This article reviews online LEED exam preparation courses for engineers. We researched several online LEED course providers to find the most convenient and cost-friendly means to becoming LEED accredited, and include a brief summary of why LEED accreditation is relevant to engineers.
- LEED, an acronym that stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
- LEED is a third-party certification program for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED provides building owners and operators the means to have a measurable impact on building performance.
- LEED recognizes five areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
While buildings can be LEED certified, individuals can become LEED accredited, allowing them to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the LEED rating systems and enabling them to rate buildings based upon green building practices. As further explained below, preparation for LEED accreditation is available online, allowing for convenient access to various LEED exam prep tools. The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) describes LEED Accreditation as follows:
"LEED Professional Credentials demonstrate current knowledge of green building technologies, best practices, and the rapidly evolving LEED Rating Systems. They show differentiation in a growing and competitive industry, and they allow for varied levels of specialization. A LEED Professional Credential provides employers, policymakers, and other stakeholders with assurances of an individual’s level of competence and is the mark of the most qualified, educated, and influential green building professionals in the marketplace."
How is LEED Accreditation Relevant to Engineers?
LEED accreditation is relevant to engineers for a variety of reasons. Electrical engineers can take advantage of the knowledge LEED promotes on energy savings and efficiency. Civil engineers involved in the design, planning, construction, operation, and maintenance of buildings can benefit from a comprehensive understanding of environmental impacts. This insight can ensure that a project is designed and built in the most environmentally efficient way. A civil engineer with LEED accreditation can provide input on integral aspects of the design and building process such as sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy savings, impacts on the atmosphere such as reducing CO2 emissions, and materials and resources used.
- LEED Green Associate:
- indicates knowledge of the main aspects and key points of the LEED rating system.
- it is a required prerequisite for anyone who wishes to become a LEED Accredited Professional.
- in order to become eligible for the LEED Green Associate exam, an individual must register with the GBCI and present proof of having had a minimum of 8 hours of instruction on the fundamentals and basics and LEED concepts or be able to show proof of working on a LEED project.
- the second tier of LEED accreditation, LEED AP allows for specialization in a particular field.
- USGBC now recognizes five paths to becoming a LEED AP: Homes, Building Design and Construction (BD+C), Interior Design and Construction (ID+C), Operations and Maintenance (O+M), and Neighborhood Development.
- in order to become eligible for the LEED AP exam, an individual must have documented proof of working on a LEED certified project.
Why Prepare for a LEED Exam Online?
Achieving LEED accreditation requires a thorough understanding of the concepts and green building practices that LEED provides, as well as a minimum number of hours of instruction on LEED and/or proof of having working on a documented LEED project, which is a necessity in order to be eligible for any of the LEED AP exams. As a result, a fair amount of dedication and studying is necessary, and for those who are working professionals, have limited study time, or simply need to study for short periods and take a lot of breaks in order to effectively absorb information, preparing for a LEED exam can be a difficult process. In light of this, online LEED exam prep resources, particularly online courses, are a beneficial, easily accessible, and convenient option to prepare for the LEED exams. While all LEED accreditation exams must be taken through the GBCI, there are many different online providers that offer resources to prepare for the LEED Green Associate and LEED AP exams, and ensure that individuals are eligible for the exams based on GBCI standards. These resources include online courses, online live instruction, flashcards, practice exams, and other downloadable resources. While there are many online providers that offer LEED exam preparation tools, each online provider is different and the type of resources they offer can vary greatly. Several online LEED course providers are set out below to help you select a provider based on your learning style, the resources available through each provider, convenience, and cost.
Green Building Education Services
What They Have to Offer
Green Building Education Services (GBES), found at greenexamprep.com, offers Online Live training courses, Online Anytime training courses, and other study resources such as flashcards and practice tests available for purchase online in downloadable PDF formats and direct browser access, respectively. When asked why someone should choose GBES when there are so many other online LEED course providers out there, Scott Turner of GBES replied, “cost, quality, and ease-of-use.” Turner explains that the philosophy of GBES from the beginning has been to offer “more product for less money.” Turner also states that “our exam simulator is the best out there” and “we survey our customers every six months and we repeatedly find 95% of our customers would refer our products [including courses] to a friend or coworker.”
