Current LEED APs: Add a Specialty to Your LEED Credential at Greenbuild

William Nutt
Associate, Marketing and Communications
U.S. Green Building Council

Are you a LEED AP? If so, there is still time to add a specialty to your LEED credential at the USGBC’s annual Greenbuild conference even if your enrollment deadline has passed. The majority of LEED Professionals have already added a specialty to their LEED credential but the window is closing.

In 2009, GBCI updated the LEED AP with five new specialty credentials:

• LEED AP Building Design + Construction (BD+C)
• LEED AP Interior Design + Construction (ID+C)
• LEED AP Operations + Maintenance (O+M)
• LEED AP Neighborhood Development (ND)
• LEED AP Homes

The specialty credentials can be added to your LEED AP by simply logging onto your GBCI account and clicking enroll or by visiting the LEED Credential booths at Greenbuild located on level 600.

After that, you have two years to maintain your credential by following prescriptive credential maintenance, completing 30 hours of continuing education activities over a two-year period.

Prescriptive credential maintenance is on a one time activity that maps your specialty over to the newest version of the LEED rating system. After the prescriptive maintenance is complete, LEED APs with specialty will maintain their credential in following years through a variety of methods such as taking courses or working on LEED projects.

There is no risk and no fee to enrolling in a specialty through prescriptive credential maintenance. LEED APs can also choose to forgo prescriptive CMP and add a specialty to their credential by taking the specialty portion of the new LEED AP exam, at a cost of $150- $250.

Greenbuild also offers an array of hour-earning opportunities, from education sessions and workshops to speaking events and green building tours. Over 170 courses have been approved for credential maintenance credit—and hours earned at Greenbuild are automatically reported to GBCI, making it easier to track your maintenance.

Why update your credential?
The specialty credentials ensure that LEED Professionals stay current with green building innovation, standards and practices through the Credential Maintenance Program (CMP). CMP, which requires LEED APs with specialty to complete 30 hours of continuing education every two years, also allows LEED Professionals to grow their knowledge base and show clients and employers that their expertise remains meaningful in a continually transforming marketplace.

Employers and clients are increasingly seeking LEED APs with specialty. This trend will popularize exponentially as LEED 2012, which awards an Innovation point to project teams featuring a LEED AP with specialty, nears release. Additionally, all candidates for the LEED Fellow distinction, honoring the green building industry’s most accomplished practitioners, must hold a LEED AP with specialty credential.

Credential maintenance for LEED APs with specialty is easy; you can earn 10 continuing education hours simply by working on LEED projects—a daily activity for many LEED Professionals¬—and five hours through self-study, including reading the LEED Reference Guides and reference standards. That’s half of your hours every two years, and with the new GBCI Course Catalog and USGBC Webinar Subscription, finding your other 15 hours is a breeze.

With so many advantages to enrollment, why not add a specialty to your LEED AP credential in Toronto? It’s just another way to benefit from Greenbuild’s expansive offerings. See you there!