LEED GA / LEED AP Study Resources

Allison Wilson

Sustainability Director

Ayers Saint Gross

LEEDuser Basic Member

5 thumbs up

August 9, 2023

I'm sure if I hop in the way back machine I could look in the forums and find old threads on LEED GA and LEED AP study resources, but I also know that material comes in and out of date. Has anyone found a good, current solution for firmwide LEED study materials?

We used to have some GBES resources, but those are intended to be person-specific as opposed to a shareable firmwide resource and that's not economically viable for a variety of reasons.

Thanks in advance for pointing me toward whatever resources y'all might be pointing your people to as they prepare for credentialing exams!

Aley

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Justin Schwartzhoff

Architect & Embodied Carbon Specialist

LMN Architects

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Wed, 08/09/2023 - 21:10

Hi Aley, We just had a group go through the Green Associate and BD+C exams, and if it feels like you’re going back in time, it’s because you sort of are. The accreditation exams are based on the original v4 version of LEED. For some of the group, the hardest part was having to unlearn what they know about v4.1. The group found a few different methods to make it through the test: * The most comprehensive and time consuming method was to skim through the BD+C reference guide, focusing mostly on the “overview,” “intent,” “requirements,” and “behind the intent” sections. This is a lot quicker than it seems, given the size of the guide, but it’s a bit dry. Having knowledge of the LEED spreadsheet is also really helpful * Others in the group used these hard copy books: * LEED Green Associate Exam Preparation Guide, LEED v4 Edition / McCombs, Heather C.: American Technical Publishers, 2015 * LEED AP BD+C / Building Design and Construction Exam Preparation Guide, LEED V4 Edition / Gin, Fulya Kocak.: American Technical Publishers, 2016. * We also made use of this practice exam: * https://www.usgbc.org/education/sessions/practice-test-leed-ap-bdc-8568336 The Green Associate portion took about a week of studying for most people – sustainability knowledge for the Green Associate is pretty wide spread at this point so it’s more knowing the basics of LEED Passing the LEED AP test took anywhere from 2-4 weeks of studying. I encouraged people taking the exam to focus on knowing the credit thresholds, general requirements, and to always know what standards are referenced (especially the specific ASHRAE ones). That’ll get you very close to passing pretty quickly. Hope that helps! Justin Schwartzhoff AIA LFA LMN Architects – Explore our new site lmnarchitects.com<%20lmnarchitects.com%20> – M 206 812 6488 O 206 682 3460 Linkedin | Twitter | Instagram From: Allison Wilson

Nadav Malin

CEO

Green Commons, LLC

LEEDuser Expert

586 thumbs up

Thu, 08/10/2023 - 13:55

Hi Aley, I think that Justin nailed it. This stuff DOES feel out of date because the exams are. I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that BuildingGreen has highly regarded exam prep materials available as well. The LEED stuff is based on v4, which is as current as it can be given where the exams are. The WELL exam prep materials don't have that issue--they were recently updated to v2. If your firm has an enterprise ("firmwide") license to BuildingGreen or LEEDuser, then everyone at the firm can get these at the discounted price. Nadav