When preparing for the LEED AP exam, it's important to get exposed to as many LEED Exam sample questions as possible.

The questions are tough and often require counter-intuitive answers with complex relationships between green building principles, sustainability organizations and the LEED system itself.

Throughout my own studying process, I'm often surprised by questions that I don't know the answers to, which then drain my confidence. I know if I had not exposed myself to LEED Exam sample questions before the exam, I would have definitely failed. Indeed, Tristan Roberts, LEED AP and Managing Editor of Environmental Building News, recommends taking one practice exam early in the preparation process and another exam later in the process. Mr. Roberts, who published his own list of LEED NC sample questions, encourages aspiring LEED APs to orient themselves early on to the rigor required by the exams.

There is a ton of material (currently only for LEED CI 2.0 - Commercial Interiors and LEED NC 2.2 - New Construction) out there and more on the way for the new LEED 3.0 system. Simulator-type LEED AP practice exams receive high marks from LEED APs who used them when studying. These exams are made to simulate the actual LEED AP exam and are written by those with firsthand knowledge of the exam. Most practice exam publishers provide several different exams in a package and the material can be used over and over. Some online sample exams offer unlimited usage.

One aspect of taking a LEED Exam simulator, in addition to exposing yourself early on to exam sample questions, is getting a feel for how you'll score on the exam. Many LEED AP candidates take the exams and fail by only a few points. Knowing which LEED Exam sample questions are the toughest for you is critical to passing.

Surprisingly, the two leading LEED AP offline prep course providers, Clean Edison and Everblue Energy, do not offer prep courses for LEED CI, reducing the number and quality of options available to LEED CI candidates. But the good news for LEED CI test takers is that LEED AP Exam simulator providers offer LEED CI 2.0 practice tests and many boast a 90% first time pass rates for their participants.

PTL Exam Prep offers a variety of tools, not just online practice exams, all included together for either LEED NC bundles or LEED CI bundles. Many successful LEED APs have touted the audio guides as indispensable when they were faced with significant travel for work and overburdened by the enormous textbooks.