The LEED Certification is used to distinguish various building projects that have been able to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability by being able to meet the highest standards for performance. This information will help guide you through the whole process of applying for a LEED certification.

Leed Professional Accreditation: Why Certify?

You should be recognized as someone who has strong leadership skills in the green building sector
Your achievements in the green building sector will be validated through third party reviews.
You will be able to qualify for a wide array of state as well as local government incentives that are continuously growing.

You will be able to contribute greatly on the ever growing knowledge base of the green building sector.
You will be given a LEED Certification plaque as well as a certificate to show that you have passed the exam.

Leed Certification Eligibility

Buildings eligible for LEED certification are commercial buildings that have been defined by standard building codes as eligible for certification under the LEED version 2.1. These commercial buildings include offices, retails as well as service establishments, institutional buildings (ex. libraries, schools, museums, churches etc), hotels and residential buildings that have four or more stories fit for occupancy. However, buildings eligible for LEED certification are not limited to the examples mentioned above.

The USGBC encourages the project team of these building projects to tally the potential point total of these buildings in order to be considered as a desirable candidate for a LEED certification – there is a set LEED Rating System checklist that the project team has to adhere to. The projects that are able to meet all the prerequisites to be considered eligible for a LEED certification must be able to achieve a minimum total of 26 points.

Leed Certification: Building Registration

For the first step towards earning a LEED certification is to go through project registration. In order to achieve the maximum potential to be able to acquire a LEED certification, one must be able to register the building while still at the early stages of the project design. The registration is considered to be a very important step in being able to establish a contact with the USGBC as well as help provide access to various essential information on software as well as communications tools.

Once the project has already been registered, the project contacts are able to receive an orientation letter as well as easy access to various resources that help explain as well as facilitate the entire LEED certification application process. You will be able to get more useful information on this by visiting the LEED certification registration page.

LEED Certification Documentation

Once the project is already registered, the project team now have to begin preparing for the documentation as well as for the calculations in order to be able to satisfy the prerequisite requirements as well as the credit submittal requirements that are needed for LEED certification.

You may find it very helpful that when you have a LEED Accredited Professional as your project contact and the team member whose main responsibility is to coordinate for the LEED process. The project team must be able to gather relevant documentation all throughout the design and construction phases of the project in order to help streamline the whole application process. Using the LEED software tools – either the version 2.1 or the version 2.2 are considered as highly appropriate.

Although a mix of the two software versions are also accepted, the version 2.1 software is highly recommended when you are aiming for simplicity in your documentation. The documentation should be compiled neatly in either a three ring binder or in a compact disc (which should use the LEED version 2.1 letter template Excel document for the version 2.1 submissions).

Just remember that all electronic submissions must be printable on either letter or legal sized paper. The project team must be able to submit two copies of all the project application materials as well as the corresponding fee (a check that is payable to the U.S. Green Building Council) to the LEED Certification Manager.