LEED Exam 1

[Airforce2]

I am located in North Carolina and intend to take the LEED exam around March this year.

So far I have been to one LEED seminar (on schools) and am currently reading my way through the LEED for new construction book. This is such a "dry" read though and find it har to absorb at times.

Has anyone taken the LEED exam recently? What is it like? I have heard it is much more obsure and difficult than it used to be.

Can anyone give me some idea on what the best way to go about studying and more importantly retaining te knowelege (not just to pass the exam). I hav heard about study guides and flash cards. Are these worth while?

Thanks for any advice and help.

 

[initialdonald]

I took the LEED exam last year, NC 2.2 to be specific. The test is definitely more about memorizing then anything else. I would start by going to AREforum.org they have a lot of get info to get started with. I would suggest you try and read the reference manual if it doesn't kill you. For me I just studied someone's online study guide and took some practice tests and passed.

 

[LCruiser]

I have heard that commercial LEED is being revamped next year. Oh, wait... That would be *this* year now...

 

[ctrujillo45]

Another great resource is

http://www.greenexamprep.com.

I utilized this resource and passed the first time. Although there is a small fee $50, it is well worth it!

Before taking the test, you might want to look into the new credentialing program LEED will adhere too!

Good Luck!

 

[RossABQ]

What seems interesting to me about LEED is that the Architects, landscapers, etc., struggle to understand the energy-related engineering stuff, while us engineers have to understand carpet and wood. Why they don't break it down into specific areas of accreditation is beyond me. It's like the PE exam including a Biology or Horticulture section.

 

[mikehollinger]

You might also want to try intheleed.com though if you want to guarantee that you pass try Clean Edison at cleanedison.com. Seriously, I highly doubt I would have passed the test if it wasn't for them. Not only did I PASS but I passed the first time around. The flash cards really helped me but I think the practice exams is what helped me retain all the information better. There's a free sample on their webpage. They are far better than the more popular resources out there in my opinion.

Also don't forget to visit usgbc.org for free resources.

 

[RossABQ]

Have you seen the alliance between ASHRAE and USGBC, that will (apparently) result in ASHRAE 189? I'm wondering if LEED accreditation will go by the wayside if ASHRAE 189 becomes an adopted standard in the energy codes around the ccountry? What would the point of accreditation be if everyone has to follow the ASHRAE standard?

 

[ChrisConley]

Have you read the proposed 189 Ross? It's available for free download during the review process. It is very LEED-like, but written in code language (unlike LEED).

I'm very interested to see if it becomes an adopted 'green' standard.

Calls for better 30% than ASHRAE 90.1 for energy (good).

Calls for 30% more fresh air than ASHRAE 62. Totally disagree with that. Not that I think that more ventilation is bad, just don't understand the message they appear to be passing along. Are buildings built to ASHRAE 62 under-ventilated? Why don't they just increase the ventilation levels in ASHRAE 62.

 

[RossABQ]

Buildings built to 62 can be stuffy and/or grow mold from everything I've heard from the SE USA. There was an interesting exchange in the ASHRAE magazine a couple months ago, where the author of a ventilation article was asked why 62 calculations frequently result in less than 20 cfm/person, if many studies have shown low ventilation to be bad for health. The response basically was, if the calcs show less than 20 required, you should probably use 20. -- ???? --

 

[AbbyNormal]

Ross it has to be something more than just the vent rate then, people need to stop building with materials that make people sick

Quite often buildings here once they develop a problem, they fly in a CIH and like clockwork the solution suggested is "more air". So the client adds more air and the problem gets worse.

That is typically when the client will pay to find out what is really wrong. It's the IAQ Catch 22.You ventilate to give good indoor air quality, and it drives up humidity and gives you a rampid mold problem. A lot of things can be wrong with a building, it is just that the HVAC system is always the first to get blamed.

Worse buildings-- constant volume systems ventialted to old versions of 62. Inspired by lawyers who added the term 'sick building' to their vocabularies.

Its easy to add more air up north, you just throttle open a gas valve a little more to deal with it. It gets tough to deal with in a humid climate, when you are pulling that mositure out with compressors and your power is diesel generated.

Stop building with toxic materials.I will take high CO2 levels any day over mold and mildew

Take the "V" out of HVAC and you are left with a HAC(k) job.

 

[AbbyNormal]

I bookmarked that link ctru, thanks. Have a star

Take the "V" out of HVAC and you are left with a HAC(k) job.

 

[AbbyNormal]

How exactly, does any calc, really show what the vent rate is supposed to be?

Consider off gassing for example. Do you calculate passed on how much to dilute?

Take a nuclear sub, you have the crews breathing air that is upwards to 1% CO2

One method I found in Canada, that seemed to appease my worst hypochondriac customers, was to give them enough air to keep their windows from condensating in the winter

Take the "V" out of HVAC and you are left with a HAC(k) job.

 

[AbbyNormal]

even calculating to keep a space within 700 PPM is a guidleine to get rid of bio-effluents. Basically so the place does not smell like a monkey den.

CO2 levels are basically just an indicator of how much fresh air a person gets.

We wetted our fingers and stuck them in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. We recovered from a general lack of fresh air and had high ventialtion rates and saw the effects, now we are whittling them down to be workable

It has been a 30 plus year trial and error process since the Yom Kippur War and the Iranian Revolution.

You get 3 CIH's at a table and you cannot even get them to agree on what kind of pizza to order

Take the "V" out of HVAC and you are left with a HAC(k) job.

 

[ChrisConley]

We just build with better windows now... I strongly agree that buildings built with low VOC materials are the way to go. I'm working with a fitness centre that installed cheap, stinky (high VOC) rubber mats. The reaction of the client was that the space was underventilated, the reality is that the rubber flooring really stinks and more ventilation will help, but never eliminate the smell (I've recommended a 'bake-out', we'll see if that helps).

Additional ventilation is easier in a dry climate, but expensive! My complaint isn't at the ventilation levels, but just that ASHRAE would publish a standard requiring a space to have more ventilation that the minimum ventilation standard they publish.

If the concessus is that we're underventilating buildings, change the standard.

 

[AbbyNormal]

Well when oil was up around 150 a barrel, we were about US $0.46 a kWh down here

We build with better windows but we also build tighter houses in Canada. With the extrme cold I think you will be hard pressed to keep much more than 35 to 40% indoors in winter time. NW Ontario, humidifers were extinct on new construction since about the late 80s

I have been montioring CO2 levels on and off in my own home down here. Take a constant ASHRAE 62.2 approach, tried itnermittent ventilation as well, sort of high speed version what the old HRV code was -- comapring 0.3ACH to the so much per habitable room rate

The only way to get it perfect is a dedicated supply of fresh air to each and every room if you ask me.

Should see master bedroom CO2 levels, worse when you get lucky

Take the "V" out of HVAC and you are left with a HAC(k) job.

 

[AbbyNormal]

the 62.1 since 2004 has had it down to so much per person plus so much per square foot.

I took the short course on the 2007 vesion at the AHR in Manhatten last year, and I was pressing for an expalnation of how they came up with the rates.

The per sqaure foot amount is to do with the off gassing.

So if you have some stinky cheese or smelly rubber, you need to bump it up accordingly and that is engineering judgement and something you really only can learn the hard way.



Take the "V" out of HVAC and you are left with a HAC(k) job.