Anyone taken the LEED exam?

[chuckroast]

I've been off the forum a lot lately getting ready to take the stupid thing (gotta improve my attitude). It's for folks in the in design and construction business and refers to green building design accreditation.

Anyway, mine is tomorrow, for those of you that have taken it, any last words of wisdom?

I've been doing practice exams like a madman.

[cadence90]

No real words of wisdom, but if you've been studying it really isn't that difficult. Just stay clear and calm.

Good luck!

[jsfoster]

Good luck, mine is in 2 weeks and.... we all need some luck. My understanding is that you should read the questions and answers twice.

Jon

[rwsaunders]

Funny you mention that, as my exam is on Monday and I've been cramming and taking the practice exams. Too bad the exam is not based on real world examples of the process, as nobody memorizes that quantity of material. I want to get in under v2.2 as the process associated with v3.0 is more complicated.

[Peter B]

Mine is scheduled for late June to fall under V2.2. Post some feedback please folks once you've taken it. I'd be curious what you found most useful to study.

Thanks!
Peter

[nahtnoj]

I plan to take it by the end of the year. Still deciding whether to go for AP or GA (?) under the new system. Any feedback you guys have would be great.

[rwsaunders]

This site is a bit helpful...

http://www.intheleed.com

[dd74]

Passing the LEED exam will probably help you get a job working for the City of L.A. Public Works (not a bad gig).

The City has a mandate that states all new construction has to be at least LEED gold certified. The city, though, almost always goes for platinum.

[c77barlage]

I took the exam this past January. As long as you read the material and keep it fresh in your mind it's not too bad. If you are stumped during the exam move on and finish what you can, revisiting skipped questions after you complete your initail pass through. Pay attention to the questions being asked as some questions may reveal answers to others. Do the "brain dump" first thing when you sit down to begin, writing down as many things as you can think of to assist you when answering questions.

Good Luck

[keevon]

Does anyone know when they're switching from the 2.2 to 3.0 exam? I need to get my butt in gear and take the darn thing...

[csm]

my bro-in-law took it. he is very vocal about it. says it's the only way to get jobs.

[chuckroast]

OK, I'm back. I passed, 187. I haven't reflected too much but here's some initial thoughts.

First off, Keevon. They are scheduling v2.2 test dates out to the end of June but if you haven't registered by now, it doesn't matter, you'll be in v3.

The website intheleed.com was helpful in some of the mechanics of the test session and in the advice to memorize a 10 minute sheet to braindump while the tutorial runs. You get scratch paper and a couple of pencils and the goal is to write down as much stuff as you can before starting the exam itself.

I did the WIMSEE bit and the Ashrae standards and the % for MR, EQ and SS. I couldn't commit anymore to my old brain. But, frantically scratching all that down at the beginning was calming, in the sense that I had a "resource" I could (and did) use to reason out some of the answers.

I also strategically decided to concede a couple of things that were just too dense for me. One was the light pollution credit and all its various zones and measurements. Ironically there were two questions on my exam but I think I reasoned them out ok just understanding the principals.

Also, everything they say about the questions being nuanced are absolutely correct. It is maddening to go through multiple times to tease out the subtle implications but you need to do so. Fortunately, the 2 hours seemed plenty long enough to that. I finished my "first draft" in an hour, although I had tagged about a quarter of the questions to review. Ultimately, I went through the entire list a second time and did change some answers upon further review.

Once you have read through the material, start doing practice tests. The more dense the better. If you have access to the Colorado Study Guide, that was a good simulation of the actual. Others I did were actually more complex than the actual test.

Don't memorize the individual credits by name and number. Do spend time on what earns Exemplary credit and what bridges over to Innovation in Design credit. My test was disproportionately heavy in those areas.

Synergies are important too. Several questions outlined a scenario and asked what the team should look at to connect across different credits.

Oh, and lots of process stuff, how to submit, who submits, when to submit, how much it costs, what are the submittals, etc.

Finally, please permit a little bit of 52 year old cynicism. More than any professional exam I have taken this one seems to reward "playing the game". I hope that v3.0 is more in line with how design professionals actually practice. This is a memorize and spit back test.

[rwsaunders]

Does anyone know when they're switching from the 2.2 to 3.0 exam? I need to get my butt in gear and take the darn thing...

Too late to sign up for v2.2.

[Velociotis]

I passed a couple years ago. By the skin of my teeth.

But as the joke goes, what do they call the person who finishes last in his class in med school - DOCTOR! I very much believe in the practice but the test was stupid. I look forward to v3.0 (2009) to be more useful as well.

Good luck to all taking the exam this year. We have three or four in our office coming up on the block...

[fogrider]

I took the test a month ago. its like they wanted to set the bar high and hard to pass, but the way it turned out, the questions try to trick or mislead you. as others have said, it does not reflect how we practice and the test just feels mean. I think 7 others in my office recently took the test and we all passed!

[rwsaunders]

Whew.....I passed this afternoon and I'm glad to get it over with. Now it's bike riding and beer drinking time again.

Thanks Ross

[chuckroast]

Hey congrats!

I had a victory lunch with my study group today. There were six of us, we all passed and I was the last one to take the exam (no pressure there).

[rwsaunders]

On a related note, two of my staff members are looking for a LEED v2.2 class and/or study group in the Seattle area, as they're scheduled to take the exam at the end of June. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[rwsaunders]

Somewhat related question....has anyone taken the ICC (International Code Council) exam? In this case, it's officially identified as National Standard General Building Contractor (A) (614-N).

I wish that these jurisdictions would get their act together like NCARB. This exam sounds like an attempt at doing so.

[tmessenger]

I'm doing the commissioning on a LEED building now, very specific and a real fight with the HVAC contractor :argue:

tm