We commonly hear from professionals that they’re not sure where to get started and that they’re looking for an introduction to LEED. Here’s hoping that we can provide some clarity on what it takes to earn a LEED credential, from the accreditation process to the financial commitment.

Step 1: Pursue LEED Green Associate Accreditation

Once you’ve decided that you want to take your interest in green building to the next level, your first official step will be to work toward a LEED Green Associate Accreditation. Everyone must start at this level, regardless of education, occupation, or experience.

The LEED Green Associate credential is a demonstration of one’s knowledge and proficiency regarding the LEED Rating System. Those working toward this credential do not necessarily have to be working on a LEED project. As this is the foundational designation, LEED Green Associate is appropriate for a wide range of occupations, from construction managers and architects to lawyers, product manufacturers, and commercial real estate brokers. Anyone working in, or hoping to work in, the green construction industry will find value in the LEED Green Associate credential. LEED Green Associate is, indeed, the best introduction to LEED concepts.

To be awarded this designation, a professional must pass a 2-hour online exam with a score of 170 out of 200. The exam is comprised of 100 questions with each question weighted differently.

For those with less experience in the green construction industry or those who lack knowledge of the LEED Rating System, an exam prep course is recommended. Just as students participate in SAT Prep classes to prepare for their college admissions exams, building professionals participate in LEED exam prep classes to prepare for their LEED exam.

Action Item: Enroll in a LEED Green Associate Exam Prep course.

The live, 2-day class is recommended, as this environment provides the greatest opportunity for student participation, interaction, and discussion. Everblue’s LEED training course includes ALL study materials (course manual, credit memorization study sheets, practice questions by credit category, two simulated exams) and has a proven history of guiding students toward a first-time passing score. We offer the best introduction to LEED that you’ll find! This training is available nationwide. Estimated Cost: $399-$849

Step 2: Pay USGBC for Your LEED Green Associate Exam

Once you’ve completed training and studied to your heart’s content, you move toward the exam stage of the accreditation process. You will need to pay for your exam, submitting payment directly to the U.S. Green Building Council.

Action Item: Visit the USGBC Credentials page and click on the gray REGISTER FOR THE EXAM button.

You will be taken to a page that shows each of the LEED credentials that are available. The first exam shown is the core exam for LEED Green Associate. Underneath LEED Green Associate, you’ll see the rest of the designations and the small print will say “Combined core & specialty exam.” This means that the LEED Green Associate core exam is bundled in with the LEED AP specialty exam. We do not recommend this option due to the fact that an individual must pass both portions of the exam to earn his/her accreditation. If a candidate fails the LEED Green Associate portion, he/she will not earn that designation and will lose the opportunity to earn the LEED AP specialty designation at the same time.

Upon clicking the LEED Green Associate core exam option, you will see options to choose your preferred language, denote full-time student status, and indicate the need for special accommodations. You will then complete your payment information. Estimated Cost: $200 for USGBC Members, $100 for Full-Time Students, OR $250 for non-Members

Step 3: Schedule Your Exam Appointment with Your Local Prometric Testing Center

After you’ve paid for your LEED exam, you will receive an email from the USGBC with your Eligibility ID. The Eligibility ID is basically confirmation that you have paid for the exam and are approved to continue through the accreditation process.

The USGBC has contracted with Prometric to administer the LEED exam. Prometric is an internationally recognized testing organization with centers available in nearly every major city. The Prometric Testing Center is a computer lab for individuals needing to take a certification exam. Prometric offers a multitude of exams, so the individuals in one lab may all be taking different exams. This is a highly secure, third-party environment that ensures the unbiased success. Because the testing process is scheduled on a unique individual basis, candidates will be able to choose the specific date and time of their LEED exam.

Action Item: Visit the Prometric website and click the SCHEDULE MY TEST button.

You will then have the option to choose your preferred testing location. You will see a page about the aforementioned USGBC Eligibility ID. You will then be asked to agree or not agree with Prometric’s privacy policy. Finally, you will provide your Eligibility ID.

The next step in this process is to find your closest Prometric Testing Center. You can search by city or zip code. Prometric will then show you all the available testing slots for that location. You can choose the date and time of your appointment.

From there, I would recommend that you review our 10 Things to Know About Taking the LEED Exam post. In this post, we discuss Prometric’s security measures and what to bring/not bring to your testing appointment. Estimated Cost: $0 (already paid for in step 2)

Step 4: Acquire 15 Credential Maintenance Hours Every Two Years

Now that you are an accredited LEED Green Associate, you must abide by USGBC’s LEED Credential Maintenance Program requirements. The requirement is that you earn 15 hours of continuing education every two years. Of the 15 hours, 3 must be specific to LEED concepts. You cannot participate in the same activities for each renewal period.

