As part of its strategic goal to grow professional and industry capacity in green buildings, USGBC has partnered with Turner Construction Company to develop a new Web-based interactive learning course. This exciting new course will build upon a basic knowledge of the LEED-NC Rating System, and will cover the range of topics that building industry professionals should know to successfully manage the LEED certification process and serve as effective LEED Accredited Professionals on project teams. "In the first few weeks of having this exciting Web-based course available internally, Turner has had several staff pass the LEED accreditation exam," says Rod Wille, Senior Vice President at Turner. "We believe that it is the perfect complement to field experience to allow our people to understand the principles and process of LEED."  

The interactive course follows the Sienna Hills Library project team as they delve into the LEED credit categories and prerequisite requirements. At the same time, the team achieves a better understanding of the integrated design approach and the role of the LEED Accredited Professional in effectively managing the integrated design process. The Sienna Hills team's experience will help users learn more about credit structure and referenced standards that support LEED credits, and will strengthen understanding of the implementation timeline and the typical tasks that are performed with each project phase. The Essentials of LEED Professional Accreditation will also review the LEED AP's responsibilities related to technical analysis and LEED compliance, both critical to understanding and improving a building's performance.  

After successfully completing the course users will be able to:

• Describe the make-up and format of the LEED Rating System
• Interpret the LEED credits
• Apply the LEED Rating System to green building projects
• Coordinate the project effort and a multidisciplinary project team in LEED design and implementation
• Manage and support the LEED certifi­cation process
• Understand the LEED AP's responsi­bilities related to technical analyses and verification of compliance with LEED requirements.

The course includes a number of other valuable resources, including selected case studies, a glossary of frequently used terms, interactive learning exercises to evaluate lesson comprehension, and a practice exam with questions similar to those encountered on the LEED Professional Accreditation Exam.

This course is available online! To take the course, go to http://www.usgbc.org. The course is available for purchase through the USGBC Products & Services catalog under "Workshops" and "Web Based Learning". The cost of the course is $150 for USGBC Members and $200 for Non-Members. After purchase, the course is accessible for 60 days. For more information about the Web course, contact USGBC at 202-828-7422 or workshop@usgbc.org

This is the third in a series of articles detailing the latest news and information that was released at Greenbuild 2005. All comments are the sole responsibility of the author. 

This article was originally posted 12/6/05.