Video: LEED AP Credential Maintenance

Additional Q&A

Many questions on the LEED AP program are answered in the recorded presentation that you can view on the Bird's Eye View tab. Below are some questions from the webinar that weren't answered during the presentation, but that Mara and Tristan have since answered. Got other questions or thoughts? You can also use the discussion forum below to engage.

Earning credits for LEED projects

Q: If you are an architect and helped work on credits for a LEED project, say a year ago, then you enroll in CMP, can you count your participation for the first reporting cycle, assuming the project has not been awarded certification?

A: You must have worked on or be working on the project during the reporting cycle.

Q: Right now I am working on LEED registered project, how can I report those hours into CMP record?

A: Through the self-reporting mechanism on the GBCI website. Once you have opted into the new system, go to the “My Credentials” page, then select “Review/Report CMP Activity.” For LEED credit work, document the hours under the category and subcategory closest to the credit topic. The language may not align perfectly, but do the best you can. It’s not clear what category to use to document project administrator work.  “Stakeholder Involvement In Innovation” and subcategory “Ways to Earn Credit” seems like the closest fit right now.

Q: When is credit work (or LEED project participation in general) counted?  When the credit is submitted, earned? the project is certified? During design?

A: There is no specific date—whenever you do the work, basically. The project has to be registered with the USGBC. You would not have to wait till it's certified.

Details on how to fulfill CMP requirements

Q: Are credits earned before opting in, retroactive?

A: No. All CE hours must be earned during the reporting period, which begins the day you opt in.  There is one exception: if you opted in before December 31, 2009, then you can count any volunteer work or committee hours (up to the 4 total allowed) during 2009.

Q: Would the Greenbuild Education Sessions be considered live presentations or ERB approved classes?

A: Greenbuild sessions will count as ERB approved classes, not live presentations. GBCI is currently working with USGBC's Greenbuild committees to make sure that the review of the educational sessions will align with GBCI's CMP.  It their intent for all Greenbuild sessions to be the equivalent to ERB-approved, even though they aren't going through the exact same procedure as other classes.  This effort is still in the works, so stay tuned for more information from GBCI and USGBC later this year.

Q: Do archived presentations that you watch at a later date count as professional development or self-study?

A: Self-study.

Q: In Portland, there have been many questions w/in the A&D community about where we can get the CE Unit credits.  Where should we look for the credits?

A: The USGBC Education Provider Network course catalog website, as shown in the presentation, is located at https://www.usgbc.org/CourseCatalog/CourseCatalog.aspx.

Q: What about last year's Greenbuild...assuming you have opted in in 2009?

A: All regular education sessions that had to go through a USGBC selection process are considered to be ERB-approved professional development.  Other presentations, such as Al Gore's talk, would be considered live presentations.  Visiting the expo hall does not count.  Presentations about specific products or services do not count.

Q: Are all licenses worth 3 hours? If I pass the structural PE, where would I put those hours?

A: Yes, all licenses are worth 3 hours, as long as it's the first license of its type, and not a reciprocal or otherwise duplicate license. As for where to put those hours, you should select a category and subcategory for which you will now leverage your new license.  You can divide your three hours among different categories/subcategories, but you will have to input the hours three separate times.  For example, a mechanical engineer might put 2 in energy and 1 in IEQ, whereas a landscape architect might put 2 in sustainable sites and 1 in water.

Q: Can some hours be rejected? In which we would want to aim for more than the 30 hours?

A: As long as you follow the requirements, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about hours being rejected. Given how complicated the requirements are, however, it seems like it would be easy to accidentally misunderstand something, and in turn miss the 30-hour mark. Earning hours in multiple ways and having different options in case some of them fall through, either through rejection or because you’re not able to attend a convention as planned, etc., is not a bad idea.

GBCI is considering an option for LEED APs to submit their 30 hours whenever they are complete, not necessarily at the end of the two-year cycle.  This would give us all more peace of mind that we're meeting the requirements, or that we'd have time to do more education if we need to.

Details on opting in, tracks, and other requirements

Q: When does the two-year cycle start?  The date I took the LEED AP v2 test and passed?

A: If you are opting in as a “Legacy LEED AP”, then the two-year period begins on the day that you opt in to the new system.  There is no relationship with the date you took the “old” LEED AP exam. If you are taking the new exam, the cycle starts on the day you pass the exam. If you take the two exams on different dates, then the cycle starts on the day you pass the second exam.

Q: Aren't the CE hours also waived for the first two years?

A: No. Only the first $50 fee is waived for the first two years.

Q: If you choose a track, can you later decide you want to do a different track with the 2-year period?

A: For old LEED APs, your specialty is automatic based on the exam track you originally took. You may have the opportunity to change this by contacting GBCI after opting in, but I don't know what the time limit is in which to do this.  Note that the prescriptive education requirements for the CMP cycle are different for different specialties, so it is to your advantage to petition for this change. If you take a specialty exam within the new system, you cannot change your specialty without taking a new exam.

Q: Can you opt in for 2 specialities if you tested only in one? If I took NC Exam, may I take prescriptive maintenance and get BD+C and O+M?

A: No. If you only took one exam, you will only get one specialty through the prescriptive maintenance plan. You will have to take the second specialty exam to get the second specialty designation. However, if you previously passed the NC and EB tracks under the old exam, you can get both specialties by doing 60 hours (30 per specialty) of prescriptive maintenance. See the GBCI handbook for details.

Q: Once you opt in, do you add the specialty to your title or do you wait for the 2 year/30 hours?

A: You can add it right away.  It will be removed if you ever fail to meet the CMP requirements and/or fail to pay the renewal fee.

Q: How long do you have before you “fade into the sunset”? I'm wondering when they start to erase your name from the LEED AP status.

A: If you are a “Legacy LEED AP” you will never lose your credential. The current two-year opt-in period simply gives you the benefit of joining the new system without retaking the exam.

Q: Not specific to Credential Maintenance, are there now prerequistes to qualify for LEED AP after the Fall 2011 period?  Example: Need a BS or MS degree in an engineering/science/architecture field?

A: The prerequisite is that you need to have worked on a LEED project within the last three years. There are no education prerequisites. You qualify to take the Green Associate exam by 1) being a student, OR 2) working in a related sustainable field, OR 3) having worked on a LEED project in a non-technical role within the last three years.

Q: If I have already opted to do nothing, does the GBCI allow me to go back in and opt in?

Yes, existing “Legacy LEED APs” have until 2011 to opt in. After that, you will have to take the LEED AP exam to opt in to the new system.