i am from India, please let me know about the LEED AP/GP in India. when are the exams and what all do i need to study?

Appreciate any replies. Thanks.

Online training classes will not be enough to qualify for a LEED AP exam. However, depending on the course, you could qualify for the Green Associate Exam. You may want to check the online courses at Green Exam Prep (http://www.greenexamprep.com), as I do know they have economical online courses that you’d be able to take online. I hope that helps. Best of luck to you!

Thanks alot for the website. It was very helpful and if I knew about it when I took my exam the first time I might have passed. I took the exam in December and got a 169 (uggh). I have stressed about it ever since and I took the test today and passed. Thank you so much.

Regards,

John

Many many thanks.

Can’t speak for other people, but for me, becoming LEED AP has turned my business around and I am now focusing on sustainable design as it relates to LEED for Homes (among other systems!). I’m sure the fact that I am a sole-practitioner “planting the seeds” has a lot of bearing on how becoming a LEED AP has been beneficial for me. I think the old adage “use it or lose it” describes what my experience would be if I did not make a business decision to pursue green building in general (not just LEED!).

USGBC has made an effort to diversify certification by using 3rd party and GBCI, but I hear you about the “monopolizing” aspect of project certification and accreditation. Not the ideal situation, but someone needed to get the ball rolling and as the trends are telling us, building green is on the rise, so I think their early efforts are paying off. I have clients that know very little about building green, but will insist on a “LEED project.”

I really believe you guys are savvy enough to realize that LEED will be the dominate rating system in the near future and I hope you can eventually put that hard work towards a LEED project.

Cheers!

+pablo

You make a GOOD point about the USGBC being a racket. Yes, I agree with you…. while the process is slow, I think USGBC has monopolized their empire based on capitalism! It goes back to the concept of breeding a whole new generation of buyers and sellers. Now I’m thinking… where could I have saved that $1,500.00… if it wasn’t for paying all for the materials and exam fees? That money could have gone in my retirement or I still could’ve used that money to pay for an entire year of gas!

I’m surprised you haven’t worked on any LEED projects. Now you’re wondering how much your LEEP AP is worth? I know, must be a bummer… but the fact is…. at this time… it’s not going to change anything… or is it?

I hope USGBC can prove me wrong… otherwise, I’d be cursing them the day I earn my LEED AP certificate!

Until then, good luck Sara. No worries about the email. We’ll just post on this forum.

The extra five are questions specifically for GBCI and LEED to evaluate how difficult their questions really are. You of course don’t know which ones these are.

I often wonder if the easiest ones are the ones that they claim to be evaluating, leaving us struggling with the other 75.

But back to your question, the remaining 75 you have to get completely correct, all or nothing, which is most likely the main difficulty in passing this exam.

You have to get ALL of them. So if it’s multiple choice and there are six answers but only four of them are right, you need to select all four of the correct answers or the question is counted as wrong.

There is just a ton of memorization. Know all the percentages. Don’t neglect the registration and administration information – you’ll need to know fees. I regret to say it is a boring, tedious, excruciatingly painful ordeal, but you’ve got to memorize every piece of minutiae. I prepared by writing out long hand what I knew, in regular English, because I process better when I hear it like a novel. If you post YOUR email, I’ll send you my notes.

Nothing has changed for me – near as I can tell, there are no jobs. I was supposed to get a raise that never materialized due to the economy. I have not worked on any LEED projects, because we don’t have any.

Now that USGBC junked NC 2.2, I feel the credential is already obsolete. I’m glad I did it for personal reasons but I’m not holding my breath waiting for it to help me professionally. I’m a bit irritated about the NC 3 update and additional testing requirements. It was a real bitch to get, and I don’t want to do it again.

Many people in the industry feel LEED is a racket – not just the testing, but the whole system. USGBC monopolized and dominates the market, but LEED is not the only way, nor necessarily the most effective way to build a green project. I’ve heard complaints that earning credits is more important than designing well. My boss likes Build Green.

If green building is an important societal goal, the credentialing process should be designed to further that goal – not to create an elite workforce. If green building is a critical component of environmental preservation, all avenues should be open toward achieving it. I understand and agree with the need for third-party verification, but putting everyone in a straight-jacket creates more obstacles than it appears to eliminate. If you look at the statistics, it’s like some tiny percentage of registered projects actually get certified.

As an example, on practice tests I’m getting 2 out of 3 answers correct pretty consistently – Does the exam count 2 out of 3 answers or if you don’t get all correct the entire answer is wrong?

