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8 Things You Need to Know About LEED Credentialing Changes
1 | Meet LEED AP’s New Friends: LEED GA and LEED AP Fellow
Credentialing is no longer just for LEED wonks, thanks to the addition of the all-new LEED Green Associate designation. With a shorter exam and fewer continuing education requirements (more on that later) than the AP designation, LEED GA is for professionals who want to be “conversant in the general principles” of LEED and green building, Templeton said, but for whom knowing the precise requirements of enhanced building commissioning might be overkill. USGBC hopes the GA designation builds on the already broad appeal of the AP credential, which has worked its way into diverse fields such as law, manufacturing and real estate brokerage.
Less is known about the LEED AP Fellow designation, the top-tier credential that is still being developed. Candidates for AP Fellow will likely have contributed to the evolution of green building in some manner over the course of their career.
2 | LEED AP Gets Rating System Specific
With the creation of the general GA designation, the AP credential is becoming more specialized to better align with LEED rating system platforms. Future APs will choose between five tracks: Building Design + Construction (notated BD+C); Operations + Maintenance (O+M); Interior Design + Construction (ID+C); Homes; and Neighborhood Development (ND). When enrolling, current APs are automatically assigned a specialty based on the track on which they originally tested. Multiple specialties are possible with additional testing or continuing education obligations.
3 | Maintaining Credentials - An Overview
The biggest adjustment is that LEED-credentialed professionals are now responsible for maintaining their credential through continuing education (CE), a common component of many other professional credentials. LEED APs must complete 30 hours of CE credit every two years, which includes six hours dedicated to LEED-specific education and three hours dedicated to their LEED rating system specialty. Each multiple specialty requires an additional six hours of combined LEED-specific and rating system-specific education. GAs must complete 15 hours every two years, including three hours of LEED-specific education.
With green building technologies and best practices constantly evolving, continuing education requirements for LEED credentials were overdue, many building professionals said. “If I go to a doctor, I don’t want them to have gone to med school and then not learned anything else. They should be continually updating their knowledge. LEED credentialing maintenance is the same type of thing,” said Cristina Ainslie, a LEED accredited principal with CRZ Consulting LLC, a LEED advisory firm based in New York.
4 | The Ins and Outs of Continuing Education
Now for the details. Continuing education consists of eight categories:
Specific requirements for each category, including training for other professional credentials that counts toward LEED credentialing maintenance, can be reviewed in the CMP Guide (see a pdf of the guide.) Activities in some categories require approval from special Education Reviewing Bodies for CE credit.
LEED-specific and LEED rating system-specific credits are limited to the professional development and college/university coursework, live presentations, self-study and authorship categories. Additionally, the amount of CE credit professionals can earn in a two-year reporting period is capped for LEED project participation, self-study programs, committee/volunteer work and giving live presentations. No cap exists for other CE activities.
A good place to pick up CE hours is USGBC’s annual Greenbuild convention, which features more than 100 educational sessions over three days in November. No preparation activities for LEED exams count as CE, and generally speaking, CE activities completed prior to enrolling in the new credential program will not count either -- so it may benefit APs to enroll quickly. Professionals will self-report their continuing education progress online beginning November 1 at the GBCI website. GBCI will conduct random audits of credentialing maintenance that is reported.
5 | Enrolling for LEED Credentials and Continuing Education
So what’s the first step to enroll for your new credential? There are a few options. Current LEED APs can either take a new exam to earn their LEED rating system specialty designation, or they can bypass the exam and enroll right away for credentialing maintenance, as more than a thousand current APs have already done. If the second option is chosen, APs can begin using their new specialty designation immediately. Then, they have two years from the date of enrollment to complete the initial continuing education requirements.
Current APs can begin the enrollment process when their enrollment window opens, which is determined alphabetically by surname and runs through the last week of October. GBCI is notifying APs through email when their enrollment period begins (see the schedule.) The window is open for two years and the $50 enrollment fee is waived for much of that time. If a current AP wants to enroll after their window has passed, they must retest.
New applicants for the GA or AP designations do not have the initial credentialing maintenance option, although they are responsible for continuing education after they become credentialed. They can apply for the exam at the GBCI web site.
6 | Prerequisites for LEED AP and LEED GA
Not just anyone can apply for LEED credentials anymore. For exam eligibility, LEED GA candidates must have either worked on a LEED-registered project, been employed in a “sustainable” field or have engaged in an education program addressing green building principles. According to Templeton, “We want to know that candidates are well rounded and have a broader base of learning.”
The bigger change is that all new AP candidates must have experience on a LEED project within the past three years, a requirement that gives the AP designation “a more prestigious level of expertise,” said Adam Fransen, a LEED accredited project manager with CB Richard Ellis in Minneapolis who handles LEED projects at existing buildings for the firm nationwide. “This will differentiate those who have driven results in the market versus those who are just interested in sustainability in general,” he said.
Current APs are not subject to the new LEED project participation requirements.
7 | LEED APs who Don’t Enroll
Current APs who choose not to retest or enroll in credentialing maintenance for their specialty designation will remain LEED APs indefinitely, without any additional fees or requirements but also without a specialty.
8 | What’s New About the LEED Exams
The GA exam, which is not specific to any LEED rating system, runs two hours and is comprised of 100 questions. The AP exam, which previously ran two hours, now runs four hours and is comprised of two parts: the GA exam plus a LEED rating system specialty exam. Each has 100 questions. If one part of the AP exam is failed, only that part must be retaken -- however, passing the GA portion and failing the AP specialty portion does not confer the GA designation. Current APs who choose to test for their speciality designation rather than enroll in the initial credentialing maintenance program only take the specialty portion of the exam.
GA exam costs include a $50 registration fee and a $200 exam fee ($150 for USGBC National members and full-time students.) AP exam costs are a $100 application fee and a $450 exam fee ($300 for USGBC National members.)
