Pass the LEED Green Associate Exam, Get Your Building LEED Certified, Fight Global Warming and Save Money! Starting on December 1, 2011, GBCI began to draw LEED Green Associate Exam questions from the second edition of Green Building and LEED Core Concepts Guide. We have incorporated this latest information in our book, and changed our book title to LEED Green Associate Exam Guide. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is one of the most important trends of development and is revolutionizing the construction industry. It has gained tremendous momentum and has a profound impact on our environment. From this book, you will learn how to: 1. Pass the LEED Green Associate Exam. 2. Use LEED exam preparation strategies, study methods, tips, suggestions, mnemonics, and exam tactics to improve your exam performance. 3. Effectively understand, digest, and retain your LEED knowledge. 4. Understand the process of registering and certifying a building for LEED. 5. Understand the scope, main intent, core concepts and strategies, as well as identify the regulations, recognition, and incentives for each major LEED category. 6. Identify the strategies for case studies. 7. Identify the synergy in case studies. 8. Implement the most important LEED related codes and building standards. 9. Get points for categories not yet clearly defined by the USGBC. This book fills in the blanks and demystifies LEED. It uncovers the secrets, codes, and jargon for LEED as well as the true meaning of “going green.” It provides a solid foundation and fundamental framework for LEED. It covers every major aspect of LEED in plain and concise language, and introduces it to ordinary people. This guide is small and easy to carry around. You can read it whenever you have a few extra minutes. It is an indispensable book for ordinary people, developers, brokers, contractors, administrators, architects, landscape architects, civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers, interns, drafters, designers and other design professionals. What others are saying about “LEED GA Exam Guide”… “Finally! A comprehensive study tool for LEED GA Prep! “I took the 1-day Green LEED GA course and walked away with a power point binder printed in very small print-which was missing MUCH of the required information (although I didn’t know it at the time). I studied my little heart out and took the test, only to fail it by 1 point. Turns out I did NOT study all the material I needed to in order to pass the test. I found this book, read it, marked it up, retook the test, and passed it with a 95%. Look, we all know the LEED GA exam is new and the resources for study are VERY limited. This one’s the VERY best out there right now. I highly recommend it.” -ConsultantVA Does your book have too much information for LEED GA Exam? Other books on LEED GA Exam will become almost useless instantly once you pass the exam because they are NOT designed as a reference book, while my book, “LEED GA Exam Guide” (3rd Edition, ISBN: 9780984374137), is an exam guide AND a LEED reference book. That is the difference between my book and other books on LEED GA Exam. If you feel my book has too much information, there is a very simple solution: When you read the technical section of my book, start each credit category by reading the summary table and mnemonics at the end of each credit category. This way, you have a very clear “road map” (the summary table) and will not get caught up in the technical details and get lost. You can focus on the “Credit Path” portions of each prerequisite and credit and read them 2 or 3 times…You should be able to pass the LEED GA Exam easily and on the first try… Note: See my posts under the Customer Discussion Section at the lower portion of this page for tips on the easiest way to pass the LEED GA Exam and the rest of this discussion.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Great news, I passed!!! Great news, I passed!!! As an educator and business professional I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking to take and pass the LEED GA exam on the first attempt. —–Luke Ferland
Elite runners will examine a course, running it before they race it…This book is designed to concentrate on increasing the intensity of your study efforts, examine the course, run it before you race it… —–Howard Patrick (Pat) Barry, AIA NCARB
Like many similar test prep guides, Mr. Chen cites the resources that will be useful to study. But he goes beyond this and differentiates which ones must memorize and those you must be at least familiar with. —–NPacella
Read “LEED GA Mock Exams” before you start studying other resource materials. It will serve to bring your attention to the information that you are most likely to be asked on the exam as you come across it in your studying. —–Mike Kwon
I found these exams to be quite tougher compared to the others I took a look at, which is good as it made me prepare for the worst I would definitely recommend using these mock exams. I ultimately passed with 181…
—swankysenor
From the Author
What others are saying about “LEED GA Mock Exam”…(Part II)
“GREAT STUDY TOOL!!! “My friend had told me about this book a week before my 2nd exam (yes I failed it the first time by one point could you believe it?) and it was a great learning tool! It really asked thorough questions and gave detailed explanations to the answers. If you can do good on these mock exams, you will do great on the real test! This guide really makes you utilize your knowledge and skill, other materials I had purchased prior to this were quite vague and uninformative, but this did the trick! Thanks Gang! “ —Jason
