CS-2009 IDc2: LEED Accredited Professional

  • NC_Schools_CS_CI_IDc2_Type1_LEEDAP-Final Diagram

  • LEED AP as integral team member

    You can easily earn this point, simply by including a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) as an integral member of the project team. Since the LEED certification process relies on detailed understanding of LEED, having a LEED AP on board benefits the project and can save significant time and effort, while earning your project a point with this credit.

    The LEED AP needs to be involved as a “principal participant” from the start of the project, according to the credit language.

    LEED AP specialties

    The LEED AP credential program was overhauled in spring 2009. Anyone who received LEED AP recognition before then is equally eligible to contribute to this credit.

    LEED AP logoOne of the features of the new LEED AP system is “LEED AP+” specialties corresponding to the different LEED rating systems. For a "Design and Construction" project, a LEED AP BD+C (for “building design and construction”) should have specific design and construction knowledge and project experience, and is probably worth seeking out.

    A LEED Green Associate is a lower-tier credential compared to a LEED AP and will not earn the credit.

    Earning the LEED AP credential

    LEED credentials tableBecoming a LEED AP will lead to some costs related to exam
    preparation, the exam registration fee of several hundred dollars, and
    any training manuals or classes. However, unlike other credits that may
    require capital investments, these expenses may be considered normal
    professional development, and will benefit this project and future
    projects as the individual applies their LEED and green building
    knowledge.

    As part of the updated requirements, to be eligible to take the exam, you must have
    experience working on at least one LEED project within the last three
    years, as well as having a letter of recommendation.

Legend

  • Best Practices
  • Gotcha
  • Action Steps
  • Cost Tip

Schematic Design

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  • Identify if any integral member of the project team has obtained LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) status.  

  • A LEED AP should be significantly involved throughout the project. There are no specific requirements or actions that the LEED AP must be responsible for, but there are recommendations below for Design Development and beyond.

  • A LEED project team is generally made up of owners, engineers, architects, interior designers, landscape designers, civil engineers, commissioning agents, contractors and other professionals.  Some projects will also include energy auditors, LEED consultants, operations personnel, and representatives from service contractors. Any of these individuals may be a LEED AP, or may find it worthwhile to become one.

  • Any type of LEED AP—one with or without specialization—can qualify the project for this credit.

  • A team member holding the LEED Green Associate credential would contribute to the project with background knowledge in green building, but this lower-tier credential does not qualify the project for this credit.

  • The LEED AP credential program was overhauled in spring 2009. Although the credential is now being administered very differently, anyone who already received the LEED AP designation before these updated requirements is still equally eligible to contribute to this credit. 

  • A LEED Accredited Professional who has worked on the specific rating system your project is filing under will be more effective than one who has worked on other rating systems or on no LEED projects at all.

  • If project team does not include a LEED AP, consider hiring a LEED AP to assist with the project, or asking one or more team members to become LEED APs. The LEED AP credential should be earned prior to the start of the project. Doing so ensures that person’s availability in assisting with planning before the start of the design. 

  • It is more helpful to have a LEED AP that is not directly responsible for design as the LEED AP will ideally be assisting all design and construction trades to ensure the LEED process is on track.  It may be difficult for a LEED AP to effectively manage the LEED process if, for example, they are also responsible for the architectural design. 

  • Becoming a LEED AP will lead to some costs related to exam preparation, the exam registration fee of several hundred dollars, and any training manuals or classes. However, unlike other credits that may require capital investments, these expenses may be considered normal professional development, and will benefit the project building in many ways as the individual applies that green building knowledge.

  • There is no formal training required to pass the exam and become a LEED AP. The cost of exam preparation can be reduced through independent studying and use of free information on green building. 

Design Development

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  • The LEED AP needs to be an integral member of the project team, but there are no specific requirements that will hold true for all projects. Below are recommended action steps.

  • The LEED AP helps the design team set appropriate LEED credit goals and works with all aspects of the design team helping to ensure that the goals are met.  

  • Orient team members to their exact responsibilities and what they will need to deliver as part of the LEED submittal. 

  • Decide whether the project will do a phased submittal—with a Design submittal of eligible credits, prior to a Construction submittal. A phased submittal gives you an official opinion on whether you are on track to receive a specific credit, or not.  This gives you a chance to adjust your approach on any rejected credits, and make changes during construction to earn additional credits to meet a certification target.

Construction Documents

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  • Review all Design credit submittals as documentation comes in from all the team members. If you are doing a phased submittal, submit all Design credits at the end of Construction Documents.

Construction

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  • LEED AP certificateProvide a scanned copy of the LEED AP certificate and confirm the LEED AP status as an integral project team member.

  • Coordinate the collection and submission of all LEED documentation, working with all team members involved in the construction phase of the project. Review all documentation as it comes in.

  • If you are doing a phased submittal, submit all construction documents at the end of construction.  If you are not doing a phased submittal, submit all design and construction documents at the end of construction. 

  • USGBC

    Excerpted from LEED 2009 for Core and Shell Development

    COPYRIGHT © 2009 BY THE U.S. GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

    ID Credit 2: LEED Accredited Professional

    1 Point

    Intent

    To support and encourage the design integration required by LEED to streamline the application and certification process.

    Requirements

    At least 1 principal participant of the project team shall be a LEED Accredited Professional (AP).

