Obligatory LEED Exam Advice

EDIT 03/30/2010 - I've finally gotten around to providing exam advice, study guide reviews, and a set of FREE study materials for the updated LEED Green Associate (LEED GA) exam here... At this point, the info below is so dated that it doesn't really apply!

EDIT 12/01/2008 - See this page for information about upcoming changes to the accreditation process and a time line for when it will happen.

Real Life LEED is all about the practicing professional, but I can't help but notice how many of you reach the site via "LEED exam" searches and send me emails asking advice. All you future AP's listen up cause I'm only going to say this once! The rest of you die hard current AP's can stop reading and get yourself a beer...

The Basics

The test is a multiple choice test graded on an incredibly vague rating scale split into four parts. It is administered now by the Green Buildings Certification Institute, and any official information about changes can be found there. There are three exam tracks available that are aligned with their respective rating systems: LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC), LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI), and LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB). Once you pass though, there is no meaningful distinction among the exam tracks. In other words, someone who passes the EB exam will still qualify to earn the bonus ID point on a LEED-NC project.

I know someone's already emailed you this, but it's funny anyway

Unless you're a facilities manager whose job is optimizing existing facilities, take the LEED-NC exam. LEED-NC is sort of like the motherland of all other systems, which are in one form or another just derivatives of the NC program. LEED-EB, LEED for Homes, and LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) are all fairly distinct from NC, but of the three there is only an exam track for LEED-EB. EB is currently nowhere near as prevalent as the other systems, so unless all you do is operate and manage facilities (renovations are still likely part of the NC program), you might as well take NC. The LEED for Commercial Interiors track is kind of a joke in my opinion. The credits are pretty much the same and even interior designers and architects are likely to be working on NC projects as much as CI projects.

Scheduling

Everything you need to know about how to sign-up for the exam can be found in the Candidate Handbook, so I'm not going to waste my time explaining costs and numbers to call. Just understand that you can take the test whenever you want. I normally recommend giving yourself two months to study, and to go ahead and reserve your spot at the testing center before you start studying. Knowing that you could just blow three or four hundred dollars by failing a test you've already signed up for was a pretty good motivator for me. You're going to need to dedicate at least five hours a week to studying, preferably with a good cram session the day before the test. Simply signing up for one of the workshops (see below) and expecting to pass after one day is not a good strategy.

What You Need To Know

The short answer is a whole lot. You need to know the reference guide of your exam track backwards and forwards. Really knowing and understanding the credits is by far the large majority of the test. There are four sections to the test, and a solid knowledge of the individual credits will more or less get you through three of them. The "Implement LEED Process" section is a bastard of a category that can be difficult to find answers to. I took the Essentials of LEED Professional Accreditation online course and found it did a good job of helping provide "official" responses to those types of questions. Spend some time studying when you should register the project with LEED-Online, what system applies to various project types, and all about CIR's and other such goodies.

Studying the Reference Guide

You may notice the reference guide is a few hundred pages long. Luckily there is a fair amount of fluff you can more or less skip. Don't waste time reading the "Resources" section, and I don't feel you need to go through all the "Definitions". The most import things to know are the intent, requirements, referenced standards (yes you do need to know the difference between ASHRAE 90.1 and ASRAE 55), calculations, and submittal documentation required. You only need to know as much about the referenced standards as is provided by the reference guide, so don't worry about studying the intricate details of SCAQMD Rule 1168, but do know that it applies to sealants and adhesives for EQc4.1. Don't forget to learn the exemplary performance thresholds either.

Quality FREE Resources

There are a number of free resources out there, but understand at some point you need to get a copy of the reference guide, which may be difficult to find for free unless you work in an office with copies lying around. That said, there are a number of sites I recommend visiting:

• IntheLEED.com - This was a blog by a guy named Pat who decided to just blog about his experience studying for the exam. The result is a site chock full of tips, tricks, cheat sheets, etc. that is all available free of charge. I would say this should be your first stop, and if you have any questions email him and not me...
• AREforum.org - This site is setup to be a forum for people studying for the architectural registration exam, but they have a section devoted to LEED that is well trafficked. If you're searching for a used reference guide or get stuck trying to find an answer to a practice question this is the place to go. You'll even see my humble mug answering questions when I can... I also recommend taking a look at all the "brain dumps" you'll see from people who just passed or failed the test (about a 50/50 split)...
• Building Green Suite Practice Exam - I really like BGS, as can be evidenced by this post. They have written a free practice exam (see comments on the linked page for a few bugs), which I always recommend people taking before they take the real test. The level of detail necessary to pass can be an eye opener for many.

Good luck to all of you, and when you start your first project be sure to come back here and get ready for some real learning! Disagree with my advice? Tell me where I'm wrong by leaving a comment.

LEED VOC Requirements for Firestopping

You may notice a trend in posts right now, as I'm on a bit of a VOC kick at the moment. (See indoor environmental quality (EQc4) posts on primers, phenol formaldehyde, and the interior/exterior issue.) The VOC requirements are quite vague, as good standard definitions of each category are hard for many products. Today I was asked to look at what VOC requirements there are for firestopping sealants. Though I don't have a definitive answer (<- this can't be stressed enough), after talking to a few people I feel like we're on the right track.