Key Benefits: High Quality and Low Cost
GBES certainly prioritizes customer satisfaction, much of which has to do with quality of products and cost. Katie Cline, Director of Business Development for GBES, says they have the “highest quality and lowest cost training options available”, supporting this with the example that “all our products, except our live training classes, are buy one get one free”. Indeed, when you purchase the LEED Green Associate Online Anytime training course with GBES, you can add a LEED AP Online Anytime training course to your account at any time for free, and if you purchase a LEED AP Online Anytime training course you also get the LEED Green Associate training course for free. The same money-saving deals apply to the practice exams that GBES has to offer.
Customer Feedback
Gloria J. Wroten, a project coordinator in construction and site development, utilized the Online Live training to prepare for the LEED AP exam, as well as purchasing the flashcards. Wroten states that her instructor was “excellent” and “passionate”, and that that each of these resources “has its merits as a learning and memory or retention tool.” Wroten would definitely recommend GBES to someone looking to prepare for a LEED exam based on the quality of products and the “ability to have access anytime, the ability to review.” Similarly, Michelle Jones, an energy manager who used the Online Live training and flashcards to prepare for the LEED Green Associate exam, found the Online Live sessions to be “well prepared” and stated that the instructor was “interesting.” However, she found the most useful resource to be the study guide (included with the purchase of the LEED Green Associate Online Live training). Of the additional resources she used, Jones asserts that “the flash cards were good tools, but if a person is good at studying from a manual and taking notes, the flash cards may not add significant value.” Like Wroten, Jones would also recommend GBES to anyone looking to become LEED accredited. Whether it is necessary to go beyond what is taught in the Online Live or Online Anytime courses that GBES has to offer and purchase additional resources such as flashcards and practice exams depends on the individual, but for those that will benefit from online instruction, additional resources, or both, GBES seems to have this covered.
What They Have to Offer
RedVector (redvector.com) offers a wide variety of online courses to prepare for the LEED Green Associate and LEED AP exams, as well as courses for maintenance of LEED accreditation or simply to brush up on LEED knowledge and skills. While RedVector’s online LEED courses are more expensive than some of the other course providers out there, many of the courses available at redvector.com allow one year of unlimited access to the resources and materials included, whereas many other course providers have a stricter time constraint, such as sixty or ninety days of access. Year long access to simulated test questions and other study materials can be especially beneficial to those who have little study time, or simply need to work at a slower pace in order to feel sufficiently prepared. RedVector offers one year of unlimited access to not only individual LEED Green Associate or LEED AP courses, but also with package deals that encompass preparation for both the LEED Green Associate and one LEED AP exam track. These prep bundles will benefit anyone who wishes to take both the LEED Green Associate exam and LEED AP exam consecutively, and the year long access to study materials provides the advantage of extra time to prepare for two LEED exams.
Key Benefits: Partnership with the University of Tennessee & The Credentialing Maintenance Program
RedVector’s Vice President of Marketing, Victoria Zambito, is particularly proud of RedVector’s partnership with the University of Tennessee to develop some of their LEED courses. The University of Tennessee Online Certificate series are non-degree programs generally made up of 10 courses. These courses cover core LEED topics such as sustainable design awareness, sustainable design culture, innovation and design process, sustainable sites, water efficiency, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and energy and atmosphere. RedVector’s exclusive partnership with the University of Tennessee allows individuals to have access to some of the leading experts on LEED from the comfort of their own homes.
Another aspect of RedVector that sets them apart from many other online LEED course providers is their Credentialing Maintenance Program, which is a thirty hour package that allows LEED APs without specialty to maintain their credentials by gaining a specialty in what are now several of the LEED AP exam tracks: Operations and Maintenance, Building Design and Construction, or Interior Design and Construction.
