod Touch EcoFlash offers an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch which is a "lite" version of their paid app. It offers 50 flash cards for various LEED AP/LEED Green Associate exams. For the LEED Green Associate exam, refer to the EcoFlash GA LITE version here which you can download to iTunes.

4) Study Groups: Form a study group with other people who are also preparing for the same exam.

I found this VERY helpful when I was preparing for the LEED AP exam. My study partners always had different perspectives on the material and I remember one of my friends giving me a copy of a study guide that ended up being incredibly accurate and well-written. He had gotten from someone he met in a LEED group on Facebook.

5) Online Forums: AREForum is a popular online forum for architects, designers, engineers, etc. It is free to join and offers the AREForum LEED topics section. This is a great place to compare notes on studying strategies and the best tools available for people who are preparing for the LEED Green Associate exam or the LEED AP exam.

Many people write in with reports about how they did on the exam with tips, etc. for how to pass the exams, etc.

If you have any other tips, please contact me so I can include them here.

Good luck!

Related Advice:

• LEED GA Credential: What is the Work Experience Requirement?



• Green Jobs: What Happens After LEED GA?



• LEED AP vs. LEED GA: What is the Best Way to Start?