    Potential Technologies & Strategies

    Educate the project team members about green building design and construction, the LEED requirements and application process early in the life of the project. Consider assigning integrated designAn integrated design process (also called "integrative" design by some proponents) relies on a multidisciplinary and collaborative team approach in which members make decisions together based on a shared vision and holistic understanding of the project. Rather than a conventional linear design process in which a design is passed from one professional to another, an integrated process has all key team members talking together through out the design and construction process as they share ideas and use feedback across disciplines to iteratively move toward a high-performing design. and construction process facilitation to the LEED AP.

Organizations

Green Building Certification Institute

GBCI is the organization running the LEED credentialing programs, and provides information on obtaining LEED AP+ designation, including test registration.

Construction Submittal

HardhatDocumentation for this credit is part of the Construction Phase submittal.

11 Comments

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Jens Glöggler Dipl.Ing ATP sustain
Jul 18 2012
LEEDuser Member
60 Thumbs Up

IDc2

Is it possible to achieve one more point in the IDc2, if the LEED Accredited Professional is also a BREEAMBuilding Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, the first widely used green building rating system, developed in the U.K. in the early 1990s, currently used primarily in the U.K. and in Hong Kong. AP?
Thank you!

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Tristan Roberts LEED AP BD+C, Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Jul 30 2012 LEEDuser Moderator

Jens, there is only one point allotted to this credit, and Exemplary PerformanceIn LEED, certain credits have established thresholds beyond basic credit achievement. Meeting these thresholds can earn additional points through Innovation in Design (ID) or Innovation in Operations (IO) points. As a general rule of thumb, ID credits for exemplary performance are awarded for doubling the credit requirements and/or achieving the next incremental percentage threshold. However, this rule varies on a case by case basis, so check the credit requirements. is not available. So simply on that basis, the answer would be "no."

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Jens Glöggler Dipl.Ing, ATP sustain Aug 02 2012 LEEDuser Member 60 Thumbs Up

Hello Tristan,
how about IDc1.5? Is it possible to achieve compliance in Innovation as BREEAMBuilding Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, the first widely used green building rating system, developed in the U.K. in the early 1990s, currently used primarily in the U.K. and in Hong Kong. AP?

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Tristan Roberts LEED AP BD+C, Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Aug 02 2012 LEEDuser Moderator

No, an innovation credit has to cover a topic not already addressed in the LEED rating system. Since credentialing is addressed in IDc2, and is not eligible for EP, it would not be a viable path for any part of IDc1.

I would suggest taking things further and going for a Pilot Credit in Integrative Design.

Post a Reply
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Xavi B
Jul 29 2010
LEEDuser Member
1869 Thumbs Up

LEED Online v2.0

I'm sorry if this is to obvious question but I'm new at this.
On LEED online v2.0 what does - construction classification, occupancy classification and Project Building Code mean? How do I fill in the blanks.

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David Posada Sustainability Manager, GBD Architects Aug 08 2010 LEEDuser Expert 11332 Thumbs Up

In its simplest sense, building codes use "construction classification" to define how the building is made, and "occupancy classification" to define how it is used. These two factors determine many of the fire and life safety requirements such as the materials allowed, number and size of exit passages, occupant densities, etc. The particular building code that applies to your project will vary by country or region, but many are based on the International Building Code (IBC).

For example, the IBC uses classifications such as "type IA and IB" for non combustible construction, and "B" and "E" for Business and Education occupancies.

To fill this form out, you can hopefully ask the architect, engineer, or construction manager to provide this information. If that's not possible, look at the construction drawings - there's often a Code Summary near the beginning.

For more detail than you'll ever need, check out articles 14 and 15 at
http://www.specsandcodes.com/Articles.htm

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Xavi B Aug 08 2010 LEEDuser Member 1869 Thumbs Up

Thanks a lot.

Post a Reply
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Xavi B
Jul 14 2010
LEEDuser Member
1869 Thumbs Up

Fee for pre-certyfing a building

Hi,
If someone asks you to do all the documentation, including narratives, gathering of information, calcs, etc. to pre-certify a building, what's a normal fee you can charge for the job??

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Tristan Roberts LEED AP BD+C, Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Jul 19 2010 LEEDuser Moderator

That really depends.... how big and complex is the building, what are the prevailing rates in your area, etc.

I suspect that it will be tough to get an answer to this question in an open forum like this—people are discreet about sharing this info.

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David Posada Sustainability Manager, GBD Architects Jul 19 2010 LEEDuser Expert 11332 Thumbs Up

I agree, there are many variables that affect fee and many professional and legal reasons for people to decline from discussing this openly.

Still, just as summary information on the hard costs for specific LEED credits is very useful, general summaries of soft costs would also be helpful for owners, agencies, and design teams to use for budgeting, planning, and decision making. There are industry-wide rules of thumb for estimating construction costs, design fees, etc, in a given country or region based on years of historical data. With LEED being so young, this is difficult to assemble, but it appears the USGBC has been collecting data on soft costs incurred for documentation for a little while at least. Anyone know of any other attempts to aggregate soft cost data?

There's a related discussion under the topic of "man-hour" at http://www.leeduser.com/topic/man-hour that might offer a starting point for fee analysis.

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Xavi B Jul 19 2010 LEEDuser Member 1869 Thumbs Up

Thanks a lot both of you

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