There are a number of ways in which you can earn LEED credential maintenance, but the most convenient option is Everblue’s LEED CMP Green Associate package.

Action Item: Enroll in Everblue’s LEED Green Associate CMP Package

This package bundles together a compilation of professional development courses – all available online – to perfectly meet the LEED CMP requirement. The LEED Green Associate CMP package, in particular, has the 15 hours you need, including the 3 LEED-specific hours. We launch a new package every two years to help you acquire new and relevant information. Estimated Cost: $199-$299 depending on which package you choose

Step 5: Report Your LEED CMP Hours to USGBC

It’s one thing to participate in continuing education and another thing to notify your standards board that you completed it! At Everblue, we’re able to submit your LEED CMP hours on your behalf, further ensuring a convenient and hassle-free experience!

Action Item: Log into your USGBC Credentials account and follow the onscreen instructions.

You will have the opportunity review your LEED CE Activity History and ensure that you have met all the requirements. Estimated Cost: $85 renewal fee

In Conclusion: Earning a LEED Green Associate credential can be a valuable asset for your career and possibly your organization. It’s important to be aware of the process and financial commitment. Thankfully, you can earn your LEED credential in as little as 3-4 weeks and reap the benefits for years to come.

Get started today! Where? With Step 1: LEED Green Associate training!

In 1998, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system to provide a benchmark for the design, construction, and operations of high-performance green buildings. From 1998 to 2008, LEED gained acceptance and respect among the building and construction industry, resulting in more and more professionals seeking LEED trainers to help them with accreditation.

This was a time when educational resources were few and far between, save for the official LEED training courses hosted by the USGBC and the USGBC Reference Guide books that often provided information in excess of 500 pages. The USGBC eventually moved away from being a training provider, in an effort to encourage competition and a fair marketplace for the industry it had created. Nevertheless, as LEED became more popular, so did demand for knowledge. And many professionals didn’t want to pore over a 500+ page book; many craved an exam prep experience that cut out extra information and only focused on the core testable knowledge.

Now, in 2015, you’ll find LEED trainers and exam prep resources available from a multitude of providers, including USGBC regional chapters, universities, community colleges, consulting agencies, in-house experts at architectural firms, and the traditional exam prep training company. If you’re new to the industry, it can be difficult to determine which outlet is most appropriate and which has the most likelihood of helping you achieve your goal of earning a LEED credential. With so much competition in the industry, what attributes should you be considering when making your decision?

Let’s take a look at the ten most important qualities or features that a LEED trainer should have.

1. Should Be a USGBC Education Partner

USGBC Education Partners are leaders, trusted voices, and reputable providers of green building and sustainability education per USGBC expectations. Since the USGBC no longer offers its own training, the standard-bearing organization relies on its exclusive network of Education Partners to provide LEED exam prep training and therefore supports this particular group of trainers in the pursuit of current knowledge, resources, and skills. The USGBC Education Partner program was developed to provide a stamp of approval for the organizations that met the USGBC’s standards of quality. In an industry with so much competition, this stamp of approval is a quick and easy determinant of an effective training resource. You’ll know when a training provider is a USGBC Education Partner because it will use the following logo on its website…

2. Should Have Qualified Instructors

How do you define a qualified instructor – someone with a bachelor’s degree? Master’s degree? Doctorate? Maybe someone with experience in the architecture or engineering field. Or maybe someone who has a LEED credential. Better yet, maybe someone who has worked on a LEED project. The answer is that you’re looking for instructors that have a combination of these characteristics. Simply having a degree with a concentration in architecture or a related field may not prove to be the most effective for such a specialized training experience. On the flip side, a LEED credential holder with no real-world experience in a construction-related field may also not prove to be effective. Instructors with a combination of attributes are able to pull from a variety of experiences so they not only understand the LEED credits and intents, but they’ll also have a way of using their personal experiences to explain concepts in layman’s terms so you understand them too.

3. Should Be Focused on Sustainability & Green Building

When conducting research on LEED training resources, pay special attention to each provider’s catalog of courses. Is the resource focused exclusively on sustainability, or does the organization offer a slew of training courses for a multitude of industries? The latter may make you question how much subject-matter expertise is available for the discipline in question. For those passionate about sustainability and green building, you might feel cautious about working with an organization that offers a range of training that expands into Human Resources, Finances, Information Technology, etc. Get your training from an organization that cares about sustainability as much as you do.

