LEED AP accreditation expands beyond building industries

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Jun 13, 2008 by Martino, Kristina

Professionals earning accreditation for their understanding of green-building practices and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System aren't limited to the architecture, construction, and engineering industries anymore.

The U.S. Green Building Council, based in Washington, D.C., launched the LEED program 10 years ago as a way for professionals to earn LEED Accredited Professional (AP) accreditation. Initially, architects and engineers who wanted to begin designing and building to these standards earned the accreditation.

The LEED AP credential indicates that an individual has obtained the knowledge and skills to facilitate the LEED certification process, according to the Green Building Certification Institute Web site (www.gbci.org). This institute administers the LEED AP program and examination.

Today, it's common to see bankers, insurance agents, real-estate agents, and college students attending LEED AP workshops and taking the required LEED Professional Accreditation exam.

Accreditation material covers topics including: new construction, existing buildings, and commercial interior or tenant-occupied space - all of which bankers and real-estate and insurance agents have an interest in learning about since there is so much emphasis on going green today. Professionals in these industries are finding that their customers are demanding that they be green and that their competitors are embracing the green movement.

"We are seeing a whole new awareness in real estate and insurance," says Tracie Hall, executive director of the United States Green Building Council's Upstate chapter. "[Certification] gives you a knowledge base about how not to greenwash."

Greenwashing involves misleading customers about a company's environmental practices or a product or service's environmental benefits.

Customers demanding green are attracted to companies with knowledge in the green industry.

Bankers are realizing value exists in the green movement and therefore want to learn about the different LEED rating levels in order to give loan rates depending on each LEED-rating level, Hall says.

The building rating system offers four certification levels titled certified, silver, gold, and platinum. The number of credits a project earns in five categories - water efficiency, sustainable sites, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor-environmental quality determines what level certification it acquires.

Insurance and real-estate agents are earning accreditation so they can assist customers interested in green.

"Insurance and real-estate agents want to have knowledge so they can provide proper product support and have a staff that's trained," Hall says.

She says that college students studying architecture and engineering are earning LEED AP credentials in response to the demand within the industry for people with this knowledge.

The U.S. Green Building Council administered the accreditation prior to January 2008, but then established a separate entity called The Green Building Institute to administer the examinations, Hall says.

The U.S. Green Building Council didn't feel it should be accrediting its own professionals, Hall says.

Now, the Green Building Certification Institute administers the LEED Professional Accreditation program including exam development, registration, and delivery. It will also oversee development and implementation of a maintenance program for LEED AP credential holders, according to the Institute's Web site.

About 52,000 people in the United States have earned LEED AP accreditation. About 120 people in Syracuse are LEED AP certified, according to the Green Building Certification Institute Web site.