Webcast Video: – LEED AP+: Should You Opt In, and What To Do Once You Have

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If you became a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) in 2009 or earlier, an important date is looming. As of August 2011 (your exact date may vary), the window begins to close on your chance to opt in to the LEED AP + specialty credential program, unless you want to study for, pay for, and pass the new, more difficult exam.

The free opt-in window is closing...

LEEDuser invites members to join Mara Baum, AIA, LEED AP BD+C of HOK in this webcast that helps you plan your path through the LEED Credential Maintenance Program (CMP), and answers your questions about it. Mara is the expert on the LEED CMP that other sustainability leaders turn to—and as an outsider to GBCI she gives frank advice on what professionals should do. 

Should you opt in?

Should you opt in? Or are the continuing education requirements too much of a hassle?  Mara presents the pros and cons of this decision.
 
You’ve opted in – but now what?  How do you make your way through credential maintenance program? This webcast will review your requirements and opportunities, and suggest some free and cheap ways to get your hours.  Mara also walks you through the reporting process, GBCI’s new 2011 CMP Guide as well as new and upcoming tools to assist the process.

Your questions answered:

  • What are the prescriptive requirements for "legacy" LEED APs?
  • If you don't opt in, will your credential still be valid for earning the LEED AP credit?
  • How can you earn continuing education hours, including LEED project work or volunteering?
  • How does this program relate to AIA and other continuing education requirements?
  • What is the reporting and auditing process like?

You should view this webcast if:

  • You are a LEED AP with specialty or LEED Green Associate and want the latest updates on the Credential Maintenance Program.
  • You're a "legacy" LEED AP credentialed before July 2009 and are considering opting in to the Green Building Certification Institute's (GBCI) new system.
  • You're worried about having your CE hours audited.

About the presenters

Mara Baum

Mara Baum AIA, LEED AP BD+C, EDAC
Mara Baum is a senior associate and Healthcare Sustainable Design Leader at HOK, where she oversees sustainability implementation, research and education across their healthcare market sector, including several large LEED projects.  She also sits on HOK’s firmwide sustainable design curriculum task force and teaches online courses at Boston Architectural College’s Sustainable Design Institute. She has been a LEED AP since 2001 and has taught LEED-related curricula to hundreds of students and professionals.
 
Tristan RobertsTristan Roberts, LEED AP
The webcast will be moderated by Tristan Roberts, editorial director for BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of LEEDuser, Environmental Building News, GreenSpec, and other resources providing practical advice for green building professionals. Tristan is the moderator of the LEEDuser forum and frequently fields questions on difficult LEED project situations. Tristan is thinking about whether to opt in and looks forward to this webcast!

FAQ's

The webcast recording includes a Q&A section at the end. You can also post your questions below anytime for the Q&A session!

 

Download the PDF slideshow for this webcast here: LEED AP+: Should You Opt In?

AttachmentSize
CMP_webinar3_v1-1.pdf1.71 MB

14 Comments

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Christopher McArdle Mechanical/Energy Engineer Genesis Engineers, Inc.
May 10 2013
LEEDuser Member
16 Thumbs Up

How to earn "Project Site Factors" credits

I'm having trouble finding a webinar to satisfy the "Project Site Factors" credits. Anyone know of any?

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Bill Swanson PE, LEED AP, Integrated Architecture May 10 2013 LEEDuser Expert 10086 Thumbs Up

The CMP guide doesn't even mention Prescriptive Credential Maintenance any more. Just in Appendix B it talks about an alternative method. Nothing about the original method.

I see the old categories still mentioned when I look at "My Credentials" on the GBCI website. But when I look at the Course Catalog on the USGBC website the categories are different. I used to be able to do a filtered search and find only "Project Site Factors" courses. Now I'm limited to filtering it by "Sustainable Sites". There is no information available any more in the course description saying if it is considered part of "Project Site Factors".

I feel your confusion. My guess is anything in the "Sustainable Sites" Leed Category will qualify for your "Project Site Factors" course needs.

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Cindy Estrada LEED AP BD&C SDS Architects, Inc.
Mar 28 2013
LEEDuser Member
286 Thumbs Up

New Credential Maintenance Requirement?

According to the new CMP (valid to October 2013), in appendix B there is reference to the "Principles of LEED webinar series". Does anyone know if this a requirement now or just a free series to boost CE hours if needed?

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Tristan Roberts LEED AP BD+C, Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Apr 02 2013 LEEDuser Moderator

Cindy, here's an article I wrote that should fill you in on this: GBCI Streamlines LEED Credentialing, Offers New Window for Legacy LEED APs.

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Lida Lewis Director of Sustainability OTJ Architects
Mar 03 2013
LEEDuser Member
137 Thumbs Up

Prescriptive Maintenance Categories - Are they still relevant?

I am a legacy LEED AP, and I have completed the complete Principles 250 series. It was my understanding that when I completed that series of courses, the categories for maintenance in my CMP record would be removed, and I would simply need to get 30 total credits, 6 of which should be LEED-Specific (and the Principles 250 series would also cover that requirement for 6 LEED-Specific hours).

Those Principles courses have now been uploaded and recorded (not by me, by the automatic reporting system), but when I log into my record now, those categories are still visible, and seem to indicate that I still need to earn a few remaining points in specific categories (Water Management and Improvement to the Indoor Environment), despite the fact that I have exceeded both the total required CMP hours, and the total CMP LEED-Specific hours.

If these categories are still relevant, I'm not sure what the categories, exactly, cover, as explanations/definitions for them were often hard to come by even in the past, and now the CMP guide does not refer to them. If they are no longer relevant, it would sure be nice if GBCI would remove these point/hour requirements, so that I (and others) can be certain that we no longer need to fulfill the point totals by category.