“Good book… “I just pass the test with 183. The questions are more difficult that the ones that I saw in the test…That is good if you want to be sure that you will pass…” —Omar Reyes “Nailed that LEED GA on the first try! “With this book, plus the ‘LEED Green Associate Exam Guide’ (also by Gang Chen) combined with all the free .PDF downloads printed from the USGBC website, I passed my LEED GA exam on the first attempt! This little book has 2 full mock-exams you can test yourself on throughout your studying to gauge when you are primed & ready to take the exam…Highly recommended.” —Sarah Bartz “Excellent Guide, Tougher than the Actual Exam! “I found this and the supplemental ‘LEED Green Associate Exam Guide’ to be extraordinarily helpful. I read both books and glanced at a couple online documents, but otherwise I relied purely on this book and passed with flying colors. I scored about a 65% on both of these mock exams the day before I took the exam and scored about a 91% on the actual thing. I was more than prepared for the LEED Green Associate Exam and couldn’t be happier. I’ll take a pass any day! Also, I think that these exams, while not flawless, help you on your way to become a LEED AP, helping make sure you know MORE than is needed on this first, easier part of the exam. I would definitely recommend this and the accompanying guide, especially if you’re on a tight schedule (I budgeted two weeks over the Thanksgiving holiday and found it to be a pretty good time table). Good luck and think Green!” —Austin Curtiss Rice “Such a great tool “I passed the exam at the first attempt. These mock exams helped me to learn how to tackle the problems and which areas I should focus on! I worked with another book of the author also. It took 2-3 weeks for my preparation.” —Chai “Great news, I passed!!! “‘LEED GA Mock Exams’ is a great book for assessing progress in your efforts to study and pass the LEED Green Associate Exam. Not only is it a method of testing and self assessment, but it is also an educational tool. Personally I found that using ‘LEED GA Mock Exams’ helped in my passing the LEED Green Associate Exam on the first attempt because it tested me on the portions of the exam that seemed more obscure and slightly harder than others. The book doubles as an educational medium because of the answer explanations. There isn’t simply a list of correct answers in the back of the book. However, there are deep rooted explanations accompanying the correct answer choice. As an educator and business professional I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking to take and pass the LEED GA exam on the first attempt. I found using this book in conjunction with other study materials was what afforded me the ability of passing the LEED GA exam. Good luck in passing your LEED GA exam and buy this book!” —Luke Ferland
“Preparing for LEED GA Exam “This book provides several key points that I think will be crucial in my preparation for taking the LEED Green Associate Exam in the next month. Like many similar test prep guides, Mr. Chen cites the resources that will be useful to study. But he goes beyond this and differentiates which ones must memorize and those you must be at least familiar with. In this way, he is trying to give you the tools to streamline your study efforts for the best results. He is very aware that most individuals looking to take this exam are already working a 40 hour week and he wants you to invest your time wisely and efficiently. Throughout this book Mr. Chen stresses that the primary keys to success are 1) to study in such a way that builds your confidence and 2) to time the taking of the exam so that this knowledge is still present in your consciousness. I am looking forward to also reading his ‘LEED Green Associate Exam Guide.'” —NPacella
“Review of Gang Chen’s LEED GA Mock Exams “Studying for any LEED exam is an arduous task. Chen’s ‘LEED GA Mock Exams’ is a good study aid in helping you prepare for the LEED GA exam. The questions are designed to test your understanding of the principles; and the answers found at the end of the section provide further explanation so you can better grasp the principle. This is a great way to reinforce your memory. Read ‘LEED GA Mock Exams’ before you start studying other resource materials. It will serve to bring your attention to the information that you are most likely to be asked on the exam as you come across it in your studying.
I also found the information and links to other resources very helpful. It is a comprehensive list of “must read” information for anyone studying for the LEED exams. Chen has done the research and review to provide the ones that will be most useful.
I found his ‘LEED GA Mock Exams’ easy to read and use and recommend it to anyone preparing for the LEED GA exam.”
—Mike Kwon
“Helpful Practice Exams “I am in the process of studying for the LEED GA exam and have been finding overall that there is a confusing array of study guides and suggestions from USGBC. This brought me to look for other study outlets and I was glad to find this book. It is very clear and easy to use. The book is written in a succinct and easy to digest form and has clarified some confusing points. The book contains two full practice exams. The answer key has detailed explanations for each correct point. The book also includes frequently asked questions, and appendixes with useful additional resources. There is also an index which makes it very easy to look up particular issues. I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for practice exams for the LEED GA test.” —Green Danny
“LEED as a language “LEED is a language, a new way of ‘speaking’ (and thinking) about our relationship to our world in general and our buildings in particular. This new language, as with all things new, presents challenges to the established order – in my case the order of my professional practice. Gang Chen’s new book, ‘LEED GA Mock Exams’ is proving itself to be an excellent training tool for me as I learn to master the language of LEED.
A recent NY Times article (Personal Best – the Secrets of Elite Athletes – 18 Oct 2010 made the following observations,
“Elite runners will examine a course, running it before they race it…”
‘LEED GA Mock Exams’ is designed to concentrate on increasing the intensity of your study efforts, examine the course, run it before you race it – providing the format and substance for the practice that leads to the experience needed to get this new language right.”
