After March 31st, 2009, candidates for the LEED Green Associate (GA) credentials must fulfill eligibility requirements.
LEED Green Associate candidates are required to do ONE (1) of the following:
Option 1: You must be (or have previously been) employed in a sustainable field of work
This is perhaps one of the more nebulous requirements posed by the GBCI, because no definition of a "sustainable field of work" is given. The USGBC does state that the company needs to "relate to environmentalism or the green building industry". If you are in any doubt that your profession would qualify, contact the GBCI at gbci.org or by calling 1-800-795-1746.
Option 2: You must be (or have been) involved in a LEED Certification Project
To prove eligibility by way of LEED project involvement, you must have been involved in the certification process of a LEED registered project. This means that your name must be on the registry of a specific LEED project that has already taken place, or which is currently in progress. Note: the building does not have to have earned its LEED rating yet, it just has to be registered with the GBCI. This can sometimes be difficult to achieve, as many organizations prefer to have existing LEED APs take care of the certification process, but as there is no requirement for a person working on a LEED project to be a LEED AP, it is possible to be added to a project.
If taking part in a LEED project led by your place of business isn't an option, we are able to help. We offer a Green Professional Training Program, in which you can take part in an actual LEED certification process over the course of a few months, and when all is said and done, your name will be listed on the LEED project, making you eligible for not only the Green Associate exam, but for future LEED AP exams as well. Please contact us for details.
Option 3: You must show involvement in an education program that addresses green building principles.
This is perhaps the most straightforward of the three eligibility options for the Green Associate exam: You have to show that you've taken (or are currently taking) some sort of training course to do with Green Building. This, thankfully, is one of our specialties. We have a number of training courses available weekly, and are adding more all the time. Our classes range from one-day online classes to two-day in-person classes, and everything in between. To get started, just head to our Green Exam Prep Training section and have a look at our offerings. We have a number of Green Associate exam preparation classes happening all the time, any of which will make you eligible for the Green Associate exam!
Assuming you are able to fulfill one of those three requirements, you are eligible to register for and take the LEED Green Associate exam.
Remember that this exam is considered to be "part 1" of the LEED AP process, and is considered to be a prerequisite for the LEED AP+ exams. To register to take the Green Associate exam, visit the GBCI and get started today!