LEED green associate, BS?

[Gorpomon]

Is a LEED green associate exam worth my money ($175 for the class to meet eligibility and $200 for the test, yeouch!)

Will this help me move into the field of MEP, building commissioning, energy auditing and the like?

I'm an ME with 2 yrs experience, 1 in piping engineering with work in building codes, that's my most relevant experience.

I have a sinking suspicion that at best putting LEED GA on my resume will get me past some text filters on resume systems, but would like any other opinions.

Any thoughts?

 

[Trackfiend]

I just recently passed both the LEED GA and LEED AP (BD+C) exams and am now accredited (don't say certified or else unleash the wrath of older LEED guys) as a LEED AP. From my limited experience with LEED (two projects, one Certified and the other Silver) it seems that only the LEED AP's are taken seriously in the consulting field. This is not to say that a LEED GA accreditation is useless but many of our clients are asking for a LEED AP to help with the project. First a LEED AP can help the project gain a point towards whatever certification the project is trying to achieve (but only one point even if the project has 10 APs on it). Secondly, it seems that the LEED AP is now much harder to obtain (with the GA being somewhat easier) thus setting apart the designation between the GA and AP status. It seems that this was done to make the LEED AP a "profesional" designation as opposed to just another certification (sorry, I mean accreditation).

If possible, try to go further and obtain the AP accreditation. I'm fairly limited in my experience with all things LEED but it does seem that the GA is now meant as either a stepping stone to get the AP status or for educational purposes (kinda like taking one or two courses in a Master's program just for the knowledge but not receiving the degree). Again, I'm not stomping on the GA, just merely pointing out my observations thus far. Good luck in your endeavors.

A good website for LEED discussion is

http://www.areforum.org.

Theres a section for LEED topics. It may help answer some of your questions.

 

[Trackfiend]

Oh, and personally, I think its just a money making machine to begin with, but I guess since the clients are requesting it.....

 

[casseopeia]

It probably doesn't hurt, unless you can't pay your rent because of the fee. I've been looking for a job for almost a year and I see a lot of ads wanting LEED accreditation.

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

 

[PEDARRIN2]

The LEED GA is what the LEED AP was before the latest revision to the LEED documents.

Passing the LEED GA will indicate you know the LEED criteria but will not indicate you know how to fill out all the paperwork and keep track of all the other stuff.

Where I work - we have a lot of "grandfathered" LEED AP's who are working in a specialty (either design and construction, or existing buildings) who work the technical aspect, know the LEED criteria enough to discuss it with clients, but don't do all the paperwork and tracking.

We have a separate department that handles the project managment of the LEED projects we have.

If you work for a company where there are few LEED AP or GA personnel - you will likely want to take the AP test if you want to be tasked with doing all the PM tasks.

My personal opinion is the LEED criteria will eventually be incorporated into regular design education and the whole LEED / USGBC will go away.

 

[beej67]

There is a lot of money in LEED commissioning right now, if you know what you're doing.



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