4. Should Have Flexible Options

Professional development, such as the pursuit of a LEED credential, can be viewed as a time-consuming or inconvenient activity for some working professionals. You may be apprehensive about taking time out of the office to complete a live training course. Look for flexible learning options that go beyond live training, including live webinars, on-demand e-learning, blended webinars, and standalone study aids. With this kind of flexibility, you’re more likely to commit to your goal and integrate your LEED exam prep into your existing schedule.

5. Should Have Excellent Customer Service

Because why would you trust an organization that doesn’t respond to your inquiries or doesn’t provide you with helpful information in a timely manner? The organization that deserves your time is the one that appreciates your questions and is happy to help guide you closer to your goal. It’s not always about a sale. It’s not always about money. The important thing is your goal – what are you trying to achieve? You shouldn’t feel pressured into buying something that doesn’t get you closer to your goal. And, similar to the tip above, flexible options regarding contact may also be beneficial. An organization that has responsive representatives on live chat, email, and phones is one way of measuring customer service.

6. Should Help You Get Continuing Education Credit

This tip may not apply to everyone, but oftentimes, your occupation will require continuing education credit to remain active. A common example of this is within the architecture industry. Many architects seek continuing education credit to submit to the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Because LEED is a value-add skill set for architects, AIA will provide credit for LEED training courses. It is the responsibility of the LEED training provider to ensure that their LEED course is approved by AIA for this credit. This is not to be assumed of all LEED trainers, so if you’re hoping to kill two birds with one stone (i.e., earn a LEED credential AND earn AIA credit from it), look for a training provider that is approved to offer AIA continuing education credit.

7. Should Have a Commitment to Professionalism and Ongoing Education

What we mean here is that the training organizations you evaluate should make pricing and course information clearly available so that you don’t feel uninformed or hoodwinked. The sustainability industry as a whole is constantly growing and evolving; the rules and requirements in 2014 may not be the rules and requirements in 2015, so it’s important that you can trust the organization in question to be aware of industry changes and to integrate those changes into its products. For example, the USGBC updated its LEED standards in July 2014 to what is now known as LEED Version 4. Before you pursue LEED training with an organization, be sure that they are offering the LEED v4 curriculum. Sustainability educators must feel comfortable with constant revisions to their curriculum. It is the only way to remain current, relevant, and effective in this industry.

8. Should Have Flexible Payment Options

Professional development is all about enhancing your knowledge and skills with the intent of expanding your career opportunities. Sometimes we all need to be understanding and cooperative of each other’s financial situation. Taking advantage of discounts is a great way to stay within your budget and still pursue your goal. At Everblue, we always offer discounts for early registration, military/government, returning students, and refer-a-friend candidates. When you join our email newsletter, you become eligible to receive information about monthly and quarterly promotions too. When you do your research, you’re going to find a wide range of prices for LEED trainers. It’s important to remember that the cheapest option is not always the best option, and there’s a good chance that you’ll end up spending more in the long-run when you string together a series of cheap resources. If you’re serious about passing your LEED exam, you should be looking for the most effective tools, not the cheapest.

9. Should Feature Reviews from its Students

Take a look at the organization’s Testimonials page to get a sense of how professionals like you went through the process. You’ll want to consider the dates of the reviews to ensure that the training that you’re signing up for has been tested and proven by others recently. You’ll want to determine whether the cited name appears to be real or fictional, as this will certainly affect how seriously you take the “recommendation.” You may also want to read several reviews to see which features are constantly receiving praise and which are constantly neglected. This may shed some light on the strengths and weaknesses of a particular training experience. You should be looking for reviews that praise a variety of attributes – that way, if you see multiple features earning acclaim, then you can feel confident that the entire experience has positive effects.

10. Should Fill You With Feelings of Confidence and Success

Your goal this whole time has been to PASS your LEED exam so that you can add a reputable designation behind your name in your email signature, business card, resume, and LinkedIn. When it comes to earning your LEED credential, you’ll need to have a one-track mind for a period of 3 to 4 weeks. During this time, you’ll want to be surrounded by passionate, knowledgeable professionals – professionals that you feel confident will guide you to success because they’ve already guided hundreds of thousands to success before you.