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Lindsay Austrom Mechanical Engineer, Stantec Apr 02 2013 LEEDuser Member 152 Thumbs Up

Hi Lida,
Did you get it resolved yet? I too thought that the reporting form was supposed to convert to the new categories once all 6 of the "Principles of LEED" series were reported. Of course now I can't find where I read that...

We are having the same issue with staff in our office who have completed the series. We sent a message to GBCI requesting clarification, so I'll post once we get a response.

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Tristan Roberts LEED AP BD+C, Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Apr 02 2013 LEEDuser Moderator

I completed the webinars and did not see these categories go away. I recently submitted to update my credential, however, and was instantly approved.

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Michelle Diller Sustainable Design Solutions Project Manager HDR Architecture
Mar 01 2013
LEEDuser Member

LEED AP Credentialing Maintenance Procedures

I renewed my accreditation yesterday (2/28), as my 2 year period is up at the beginning of April. I received an email this morning that my renewal had been accepted and that my accreditation extended to 4/10/2015. Great news! The problem? I was also told that I can't earn any CEs for the new reporting period until 4/10/2013. So now I have a six week 'dead' period where any CEs I earn are worthless. Given the fact I am attending two summits in the next week which both offer GBCI CE's, I am less than happy with GBCI's policy. Other licenses/accreditations allow you to roll your CEs forward if you have met the requirements, or at least to count anything after you renew your cycle, not force you to wait until your old opt in date. I understand not wanting to roll far out into the future, but something like a 3 month grace period until your new 'reporting period' if you have already renewed seems reasonable. I sent GBCI an inquiry about this but am curious as to if anyone else has approached the subject with GBCI and received feedback. Thanks for any insight others have on this!

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Cassandra Kail MWA Architects
Jan 10 2013
Guest
26 Thumbs Up

USGBC Membership and Cont. Ed

I have emailed the USGBC with this question:

Requesting clarification regarding Silver membership ($1,500/year). For the allotted 30 hours of USGBC webinar access. Would a company with multiple firm locations be able to present the 30 hours of webinars to all their LEED with specialty accredited individuals within the company for them to fulfill the continuing education requirements? Or are the allotted 30 hours assigned to only one individual within the establishment for only one time viewing and continuing education fulfillment?

They responded back with this answer (this is what I got after asking the question twice):

Thank you for your inquiry. Your company may distribute links only to its member authorized users for access to USGBC Webinars. Your company may display a USGBC Webinar only to a group of its Member authorized users, however, such Member authorized users must individually access webinar sessions online to obtain certificate of completion, as set out below. Your company may not display or allow access to the general public or any person not a Member authorized user, nor may it charge any fee to its Member authorized users or anyone else for access to or display of the USGBC Webinars. In order for an individual subscriber to obtain a certificate of completion for USGBC Webinars accessed on demand, the individual must access a USGBC Webinar online, and take and pass an online quiz provided at the end of the USGBC Webinar with a score of at least 80%. The individual subscriber may take the quiz multiple times to obtain a passing score. The certificate of completion will be provided by USGBC directly to the individual subscriber.

What I'm trying to figure out is:
If with the silver membership we receive 30 hours of webinars and we all have to log on individually to take the quiz, does that mean if 10 of us logged on to the same webinar and quiz would 10 of our 30 hours already be gone?

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Bill Swanson PE, LEED AP Integrated Architecture
Sep 12 2012
LEEDuser Expert
10086 Thumbs Up

Category limits removed

Has anyone else noticed the continued rewriting of the CMP rules? There is no longer any limit in each category. There used to be a max of 5 hours of self study, 4 hours of committee/volunteer work, or 10 hours of project participation. It's all gone now. The only limit left is 50% of the hours in the (on your honor) categories.

So I can now get all 30 hours in project participation or 15 LEED-specific hours in self study???

Could they have at least sent an email around notifying us of this change?

http://www.gbci.org/Files/cmp_guide.pdf

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Lida Lewis Director of Sustainability, OTJ Architects Nov 18 2012 LEEDuser Member 137 Thumbs Up

I've noticed this as well, and would also like to have, at a minimum, notification of such changes.

The option for self study may have been removed, though the now abbreviated version of the CMP guide does not offer much detail in definition of terms or categories (particularly their "education" category, which is the only category I can imagine might still allow such activity), so this is difficult to clarify definitively. They now list only 4 categories: Education (unlimited), Authorship (unlimited, and also automatically subject to an audit), LEED project participation (unlimited), and Volunteering (no more than 50% of your CMP hours).

Unfortunately, it seems that the GBCI expects us to just periodically check for changes, as this statement appears just inside the new guide: "CMP Guides are updated periodically. This CMP Guide is valid for the year shown on the cover and in the footer. LEED Professionals are responsible for staying up to date and for meeting the current standards."

This current guide states on the cover that it is valid for "November & December 2012". Presumably, this is indicative that they will change the requirements yet again in January.

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Lida Lewis Director of Sustainability, OTJ Architects Nov 18 2012 LEEDuser Member 137 Thumbs Up

Also see this post by Tristan--the latest change was just a few days ago, and there seems to be a new 6 hour webinar series out there that will take care of the prescriptive requirements for LEED-APs. (though presumably not waive the full 30 hour requirement) http://www.leeduser.com/blogs/gbci-streamlines-leed-credentialing-offers...

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Anne Roderer
May 02 2011
LEEDuser Member
48 Thumbs Up

AIA credit

I don;t see the link on the screen for AIA CE

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Tristan Roberts LEED AP BD+C, Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. May 02 2011 LEEDuser Moderator

Hi Anne, AIA credit was only available for the live webinar. We cannot offer it for the recorded version—sorry.

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Jun 20 2013
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