LEED AP

Today I passed the LEED AP test.

The test encouraged me to use my car, increasing pollution and land development impact from automobile use. I had to drive 2-1/2 hours each way to the nearest testing center. The parking lot of the testing facility was not within 1/2 mile of a train or subway station. The testing room did not provide daylighting or views. Strangely I didn’t miss a connection to the outside while taking the test. The parking lot/site of the testing facility looked wholly developed with little to no pervious area. The parking lot was poorly maintained and it was raveling causing pollutants to enter the environment. If I desired to take my bike to the testing facility I’d wouldn’t have had a place to park my bike, since there was no bike storage available. If I borrowed my parents zero emissions vehicle to go to the testing facility I would have had to park far from the entrance since they did not allow parking near the entrance and they didn’t provide preferred parking for low-emission & fuel efficient vehicles.

You’d think if the goal was a whole building approach the USGBC could have done a better job of finding a company that provided facilities that followed the intent of the process or is this just a marketing tool?

Anyways, it seems to be popular to do a brain dump on one’s experience in taking the test and here’s mine:

• I registered for the test three weeks ago and spent about 40 hours studying for the test.
• I spent most of the time using GreenExamPrep.com flashcards in the first two weeks of studying.
• I tried reading the Reference Guide, but found it didn’t keep my attention.
• I found the practice test at greenexamprep.com most useful, and spent most of last weekend taking them. It made studying the topics easier than reading the Reference Guide. The question format was similar to the actual test.
• I got a score of 187 out of 200, 170 is a passing score.
• The testing facility was high security with cameras and they require you to empty the pockets of everything and I couldn’t wear my sombrero de baseball.
• I learned that grass is evil and shouldn’t be counted for anything. Not sure what I should do with the non-irrigated grass in my backyard. Zero potable water use, but evidently it’s harming the environment.

Not sure if this will help you, unless you’ve already registered for the test. A new version is coming and to take the old test you had to register before April 1, 2009.

Oh, and I did this post because LEED is probably a popular search term for Google and will probably generate lots of pageviews, I guess I’m voting for marketing.