USGBC LEED Green Associate Exam Preparation:

About LEED GA:
The LEED Green Associate will enhance your professional credentials, open doors to new job opportunities and help advance your career in the green building industry. The LEED Green Associate is a valuable certification for anyone interested in making a positive impact on the environment.
The LEED Green Associate exam measures general knowledge of green building practices and how to support others working on LEED projects. The exam is ideal for those newer to sustainability and LEED.

Studying and Mastering the Course Syllabus:

 

You Will Receive a Complete Self-Paced Exam Study Materials Bundle as per the Exam Specifications / Exam Outline

EXAM SPECIFICATIONS

The following outline provides a general description of exam content areas for the LEED Green Associate exam. Knowledge Domains reflect the rating systems’ credit categories and what one needs to know as a LEED Green Associate. The LEED Green Associate exam tests your general knowledge of green building practices for both commercial and residential spaces and both new construction and existing buildings as well as how to support other professionals working on LEED projects.

KNOWLEDGE DOMAINS

LEED Process (16 Questions)

  • Organization fundamentals (e.g., mission/vision; non-profit; the role of USGBC/GBCI)
  • Structure of LEED rating systems (e.g., credit categories; prerequisites; credits and/ or Minimum Program
  • Requirements for LEED certification)
  • Scope of each LEED rating system (e.g., rating system selection; rating system families [BD+C, ID+C, O+M,
  • ND, Homes])
  • LEED development process (e.g., consensus-based; stakeholder and volunteer involvement; rating system
  • updates/evolution)
  • Credit categories (e.g., goals and objectives of each [LT, SS, WE, EA, MR, EQ, IN, RP]; synergies)
  • Impact categories (e.g., what should a LEED project accomplish?)
  • LEED certification process (e.g., certification levels [Certified, Silver, Gold, Platinum]; LEED Scorecard; third
  • party verification; role of documentation submission; LEED Interpretations; Addenda; awareness of different
  • system versions [e.g., LEED Online]; components of LEED Online and Project Registration)
  • H. Other rating systems (e.g., in general, what other rating systems are out there?)

Integrative Strategies (8 Questions)

  • Integrative process (e.g., early analysis of the interrelationships among systems; systems thinking; charrettes)
  • Integrative project team members (e.g., architect; engineer; landscape architect; civil engineer; contractor; facility manager, etc.)
  • Standards that support LEED (e.g., breadth not depth of American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and
  • Air-conditioning Engineers [ASHRAE]; Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association
  • [SMACNA] guidelines; Green Seal; ENERGY STAR®; HERs; Reference Standards listed in ACPs, etc.)

Location and Transportation (7 Questions)

  • Site selection (e.g., targeting sites in previously developed and brownfields/high-priority designation areas;
  • avoiding sensitive habitat; located in areas with existing infrastructure and nearby uses; reducing parking footprint)
  • Alternative transportation (e.g., type, access and quality; infrastructure and design)

Sustainable Sites (7 Questions)

  • Site assessment (e.g., environmental assessment; human impact)
  • Site design and development (e.g., construction activity pollution prevention; habitat conservation andrestoration; exterior open space; rainwater management; exterior lighting; heat island reduction)

Water Efficiency (9 Questions)

  • Outdoor water use (e.g., use of greywater/rainwater in irrigation; use of native and adaptive species)
  • Indoor water use (e.g., concepts of low flow/waterless fixtures; water-efficient appliances; types and quality)
  • Water performance management (e.g., measurement and monitoring)

Energy and Atmosphere (10 Questions)

  • Building loads (e.g., building components; space usage [private office, individual space, shared multi-occupant spaces])
  • Energy efficiency (e.g., basic concepts of design; operational energy efficiency; commissioning; energy auditing)
  • Alternative and renewable energy practices (e.g., demand response; renewable energy; green power; carbon offsets)
  • Energy performance management (e.g., energy use measurement and monitoring; building automation controls/advanced energy metering; operations and management; benchmarking; ENERGY STAR)
  • Environmental concerns (e.g., sources and energy resources; greenhouse gases; global warming potential; resource depletion; ozone depletion)

Materials and Resources (9 Questions)

  • Reuse (e.g., building reuse; material reuse; interior reuse; furniture reuse)
  • Life-cycle impacts (e.g., concept of life-cycle assessment; material attributes; human and ecological health impacts; design for flexibility)
  • Waste (e.g., construction and demolition; maintenance and renovation; operations and ongoing; waste management plan)
  • Purchasing and declarations (e.g., purchasing policies and plans; environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP); building product disclosure and optimization [i.e., raw materials sourcing, material ingredients, environmental product disclosure])

Indoor Environmental Quality (8 Questions)

  • Indoor air quality (e.g., ventilation levels; tobacco smoke control; management of and improvements to indoor air quality; low-emitting materials; green cleaning)
  • Lighting (e.g., electric lighting quality; daylight)
  • Sound (e.g., acoustics)
  • Occupant comfort, health, and satisfaction (e.g., controllability of systems; thermal comfort design; quality of views; assessment/survey)

Project Surroundings and Public Outreach (11 Questions)

  • Environmental impacts of the built environment (e.g., energy and resource use in conventional buildings; necessity of green buildings; environmental externalities; triple bottom line)
  • Codes (e.g., relationship between LEED and codes [building, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, fire protection]; green building codes)
  • Values of sustainable design (e.g., energy savings over time; healthier occupants; money-saving incentives; costs [hard costs, soft costs]; life cycle)
  • Regional design (e.g., regional green design and construction measures as appropriate; regional emphasis should be placed in Sustainable Sites and Materials & Resources)

Practice Tests:

You will receive 500 Practice Questions and Answers while purchasing the full package

One of the most valuable resources to prepare for these exams is practice questions and practice tests. Practice questions also serve as a form of active learning and are highly effective as an actual study method too.

While self-paced study materials may seem more appealing, there’s no better way to familiarize yourself with an exam than the proper use of practice questions and practice tests. It helps you build stamina to get through a multi-hour exam.

There is something called the “Testing Effect” – when you take a test under testing (or test-like) conditions, you have to retrieve information from your memory, making it easier to recall at a later time. Taking practice tests is retrieval practice because you are actively recalling information, which leads to an improved ability to recall later on (on the exam!).

Practice Tests are a great revision aid. They are developed to the same quality standards as live exams and will provide you with:

  • A realistic reflection of your performance
  • A personalized feedback diagram to help you plan and focus your final revision activity
  • Experience in the exam environment, so you know what to expect in advance of a live exam.

Practice Tests are available with you, right now and should be used once you’ve studied the full syllabus.