Leed Rated
Give Yourself a Lead with LEED Certification
Who knew 50 years ago that we’d be using solar panels to heat our houses and wildflowers to insulate our roofs? Believe it or not, the green movement is here, and it’s getting its roots deep into the building industry. If you’re in construction on any level, whether it’s drawing up blueprints or picking out wallpaper, that means you’re going to need knowledge of sustainable practices to help your business grow and succeed in the future. And the best way to do that is through LEED certification.
LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally-recognized certification for green buildings. LEED buildings have been rated and approved in a variety of areas, including sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environment quality.
While having your building or construction project be LEED certified is a great way to get on the green bandwagon, LEED also offers certification to architects, real estate professionals, construction managers, lenders, and anyone else in the building business who wants to take that extra step and be recognized for their sustainability expertise. As the demand for green building construction grows, LEED certified professionals put themselves in a better position to land contracts than those who are not. Best of all, you don’t have to go back to school or earn another degree to put yourself in the game. LEED offers not one, but two professional programs to help you stand out from the pack:
LEED Green Associate
LEED Green Associates can demonstrate a basic understanding of green design, construction, and operation. They’ve either worked on a LEED-registered project, are employed in a sustainable industry, or participated in a green education program. (The U.S. Green Building Council offers a number of online courses that fill this requirement.)
LEED AP (Accredited Professional)
LEED Accredited Professionals have in-depth technical knowledge of green principles. They can specialize in a specific LEED rating system, such as operations and maintenance, homes, building design and construction, and neighborhood development. To become a LEED AP, the candidate must have worked on a LEED-registered project within the last 3 years.
Whether you want to want to become a Green Associate or a LEED AP, you’ll need to take the certification exam administered by the Green Building Certification Institute. For more information, visit www.gbci.org. Study materials, reference guides, online courses, and other exam prep materials can be found here.
About the Author
Noel Rozny writes myPathfinder, the bi-weekly career blog for the myFootpath website. myFootpath is a resource to help you in your search for a college, degree program, career, graduate school, and non-traditional experiences. Visit myFootpath to start your college or degree program search.
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Tour of a Platinum-rated LEED Sustainable Building: The Morris Arboretum