LEED Green Associate top 10 Final tips before the final exam.

10.00 Self-Motivation

If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way. If it’s not, you’ll find excuses.

Self-Motivation plays a critical role in your productivity, quality and speed of studying.

Getting yourself motivated is the start point that can trigger your sustainability journey. Make sure you are motivated or you will end your journey before it even starts. Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

9.00 Candidate Handbook

Each certification or accreditation should have some guidance so people can know how to get accredited or certified. In LEED Green Associate, we have a candidate handbook which is a free document that can be found on USGBC website. This guide is around 17 pages that will explain the accreditation process, eligibility requirements, references for the exam, and what to consider in your test center. I believe it is a must read before getting into LEED study.

Link for the free handbook: https://www.usgbc.org/resources/leed-v4-green-associate-candidate-handbook

8.00 LEED Process

Most of the people who start studying LEED focus on sustainability and green building strategies giving more attention to the 6 main LEED credit categories. However, they don’t give LEED process the appropriate attention required. Did you know that there are 16 questions out of 100 that comes only from LEED process?

Here is a breakdown of Knowledge Domains along with the number of questions that comes from each category:

LEED Process (16 Questions)

Integrative Strategies (8 Questions)

Location and Transportation (7 Questions)

Sustainable Sites (7 Questions)

Water Efficiency (9 Questions)

Energy and Atmosphere (10 Questions)

Materials and Resources (9 Questions)

Indoor Environmental Quality (8 Questions)

Project Surroundings and Public Outreach (11 Questions)

15 unscored questions

As you can see here, LEED Process questions are more than any other knowledge domain.

My advice here is to focus on LEED Process with all its components including organization fundamentals, structure of LEED rating system, LEED Certification process, LEED Development process, and impact categories.

7.00 Codes and Standards

LEED is not an all-inclusive hub of knowledge. LEED also doesn’t include everything about green building or sustainability. However, LEED is a rating system that measures the building performance according to a set of requirements and performance metrics. These metrics and thresholds are part of local and international building codes and standards that can be mandatory or optional in some countries. LEED credits refer to these standards and building codes in many credits and prerequisites and it’s important to know these standards before the actual exam. Expect at least 3 to 4 questions that asks about which standards to follow. Examples include ISO, ASHRAE, ASTM, and CDPH.

6.00 Flash cards and Definitions

A great way to memorize terminologies and definitions is to use flash cards. I highly recommend it during revision stage and not during your first time of study as you won’t be familiar with the topic of the definition. However you will be able to recognize it during revision stage and better understand it. Flash cards can be found online on many websites and you can make your own list. Check out glossary on USGBC website and also Quizlet website.

5.00 Taking LEED Green Associate Course

Many people who wants to start their sustainability studies don’t know from where to start. Some of them only heard the word LEED once or twice. The most difficult part in any new topic is to find a way to start. You don’t know any information about the exam, why to take it, by whom its administrated, and how to actually study it. Taking a LEED Green Associate course will help you understand the process and you will know more information about it that will help you along the way.

The following is a complete LEED Green Associate V4 Course that includes Reading materials, Videos, study plan, and you will know what exactly is important to study.

LEED Green Associate V4 | Complete exam preparation course (Arabic) DISCOUNTED: https://skl.sh/2N2i3Us

LEED Green Associate V4 | Complete exam preparation course (English) DISCOUNTED: https://skl.sh/2COmOMz

4.00 Study Materials

Selecting your study materials will save you a lot of time!

Don’t waste your time between many of the famous books, instead you have to focus on a single comprehensive study guide to avoid distractions and to focus on your target as one study guide will be enough. There are many sources available in the market that you can select any of them, search for exam preparation books and avoid conceptual and general books.

3.00 Study Plan

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!

You can’t start doing something without proper planning. A study plan is crucial to properly dedicate the required time of study on the selected subjects and categories. Your plan should include study location where you prefer to study, how many hours per day you want to dedicate for each subject, and what is the expected progress daily and weekly.

You should be realistic about the amount of effort and dedication you are allocating to your daily studying. I always suggest to track your progress for the first couple of days to know if you are planning correctly or you are missing out on the planned schedule.

After that, you can easily adjust the tracking schedule and predict accurately how long it will take to finish studying.

Another important aspect here is that looking daily at your tracking sheet will make you more motivated and looking towards achieving your goal. Check your tracking sheet in the morning and you will get a daily dose of determination to start your day with.

Note: Study plan in included in the complete exam preparation course.

2.00 Practice Tests

It's all about Practice, Practice, and more practice!

Take as many practice tests as you can. You will find new questions, new concepts, and challenging ideas.

It will inform you which topics that you have mastered and which topics that needs more practicing.

Taking a test doesn’t just measure how much you know, it also helps reinforce the learning and make it more likely that you can retrieve the same information later. It’s a surprising fact that taking a test can actually be more beneficial to learning than spending the same amount of time studying.

If you have time, keep practicing and try different practice tests from different providers to look for new concepts.

Here are two of the discounted LEED Simulation exams:

LEED Green Associate V4 | Practice Tests: https://www.udemy.com/leed-green-associate-practice-exams/?couponCode=DISCOUNT_70PERCENT

LEED Green Associate V4 | Questions by credit categories: https://www.udemy.com/leed-green-associate-practice-questions/?couponCode=DISCOUNT_70PERCENT

1.00 Exam Management Skills

During the exam, you can find your self losing time easily! Keep an eye on the clock all the time, and don't allow one question to take more than 1 minute in the beginning of the exam. Don't rush yourself too! if you don't know the answer, mark the question and get back to it later. Try to exclude the non-relevant answers from any question by clicking "Right click" on any answer. try to highlight the critical words in the question and the relevant answers.

Sleep well before the exam, and don't get yourself nervous to be able to focus and concentrate. That will ensure your success and you will get the designation of LEED Green Associate!

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Other Sustainability offerings:

If you are interested about LEED and would like to know more about it, you can check the following free lecture on YouTube:

Arabic Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zFTUttNZxY&list=PLq-dJk7mlRZEJRYtuLR9wzPB_eoCgEenW&index=3&t=822s

English Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWZtzOJcwJU&list=PLq-dJk7mlRZEJRYtuLR9wzPB_eoCgEenW&index=2&t=1s

If you want to know more about Green building and sustainability rating systems.

enroll from here: https://skl.sh/2XnjmkO

Karim Elnabawy

Sustainability Consultant |USGBC Faculty

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