LEED Certification - Be a Green Associate Or Accredited Professional to develop Your Career

Is not Half a century ago that we'd be utilising solar power panels to heat our houses and wildflowers to insulate our roofs? Surprisingly, the green movement is here now, and it is getting its roots deep to the building industry. If you are in construction on any level, be it drawing up blueprints or choosing wallpaper, which means you are going to need understanding of sustainable practices to assist your company grow and flourish in the near future. And also the easiest way to achieve that is through LEED certification.

LEED, which means Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is definitely an internationally-recognized certification for green buildings. LEED buildings happen to be rated and approved in a number of areas, including sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environment quality.

With your building or construction project be LEED certified is a good method of getting about the green bandwagon, LEED offers certification to architects, property professionals, construction managers, lenders, and other people within 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. Study materials, reference guides, online courses, as well as other exam prep materials is found around the U.S. Green Building Council's website.