Thank you.

I think that’s my big weakness. Otherwise, I’m still cursing the day I will have to take the test at the end of this month.

Until then, may I ask, has anything changed ever since you have become LEED AP? Promotion? More responsibilites for taking over LEED projects? Thoughts?

By seeing the broader picture, I mean step back from the question. I remember there was one about choosing pre- and post- development site runoff rates, and I would have gotten bogged down in the figures if I had not remembered the rules about which site conditions would determine if the rules applied. I think much of what they ask is geared toward establishing whether you know and understand general principles and when to apply them.

Do you want to post your email address online? Cuz I sure don’t.

You are probably right. I got the answers via ‘intheleed’.com in another post and I believe someone may have made a mistake. I must agree, though, that the questions are full of twists of logic and obfuscation.

May I ask, that one should ‘assume’ and see beyond a broader view in order to get the answers correct?

I’m glad you passed today. I’m sure you’re in high spirits! Congratulations! Now, all you have to do is help me out a little bit. Can I email you just so we can keep in touch? My last exam will be on June 30th…. the day I would like to call ‘Doomsday’.

I passed the exam the first/only time I took it, and I did okay – but I had no idea during the test if I was getting questions right or wrong. Scary, huh? I crammed relentlessly for the ten days beforehand, mostly using Pat’s notes. I wondered if a deeper understanding of the building process would have helped me. I spent about $1000 on study materials, in addition to the cost of the exam. If I were doing it again, I’d use Pat’s notes and the practice tests at Green Exam Prep – and that’s it. I felt like the testing set-up was a scam, too. Costs a fortune, and they make it as confusing as possible. The questions reminded me of practice questions on the LSAT, full of twists of logic and obfuscation. You need to see beyond the question into a broader view of what the situation calls for. Kudos to you for your persistence. It is kind of an endurance contest.

I have failed the LEED NC v 2.2 exam TWICE and will be taking my 3rd exam at the end of this month (June 30th). Frustrated, angry, and extremely pissed, I KNOW have studied my butt off for the 2nd exam, was very knowledgeable with all intents, credits, implementations, etc. When I was VERY CONFIDENT about passing the 2nd time, I was disappointed with my score. Was it my fault or is the LEED exam designed so poorly/cleverly that its goal is to keep its exam pass rate near 30%-40%?

This is what interests me most about LEED because IF LEED does not limit its exam pass rate, then EVERYONE is capable of becoming LEED certified. In other words, LEED risks getting watered down and their certification holds ‘little value’.

Is this a way for LEED to breed a whole new generation of buyers and sellers? In other words, if you want to market your product, what do you do? Simple, you sell a RARE product that holds high value. And we all should know a rare product is one that DOES NOT have a high ‘pass rate’.

I was so confident with passing the 2nd exam. I find that the way the exam is ‘designed’ is what interests me further. The questions can often be misleading and are not usually straightforward. Again, is this a way of lowering exam pass rates?

Take for example this sample question on a sample test: “A value engineering exercise has proposed that exterior horizontal louvers above south-facing windows will be deleted from the project. The change requires that various project team members review strategies and reconfirm calculations for several credits. Which three credits would be affected by this decision? (Choose 3).
A. EA Credit 6, Green Power
B. B. SS Credit 7.1, Heat Island Effect: Non-Roof
C. EA Credit 1, Optimize Energy Performance
D. EQ Credit 1, Outdoor Air Delivery Monitoring
E. EQ Credit 8.1, Daylight and Views: Daylight 75% of Spaces

The answers are A,C, and D.

But many people wonder why E was not part of the answer when we ALL KNOW that E is definitely affected by this.

So I looked back at the question, in general, and wonder is the question WORDED so poorly or so cleverly? How come it didn’t ask a question like “Which three credits would be MOST affected by this decision?” If you can help me here then it is much appreciated.

Otherwise, I need to know what mindset you were in when taking the LEED NC v2.2 exam and then pass? I really need help and do not want to fail my third time. Otherwise, I would be cursing LEED for stealing all of that money just to ‘finance’ their organization. Please respond.

You will have to wait until you are involved on a LEED registered project that your firm helps with in the hopefully near future.

please let me know when can i register for getiing leed v3 cetification,when does the registration start.

You may use different email to register at GBCI.org, and they will give you other ID number for the prometric center. The best part is you don’t need to wait couple days for retaking the test. Also, I tried it before and i got the same test when I took second test. It may be good to you if you use other email to register the test.

good luck.