By Lisa Willard (Lisa.Willard@FindYourEngineer.com)
The Green Building Certification Institute (www.gcbi.org) has modified the requirements to become a LEED Accredited Professional. The new accreditation will be referred to as LEED-AP+. The purpose of this newsletter is to outline the procedures for people that currently hold the LEED-AP credential, and for those that plan to take the exams for the LEED-AP+ designation.
I registered for the LEED 2.0 exam prior to April 1, 2009, or currently hold the LEED-AP Title.
If you registered for the LEED 2.0 exam prior to April 1, you are still eligible to take the old version of the exam until June 30th, 2009, and become certified under the old guidelines. If you do not pass the exam prior to June 30th, you will need to qualify for LEED-AP+ under the new guidelines.
To have the new designation (LEED AP+), and existing LEED-AP will need to agree to the new disciplinary policy and continuing education requirements, as well as pay the maintenance fee (although the first maintenance fee will be waived). The designation that will be assigned to your credential will be as follows:
If you took the New Construction exam, you will be designated as LEED AP+ Building Design & Construction (LEED AP+BD&C)
If you took the Existing Building exam, you will be designated as LEED AP+ Operations & Maintenance (LEED AP+O&M)
Anyone that is an existing LEED AP can choose to transition over to the LEED AP+ certification between June 30th, 2009 and June 30th, 2011. If you do not transition over to LEED AP+, you will still be able to use the LEED AP designation, but you will be listed as inactive in the GBCI Directory.
I registered for the LEED Exam on April 1, 2009 or later, or have not yet applied.
If you are not currently a LEED AP, you will need to qualify for a LEED credential under the new tiered system. There are 2 levels that can currently be achieved:
LEED Green Associate
For the LEED Green Associate designation, there is a 2.5 hour exam that covers basic green building knowledge. This designation is intended for people who work in the building industry in more of a support role, and do not otherwise qualify for LEED AP+ Status.
LEED AP+
For the LEED AP+ designation, there are two exams that must be passed. The first test is the same as for those trying to obtain the LEED Green Associate designation. The second test follows one of the specialization tracks, including Interior Design & Construction (ID&C), Homes, Neighborhood Development (ND), Building Design & Construction (BD&C), and Operations & Maintenance (O&M). Both tests must be completed within four hours.
For all Designations
In addition to the exams, there are additional requirements to become accredited as a LEED Green Associate or LEED AP+. These requirements include:
1) Agreeing to the GBCI Disciplinary policy
2) Submitting an application including information about LEED Support (LEED Green Associate) or LEED Projects that you have been involved with in the last 2-3 years (Leed AP+)
3) Paying a maintenance fee
4) Completing continuing education requirements. 15 hours every 2 years for LEED Green Associate, 30 hours every years for LEED AP+
A diagram that shows the requirements necessary for the different LEED Designations can be found HERE.
If the above link does not work, please cut & paste the link below http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/image.cfm?imageName=images/1801/LEED_Cred.gif&fileName=180103b.xml
Are you a LEED AP? Do you plan on applying for the LEED AP+ Credentials? How has the LEED AP accreditation helped your career? We look forward to hearing from you.
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1 comment:
Thank you for this really helpful information. As someone looking to get certified this helps take the confusion out of the process. I'm looking into Clean Edison Training Centers for my LEED AP certification because they give you the option to re-take their test if you don't pass the first time without paying additional fees. I'm going to need the extra assurance that if I'm not successful the first time while learning these new regulations that I have the opportunity to test again without it hurting my pockets.
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