What is LEED?
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.Getting green through LEED goes back to 1993, when the non-profit organization, the USGBC (United States Green Building Council) was established to promote and grow sustainable building practices. To market their concept of building green, they had to create a system to introduce the idea to the industry.Two years later after the USGBC was established, LEED was created by the USGBC in 1995 as a rating system to give the market tools, mesaurable performance standards, and strageties to create sustainable buildings. Not only are architects, landscape architects, real estate professionals, engineers and owners using the LEED rating system to produce more sustainable buildings, many government agencies have adopted the LEED system as a standard or offer incentives for LEED certification seeking projects. A recent LEED certified government building includes the Clinton library which recieved a LEED Platinum rating.
(Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, Arkansas. Image provided by flickr.com)
Why go LEED?
In addition to government incentives, the expanded client potential and better building performance, there is the bigger picture of the need to reduce our carbon footprint on the environment. If we consider what it takes to produce anything from the pen you use to an entire building, it is no wonder that the net return to the environment is negative. Following LEED criteria is an effort to build our awareness of the impact to the environment we cause through our actions. It is just a starting point.
Why become a LEED Accredited Professional?
A LEED Accredited Professional understands the criteria required for a building to become LEED certified and the process to take a building down the road to certification. Three important reasons for becoming a LEED AP are:
- You are helping to propel the need for more and more sustainable building practices.
- Becoming a LEED AP makes you more valuable on the job market.
- If you intend on becoming a LEED AP, it is better to take the exam earlier than later. Since the LEED exam’s inception, the exam has become harder and harder. In 2008, the LEED AP exam program is now administered by its own group within the USGBC, the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).
If you are read to become a LEED professional, feel free to use any of the resources and study material from greenexamacademy.com.
To understand exactly what you need to do to become a LEED professional, please click here.
