LEED Professional?

[chood3]

I was wondering if any of you or if you know any of your co-workers that are a LEED professional.

If so, how does the accreditation help you in your work? How difficult was the exam? Is the entire process too costly? Are you or are you interested in becoming an AP professional? Is there opportunities for LEED consulting work? Would taking and passing my exam help me get into more prestigious graduate schools?

If not, what are your concerns with the system?

I know that's a lot of questions but thanks in advance.

[nrschmid]

LEED is primarily a project certification, whether it is building new buildings, retrofitting existing structures, creating new developments, etc. Each project will have designations such as silver, platinum, gold, etc. based on a number of credits. Again, this is the certification which is not to be confused with accreditation. Since 2009, the LEED-AP designation is a two-part process. LEED-AP now requires proof of projects completed in a given specialty, whereas the green associate is open to more people. In most projects working towards LEED certification, a project can earn ONE Innovation and Design (ID) credit for having ONE LEED-AP professional on a project team. Well, nowadays with so many people taking the LEED exams (architects, engineers, landscape architect, etc.) planners are at the bottom of the list. It really is not going to make a huge deal from the business side. It "might" make a difference when you are competing against someone else FOR A JOB. It couldn't hurt when applying for graduate school, although there is still an incredible amount of studying for the green associate exam. Do you really want to put yourself through all of that AND THEN apply to school on top of that?

[jswanek]

My wife was the "Environmental Planner" and then the "Resources Planner" and most recently the "Sustainability Planner". No interviews, no promotion in any case. She just laughs.