The USGBC does not release exam scores and statistics to its training providers, so any pass rates you see being advertised will likely have come from feedback of students. As a consumer, you know that individuals with poor experiences are often likely to make their concerns widely known. You can trust that when a training provider advertises its pass rate that it has taken into account this type of student feedback. You can also trust that when Everblue says it has a 100% pass rate on the LEED Green Associate v4 exam, it’s because we haven’t received any negative feedback from our students since the LEED v4 exams launched in July 2014.

Are there other factors that you take into consideration when researching your LEED trainer options? Let us know here!

We receive a lot of inquiries from veterans and active duty military about whether their G.I. Bill will cover any of their LEED expenses or if there’s a LEED exam military discount. The good news is that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will reimburse the cost of the LEED Green Associate and LEED AP credential exams for U.S. military veterans, eligible dependents, and reservists. Candidates can seek up to $2,000 in reimbursement.

The VA will cover 100% of test fees per attempt, whether or not you pass the exam. And the agreement is retroactive, so any veteran who took a LEED exam after December 3, 2008 is eligible to have their exam fee expenses reimbursed!

The U.S. Green Building Council partnered with the VA in 2009 to ensure that all LEED professional exams were approved for coverage under the G.I. Bill. As a veteran-founded company, we’re so pleased that there is a LEED exam military discount. Green building is a great career transition for our military veterans.

We want to say a big thank you to all military today and every day. Members of the military always receive a 10% discount on training with Everblue, whether it’s LEED, BPI, RESNET, Solar, or any other course we offer. Call (800) 460-2575 to learn more and redeem. 

Veterans Day is very special for us and brings us back to our roots. Our founders were deployed several times, and their deployments made them realize that America has a broken energy policy. Wanting to help fix the problem when they left active duty, they decided to start Everblue in order to educate and train individuals about energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability.

We believe that service veterans have the skills to build a world-class energy industry, and we are working to prepare our veterans for careers with a future.

Individuals can now register for LEED AP O+M v4 Training. Everblue is the ONLY training organization with LEED AP O+M v4 training available, so reserve your seat now and benefit from an intense, interactive exam prep experience that you won’t find anywhere else!

We wanted to thank all of you who signed up to be on our waiting list for LEED AP O+M training. We hope that you will consider our online training.

Everblue’s webinars contain the same exam prep content that you would find in a live classroom course. The only difference is that we present the material over the Internet! You’ll have an experienced and enthusiastic instructor available on the other end who can answer your questions in real time.

Please note: You should be a LEED Green Associate before you pursue a LEED AP specialty designation, such as LEED AP O+M. LEED Green Associate is the starting point for everyone. While you can sit for both exams at the same time, you might risk the opportunity to earn your specialty designation if you fail the Green Associate level. We recommend that everyone enroll in LEED Green Associate training first and complete the testing process for Green Associate before moving onto the LEED AP O+M designation.

Assuming you have already earned your LEED Green Associate accreditation…

The Value of LEED AP O+M

While the LEED Green Associate level provides a broad introduction to green building, the LEED AP Operations and Maintenance specialty focuses on the ongoing logistics and energy consumption of a building. It’s one thing to design a building with sustainable features and to project an annual savings of X dollars, but project teams working under the LEED for Existing Buildings rating system seek to put their knowledge to practice by ensuring consistent operational efficiency. The LEED EBOM rating system is crucial for showing the real and tangible impact of LEED certification. With the successful implementation of sustainable features and the ongoing audits to ensure savings, a LEED AP will have legitimate numbers to show progress and energy savings.

A LEED professional with an Operations and Maintenance specialty has four key objectives or tasks:

LEED Project and Team Coordination

A LEED AP with O+M is responsible for determining which LEED Rating System is most applicable to a project (BD+C, ID+C, or O+M) and should be especially astute at knowing when it is most appropriate to pursue either BD+C or O+M. This individual is also responsible for gathering and interpreting client needs and priorities as they affect LEED certification. This will help define the parameters and goals of the project.

We’ve long talked about the importance of project management skills in pursuing LEED certification; LEED APs are project managers who assemble the proper infrastructure for a project, from supervising team members and delegating their roles to identifying pertinent resources and overseeing project requirements and timelines.

LEED Certification Process

LEED Version 3, which launched in 2009, established a hierarchy of LEED professionals. The hierarchy starts with LEED Green Associate, which is the entry-level designation for LEED professionals. The next step is LEED Accredited Professional with Specialty, and the final step is LEED Fellow. As you can imagine, each tier comes with a range of responsibilities and knowledge.

