Jeff asks: I am currently trying to prepare for the Leed AP exam and was wondering if I am going after the BD&C track, will I need to understand the requirements for schools and core and shell points as well? For example, SS prerequisite 2 is only applicable to schools. Would I need to understand this information as well?

Answer:Jeff, Good luck on your upcoming LEED-AP exam. Passing the LEED-AP exam demonstrates your dedication, knowledge and skills necessary to participate in the design process, to support and encourage integrated design and the streamline the application and certification process.

The new LEED Accredited Professional credential allows for specialization in a particular LEED Rating System. The current LEED-AP exam is similar to previous versions in the sense that even though the reference guides have been realigned and condensed into three books, there are still five different specialty exams:
• Operations & Maintenance
• Homes
• Building Design & Construction
• Interior Design & Construction
• Neighborhood Development

Candidates must have experience in the form of documented professional experience on a LEED project, within the last 3 years, with verification through LEED Online or employer attestation.

So if you’re planning on taking the Building Design & Construction exam, you’ll only have to be knowledgeable for that portion of the reference guide and credits related to that certification path.

In previous versions, you’d only have to be knowledgeable for New Construction, for example. But in the BD+C test, like in the BD+C reference guide, any item in the reference guide is fair game. Luckily in the revision and cohesion of the reference guides, many of the slight variations on the same credits that existed in other previous versions of the rating systems have been brought into harmony for the BD+C reference guide and differences are clearly identified.

The different versions of the LEED-AP exam do have this in common, the exam is a multiple-choice, computer-based exam comprised of two parts (the LEED Green Associate exam and the specialty exam). Each portion of the exam contains 100 randomly delivered multiple choice questions and must be completed in 4 hours.

Make sure to check the Building Design & Construction Reference Handbook for more information in regard to the exam. The handbook is revised each month and released by the Green Building Certification Institute on the first business day of the month: http://www.gbci.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=3671

Good luck!
Sarah Gudeman, LEED AP

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