OSI Green Series Firestopping

I started looking for the VOC limit by searching through the CIR's to no avail. The project manager and I discussed and figured the best definition was "Architectural Sealant", yielding a upper VOC limit of 250 g/l. After looking online I noticed Grace has a great LEED summary of their Flamesafe products. The sheet didn't indicate what category they were listed as, but after talking to Craig Boucher, LEED AP I learned they also assumed that "architectural sealant" was the best category for the putty and silicone products. For the sprays they assumed that it would need to qualify as a non-flat paint under EQc4.2.

In any case none of the Flamesafe products are above 50 g/l total content, and Craig indicated that the products were already around those levels before they needed to be marketed as "green". Interestingly the OSI "green series" products listed above have a higher VOC level (listed at 55 g/l on Green Depot) than the "standard" product from Grace.

As I said before I think I'm right but can't be sure without your help (or dropping $220 on an official CIR). Please let us all know if you can add some certainty to this post by leaving a comment... Your help will be much appreciated!

Helpful Tool from USGBC

I don't know if most of you get this, but I've been impressed with the recent group of emails from the USGBC titled "USGBC Update". The most recent email (pictured below) actually provided some practical info regarding changes to LEED including the fact that LEED-EB 2.0 registrations end Thursday and a clarification that residential projects 1-3 stories in height must use LEED-Homes and not LEED-NC.

You can sign up for these updates for free if you do not get them already, but you must be registered with www.usgbc.org to do so. Registration for this and other emails can be done here. What would be even better is an RSS feed of USGBC updates on LEED specifically, but I'm not aware of any such resource. If I'm wrong please let me know by leaving a comment.

LEED VOC Requirements for Interior and Exterior Paints

Exterior Paints

Exterior paints and finishes are NOT covered in the requirements of EQc4, Low-Emitting Materials. That is to say, you could technically coat the building in a toxic 5000 g/l stew if you were so inclined. This is a small issue that many of you may already know about, but I remember back in the day I didn't catch the distinction and just received an email question about it earlier today. The reasoning is fairly obvious if you think about it, as exterior paints aren't really going to affect indoor air quality.

Quiz: Are these ladies LEED compliant?

No Interior Paints Used?

The question the reader brought up is whether you can earn the credit if no paints are being installed indoors. This is pretty common on Core and Shell projects, and I wasn't (and am still not) 100% sure about this. My thought is that you're still meeting the intent of the credit by not introducing unecessary coatings with harmful effect.

I did notice reading the CS Reference Guide (June 06 edition) that there is an exemplary performance point available for requiring and enforcing "compliance with the suite of EAc4 [note: I'm assuming this is a typo that should be EQc4] credits for 100% of the tenant spaces". Frequently in CS you're allowed to substitute lease restrictions instead of actually complying with the credit requirements when the requirements of the credit are not in your scope of work.

I've listed my thoughts on the lack of interior paints in a CS project issue, but I'm not certain of anything I've posted about it. Anyone who could help clarify these issues would be extremely helpful! Please share your experience by posting a comment!

Jump to earlier post on how primers fit into the VOC limits.

Energy Modeling: Structure, Strengths and Loopholes

RealLifeLEED is (sadly) back from his glorious vacation, but is happy to continue bringing the best in obscure LEED resources to you hardcore in-the-trenches AP's. Today I'm letting you know about an interesting article written by PhD and ASHRAE Fellow Stephen Kavanaugh about the strengths and loopholes associated with energy modeling, specifically related to ASHRAE 90.1:

Rating High Performance Buildings: What Architects and Owners Should Know

This article brings up a good point about the ASHRAE model, specifically that it won't necessarily be a good representation of the actual energy use! Kavanaugh cites a study that found LEED building's modeled and actual energy use differed by an average of 62%!!! The small graph on the page indicates that it's a roughly 50/50 split between over and underestimations.

It's important to understand what is included in the energy model, and how you shouldn't guarantee the client anything about reduced electricity bills. Though the building is modeled to have low energy use, an owner with a penchant for ice-cold workspaces or a retailer who loves open front doors could ruin the best intentions of your designs.

I personally had little knowledge about what's included in the models until I took a VERY useful USGBC half-day workshop entitled "Understanding Energy Modeling in LEED for New Construction Projects". It was amazing to me how quickly you can use free modeling programs to setup a rough baseline building and play with different features and conservation measures to see where you stack up. The final model will need to be completed by someone who knows what they're doing, but early simulations can provide some interesting insights for amatuers.

Energy modeling problems or helpful hints? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment!

Sailing - The Sustainable Vacation

So... Real Life LEED is about to take a vacation, both online and in real life! I'm headed down to the Bahamas for Regatta Time in Abaco and yes I know you're jealous... You voyeurs can track where I'm at courtesy of IBoatTrack.

Me and the crew... word

I'll be back sometime around mid-July, assuming good winds and no hurricanes...