LEED AP Exam, October 2008

The office I work for is now a member of the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). The USGBC is the organization responsible for putting together the LEED Rating System, which is a third party certification process that validates and verifies steps buildings take to ensure that their projects, both during construction and through the life cycle of the building, are sustainable.

In this day and age, where "green" is the current buzz word. It is imperative that we do all we can to contribute to efforts that will halt and reverse the effects of climate change. On the other hand, it has also become a trend to simply get on the bandwagon and make sustainability claims without taking any real and tangible steps to actually help. This kind of "green-washing" is what the LEED rating system helps to discourage.

Not too many people know that I am studying to become a LEED Accredited Professional, but that's one of the things that has been taking up a lot of my time.

I seriously started reading the LEED New Construction Reference Guide 2.2 in late July, browsed through it casually from cover-to-cover and then hunkered down to start reading it in detail about six weeks ago. There are over 400 pages of very detailed information about the LEED rating system, sustainable design practices and green buildings in general. I put together a study group of around a dozen colleagues from work and we have been meeting for two hours each week, after work, to go through and discuss the LEED NC 2.2 Reference Guide.



It is a tremendous amount of information that needs to be digested, memorized and understood at a level where we can really implement it. I've downloaded a number of sample exams and flash cards to help with the study process, but at this stage we're really only at around 70% with the material. Still a very long way to go.

Earlier today I scheduled my LEED AP examination at a Prometric Center near our office. I take the examination at 9:00 AM, on January 9, 2009. Not that I am a believer in numerology, but it doesn't hurt to get the numbers 9-9-9 aligned in there for a measure of good luck. I will need it.