Customer feedback
Carolyn Hunter is one RedVector client who took advantage of the Credentialing Maintenance Program, and asserts that “the courses are well written, informative and interesting, and best of all you don’t have to take time out of your business day to do them! They’ve all been pre-approved by USGBC’s ERB = Education Review Board, so you’re guaranteed to get that credit, so long as you score 70% or more on the course exam.” In addition to the quality and convenience of the courses, Zambito also congratulates RedVector on its customer satisfaction and support, which includes convenient access to educational advisors and access to support seven days a week. Although their courses are more costly than some of the other online LEED course providers, RedVector offers the advantages of prolonged access to materials, access to University of Tennessee LEED experts, the Credentialing Maintenance Program, and easily accessible customer support.
What They Have to Offer
Rob Freeman, co-founder of green-buildings.com, describes the focus of green-buildings.com to be “the most choice at the lowest price”, while also holding their products to a high standard. Green-buildings.com certainly offers a lot of choice in terms of study resources, which in addition to online LEED courses includes multiple realistic practice tests, hundreds of flash cards, practice exams with exam simulator, MP3 audio study guides, and PDF study guides, most of which come in package deals at reasonable prices. Green-buildings.com also offers a variety of free LEED exam prep resources, such as short practice exams and webinars.
Key Benefits: Partnership with GreenStep & The LEED Professional Project Experience Program
One aspect that distinguishes green-buildings.com from other online LEED course providers is their access to GreenStep’s LEED Professional Project Experience Program, which allows individuals to gain the experience they need working on a LEED certified project in order to qualify for a LEED AP exam. For working professionals who do not work in a field that allows them to gain the necessary experience working on a LEED certified project, the convenient accessibility to LEED project experience online is indispensable. With this program, individuals can acquire the necessary documented project experience through “virtual meeting, email and/or chat. The program utilizes an actual LEED Registered Project. Participants will engage in discussions, work through problems, accomplish various tasks, assist in the documentation process, complete take-home assignments and provide feedback.” The LEED Professional Project Experience Program is a four-week program that requires ongoing participation and online classes that take place for an hour and a half once a week, and according to Freeman, is a great solution for people all over the world who want to learn about LEED and become accredited but are unable to access the information or project experience, as there are not many LEED resources outside of North America. Furthermore, green-buildings.com now offers the LEED Professional Project Experience Program for CMP, which allows participants to gain Credential Maintenance Program credits, and is just one of the routes that green-buildings.com offers for LEED Green Associates and LEED APs to obtain CMP credits.
Customer Feedback
Liz Cupples, a qualified architect and developer, took advantage of the LEED Professional Project Experience Program, and describes being “extremely thankful” for the program, as gaining the project experience online was vital to her LEED accreditation. In addition to her participation in the LEED Professional Project Experience Program, Cupples also prepared for both the LEED Green Associate exam and LEED AP exam through other online resources available at green-buildings.com. Cupples states she would absolutely recommend that someone looking to gain LEED accreditation should prepare through green-buildings.com, stating that “[their courses focus] on the most important elements, you really do retain the most salient points using their system, [and] you can monitor how much you are learning and how you are improving.” Green-buildings.com has much to offer in terms of their variety of exam prep tools that cater to individual learning styles, free resources, and LEED Professional Project Experience Program.
Final Thoughts
The online LEED course providers profiled here each have their own advantages in terms of preparing for a LEED exam. Cost, the variety of resources available, convenience, duration of accessibility to materials, and individual needs are all factors that may come into play while selecting an online LEED course provider. It’s ultimately up to you to decide what will work best to help you study for your LEED accreditation.
A Brief Overview of Some of the Online LEED Courses Each Provider has to Offer
*all prices shown are in US dollars
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Written by Jennifer Caven