Green Buildings and LEED Training Advice
Expert Advice on Green Buildings

LEED Green Associate: The Perfect Green Building Education Foundation?

The Green Building Certification Institute ("GBCI") has provided further guidance on the next iteration of the LEED Green Associate, LEED AP and LEED AP Fellow credentials under LEED 2009. The U.S. Green Building Council, in an interview with Beth Holst, Vice President of Credentialing for the GBCI, provided its members and affiliates with further clarification on the new tiered credential system and suggestions for what types of careers might be a good fit for the LEED Green Associate.

Ms. Holst indicated that the LEED Green Associate credential will provide a level of distinction for those who are looking to establish basic green building knowledge while working to implement the processes and principles of the LEED certification system. She stated that the LEED Green Associate credential is ideal for students, teachers, marketers, manufacturers, program managers and anyone who has ever wanted to understand what LEED is and why it is important to the green building industry without actually needing to know all the technical details related to its implementation. She also reinforced that the LEED AP credential is more appropriate for practitioners actively working on LEED projects at the certification level. The LEED Fellow distinction will be reserved for professionals who have demonstrated a great depth of work in green building, representing an extraordinary class of leading professionals.

In terms of the LEED Green Associate Exam, the exam will focus on the green building principles and information that are consistent and present across all of the various LEED specialties, such as New Construction, Commercial Interiors, Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance, etc... While the LEED Green Associate exam is similar in principle and length to the existing LEED AP exam, it will better test a candidate’s general knowledge of good environmental practices and his or her understanding of green building design, construction and operations.

Ms. Holst indicated that the LEED Green Associate exam will be available in May 2009.

Expert Advice and Comments

Preparation for LEED Green Associate exam

Fri, 03/20/2009 - 19:57 — Deborah A. Robbins (not verified)

I commend USGBC/GBCI in developing a LEED certification exam for non-architects. I have a business that manufactures products from recyled tires and other eco-friendly materials. I have been studying sustainable design to prepare for the LEED AP exam but know very well that I do not have the education,expertise, or experience to be qualified to be a LEED AP. So thank you very much for making this available. Now as May quickly approaches will you have practice exams/materials to prepare for the LEED Green Associate exam? Again thank you-Deborah

LEED Green Associate exam prep

Sat, 03/21/2009 - 12:23 — test.com

Hi Deborah:

We will definitely be offering LEED Green Associate exam prep materials on Green-Buildings.com as soon as they are available. We are so excited for the new LEED Green Associate accreditation and think it's going to create a very appealing opportunity to expand green building principles beyond the core fields of engineering and architecture. We like to say that success depends on the support of other people and the more pervasive sustainability knowledge becomes, the more productive the green building industry will be.

Good luck and thanks!
Green-Buildings.com

LEED Green Associate Test Study Guide

Thu, 04/02/2009 - 13:00 — Gay Thompson (not verified)

Gentlemen: Is a study guide avaliable for the new LEED GA certification test? Thank you.

How to register and costs

Fri, 04/03/2009 - 21:41 — L Dorman (not verified)

I am seeking information registering for the LEED Green Associates exam but finding the detail rather tough. Can anyone help me? I need to be in the exam!

Thank you,
L.

I am interested in the LEED Green Associate Test

Sat, 04/04/2009 - 11:36 — Roxanne Dean (not verified)

I am interested in taking the LEED Green Associate Test.

Are the dates available for when the exam will be given?
Are there study guides available?

Thank you

LEED Green Associate exam release

Sat, 04/11/2009 - 16:48 — test.com

According to the USGBC, the Green Building Certification Institute ("GBCI") will release the new LEED Green Associate and LEED AP Operations & Maintenance exams this spring. Candidates can begin applying for these exams April 10 and begin testing May 18... however, we do not see any information on the GBCI website indicating that LEED Green Associate is available.

LEED Green Associate - All is up

Wed, 04/15/2009 - 15:56 — Gail (not verified)

Hello everyone,

I was on gbci website today and everything is there for studying and signing up for this exam

Here is the direct link for the green associate https://www.gbci.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=83

Here is the link to the handbook
https://www.gbci.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=3571

I will tell you that ALL the links to docs on page 8 are wrong - only the links to external urls are correct.
The best thing to do is register (for free) and then go to this link http://www.gbci.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=3& click on documents on the right and download what you need

Cost for reference material is FREE - Cost for exam is $150 for members of USGBC and $200 for Non-members in addition to a $50 app fee - here's the link for more info
http://www.gbci.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=104

Once you register and update your profile on gbci you can begin the process of registering for the exam - You will need some documentation, as has been discussed in the green associate posts here

Hope this helps
Thanks and have fun

LEED Green Associate Handbook from GBCI

Fri, 04/17/2009 - 11:09 — test.com

Gail, thanks again for the tip!

Sincerely,
Green-Buildings.com

I am interested in the LEED Green Associate Test

Tue, 05/19/2009 - 12:47 — Markous (not verified)

Dear sir
I am an architect working in Dubai. I would like to take the Leeds AP.I am very well aware thatI have to take the LEED Green Associate Exam as the first step.I understand from your site that there is an online workshop for the same.I have read on www.gbci.org about eligibility criteriafor giving this exam .One of them says that "attending an education program that addresses green building principles" ,will suffice to make me eligible for this exam. My question is whether this online workshop is the "education program", that was mentioned in gbci website
If yes, how could GBCI confirm that we attended this online worksho
If not, kindly advice us on the steps we need to follow
thank you
Markous Gad

There has been a considerable

Wed, 10/27/2010 - 14:24 — HillaryShindler

There has been a considerable increase in people's awareness about our impact on the environment. This has also been translated into the construction industry and I am glad to see companies are interested in education about green building. I am working on a study index in Israel and I would like to implement these ideas here too and see if there is interest for green constructions.

Failed LEED GA

Wed, 12/01/2010 - 16:50 — Stan (not verified)

I have taken the LEED Green Associate exam twice and have both times by the slimest of margins. I seem to really struggle with the wording of the questions more than anything. The questions seem to be very phylisophical to me. I am thinling about purchasing your practice tests which seem to be the best because I listened to Alex on a webinar and he impressed me. Do you have any suggestions? I have purchased other practice tests before and they seemed to help but I still didn't pass. What the exam is actually asking for per question a lot of times really seems to throw me. If I could get something that could interpret the question sof rme better which there is really no such thing that would be ideal. Thanks for your help.

I am really excited about the

Tue, 05/17/2011 - 07:54 — Element Media (not verified)

I am really excited about the clarification given in the post on the new tiered credential system and suggestions for what types of careers might be a good fit for the LEED Green Associate. Thanks for sharing.

As usual, I've found the post

Mon, 06/13/2011 - 14:58 — business valuation (not verified)

As usual, I've found the post very informative on LEED green associate and clarification as to its being perfect green building eduction foundation.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • You may use [view:name=display=args] tags to display views.

More information about formatting options