LEED APs are generally viewed as leaders on a project. Among the responsibilities associated with pursuing LEED certification are: confirming compliance of minimum program requirements, registering a project using LEED Online, tracking LEED documentation, and reviewing completed forms. Due to this heightened level of knowledge, it is suggested that LEED APs have project experience under their belt. Nevertheless, a LEED AP with O+M must be well versed in the LEED certification process.

Analyses Required for LEED Credits

This might be the most important responsibility, specific to LEED Operations and Maintenance. A LEED AP must think beyond the simple pursuit of LEED certification and focus on ongoing energy-saving techniques. The LEED AP with O+M will be responsible for researching “green” operational strategies and products. It will be important to benchmark a building’s energy consumption and to audit the building’s progress. The heart of LEED AP O+M is coordinating these benchmark and energy auditing efforts.

Advocate and Educate for Adoption of LEED Rating System

Finally, LEED APs are responsible for identifying, communicating, and educating the values of sustainable operations and maintenance and the benefits of a green building to stakeholders. They help clients understand incentives to implement sustainable building practices and review costs. LEED APs are leaders in the sustainable building industry and encourage others to see the sensibility in this approach. 

LEED AP O+M v4 Exam Breakdown

The LEED AP O+M exam contains 100 multiple-choice questions and must be completed in two hours. These are the types (and quantity) of questions you will encounter on the exam:

• Pretest Questions (15)
• LEED Process (12)
• Location and Transportation (5)
• Sustainable Sites (9)
• Water Efficiency (13)
• Energy and Atmosphere (21)
• Materials and Resources (10)
• Indoor Environmental Quality (15)

As you can see, LEED AP O+M is a valuable specialty to aspire toward after earning your LEED Green Associate accreditation. If you work on LEED projects related to existing buildings and sustainable operations, this specialty is for you. Reserve your seat today, or give us a call at (800) 460-2575 to learn more.

As many of you may be aware, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) launched a new version of its LEED Rating System in November 2013. The update, called LEED Version 4, applies to individual credentials as well as building projects.

The USGBC has allowed an overlap of projects being submitted for consideration under LEED 2009 and LEED v4 standards. The deadline for LEED 2009 projects was originally set for June 15, 2015, but the USGBC recently announced that they are extending the deadline to October 31, 2016.

Here’s some more information about the deadline extension, from the USGBC press release:

“When USGBC launched LEED v4 last year, we set out with one goal in mind – to raise the bar in a way that challenges the building industry to reach higher than ever before. This is our nature and USGBC and its members’ collective mission,” said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO & Founding Chair, USGBC. “However, the market has requested additional time to prepare for LEED v4, so we are responding. “

In a survey conducted at last week’s Greenbuild conference, 61% of respondents said they are “not ready” or “unsure” if they are ready for LEED v4 and require additional time to prepare. Extending LEED 2009’s availability enables USGBC to work with the broader industry within a longer time frame to drive meaningful and comprehensive change.

“Our international LEED users, which account for some 50% of new LEED registrations, have also indicated they would like to have more time to move onto the new rating system,” Fedrizzi noted. “This extension will be especially helpful to them.”

LEED v4 has been in the market for nearly one year and will remain available for those market leaders who are ready.

“LEED v4 wasn’t designed to be easy. It is the next generation of green building and we are confident the market will meet us there as they have in years past,” added Fedrizzi. “When USGBC first pilot tested LEED in 1998, there weren’t many buildings that could qualify for LEED certification at the Platinum level. Now, more than 1,000 buildings have achieved it. With LEED, we have a responsibility to set a high bar and we know that many leaders are capable of reaching it, presently or in the very near future. We want to support our LEED users as they move the market forward with us, and allowing them to utilize the LEED 2009 rating system for a little longer will help facilitate that.”

“USGBC continues to develop new resources that support the market’s adoption of LEED,” added Fedrizzi. “The LEED Dynamic Plaque provides a vivid, real-time visualization of building performance data spanning water, energy, occupant satisfaction and more, giving building owners critical insight into how their building is performing. Every day, LEED is contributing to scores of new, innovative building technologies in the design, manufacturing and construction process, and has brought new, healthier building materials to market.

LEED has facilitated spectacular advances in building technologies, integrated design and operating practices. LEED is also largely responsible for the explosive growth of the green building sector, which supports or creates 7.9 million jobs across all 50 states and contributes $554 billion to the U.S. economy annually.