LEED Green Associate
I received my LEED Green Associate Credential this last Friday, April 2nd at 3:00pm. The test was 100 multiple choice questions concerning the LEED process, policies, and credit requirements. The test was difficult, as the GBCI does everything that they can to confuse and make it seem as though wrong answers are in fact correct. I was able to see through thier scare tactics, and finished the test in less than an hour (two hour time limit), with a score of 192 / 200.
The USGBC’s LEED certification program for more environmentally friendly buildings is an excellent program that is still relatively young. LEED certified buildings account for only about 14,000 projects built in the united states since 1993, and is growing every year. LEED in itself is positively impacting the way we construct buildings in the US regardless of the fact that it has been employed primarily as a marketing tool for developers. If this is the way we can encourage the use of more sustainable and eco-friendly management of building resources, then I am all for it. Only in a perfect world would most developers out there trying to make a buck actually do LEED because its “the right thing to do” for people and the planet.
Now that I have stepped down off of my soap box. Anyone who is thinking of taking the LEED GA exam…. STUDY GREEN ENERGY! There were many questions on the test regarding policy making behind the procurement of green power. REC’s (renewable energy certificates) were also a hot topic on the exam. Besides that, one should also study REFRIGERANTS like there’s no tomorrow…. The GBCI really likes to know that you can tell what the Montreal Protocol is for. (the phasing out of CFCs in HVAC equipment by the year 2010, and the phasing out of HCFCs by the year 2030.(because those substances deplete the ozone layer, and contribute to global warming)).