—Howard Patrick (Pat) Barry, AIA NCARB, Barry Associates Architects
“On the tougher side “I found these exams to be quite tougher compared to the others I took a look at, which is good as it made me prepare for the worst I would definitely recommend using these mock exams. Also in-depth explanations at the end make your basics quite clear. I ultimately passed with 181 with 3 weeks of study. Best wishes to all.” —swankysenor
From the Inside Flap
Latest trend for LEED Exams
Recently, there are quite a few readers run into the versions of the LEED exams that have many questions on refrigerants (CFC, HCFC, and HFC), the following advice will help you answer these questions correctly:
For more information, see free pdf file of “The Treatment by LEED of the Environmental Impact of HVAC Refrigerants” that you can download at link below:
This is a VERY important document that you need to become familiar with. Many real LEED exam questions (CFC, HCFC, and HFC, etc.) come from this document. You need to download it for free and read it at least 3 times.
Pay special attention to the Table on ODP and GWP on page 3. You do not have to remember the exact value of all ODPs and GWPs, but you do need to know the rough number for various groups of refrigerants.”
This latest trend regarding refrigerants (CFC, HCFC, and HFC) for LEED Exams has a lot to do with LEED v3.0 Credit Weighting. EA (including refrigerants) is the biggest winner in LEED v3.0, meaning the category has MORE questions than any other areas for ALL the LEED exams. See pages 36 to 38 of my book,
LEED GA Exam Guide quoted below:
How are LEED credits allocated and weighted? Answer: They are allocated and weighted per strategies that will have greater positive impacts on the most important environmental factors: CO2 reductions and energy efficiency.
They are weighted against 13 aftereffects of human activities, including carbon footprint / climate change (25%), indoor-air quality (15%), resource/fossil-fuel depletion (9%), particulates (8%), water use/water intake (7%), human health: cancer (7%), ecotoxity (6%), eutrophication (5%), land use/habitat alteration (5%), human health: non cancer (4%), smog formation (4%), acidification (3%), and ozone depletion (2%).
These 13 aftereffects were created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (
EPA), and are also known as “TRACI“, a mnemonic for “Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental Impacts.”
1) The USGBC used a reference building to estimate environmental impact in the 13 categories above.
2) The USGBC also used a tool developed by the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) to prioritize the TRACI categories. 3) The USGBC also created a matrix to show the existing LEED credits and the TRACI categories, and used data that quantify building impacts on human health and environment to allocate points for each credit.
The points for Energy and Transportation credits have been greatly increased in LEED 2009, primarily because of the importance to reduce carbon or greenhouse gas emissions. Water Efficiency is also a big winner in the credits, doubling from 5 to 10 points for some LEED rating systems.
In addition to the weighting exercise, the USGBC also used value judgments, because if they only used the TRACI-NIST tool, some existing credits would be worth almost nothing, like the categories for human health and indoor air quality. The USGBC wanted to keep the LEED system somewhat consistent and retained the existing credits including those with few environmental benefits. So each credit was assigned at least one point in the new system.
There are NO negative values or fractions for LEED points.
20% reduction of indoor water-use used to be able to gain points, now this is a prerequisite in LEED 2009.
USGBC and GBCI seem to enjoy confusing LEED exam takers and making their lives miserable
One thing that I notice is that USGBC and GBCI tend to spread their information everywhere, but not in one place. They seem to enjoy confusing LEED exam takers and making their lives miserable.
For example, they have some information regarding the responsible party and project phase or case studies that are part of their workshops, but not in their reference guide; they also have a lot of information that is at the GBCI and USGBC websites, but not anywhere else, such as CIR guidelines, MPRs and related requirements, etc. I just finished writing ” LEED Green Associate Exam Guide” (published on 12/22/11), “LEED GA Mock Exams ” (published on 3/9/12), “LEED BD&C Exam Guide” (published on 1/26/12), “LEED ID&C Exam Guide” (published on 1/28/12), “LEED ID&C Mock Exam” (published on 1/28/12) and “LEED O&M Exam Guide” (published on 1/27/12). Another thing that I notice is that because USGBC has expanded the LEED systems so much, they have to have different task groups to write different reference guides, but they are NOT even consistent between reference guides for different LEED systems. It seems like their tasks forces do not even talk to each other and coordinate: For example, ALL LEED systems were based on the platform set by LEED NC, but for EAp2, LEED CI only listed 2 related credits as synergies, but the LEED NC has included MANY more credits for synergies for the same credit, and most of them DO apply to LEED CI also, but the LEED ID+C reference guide misses these credits. Page 121 of LEED Interior Design and Construction Reference Guide also mistakenly listed EAp1 as IEQp2 under Domestic hot water systems for Table 1.
If you are taking the LEED GA Exam, you can take USGBC courses or workshops. You should take USGBC classes at both the 100 (Awareness) and 200 (LEED Core Concepts and Strategies) level to successfully prepare for the exam A one-day course can cost $445 if you register early enough, and can be as expensive as $495 if you miss the early bird special. You will also have to wait until the USGBC workshops or courses are offered in a city near you.
The problem is: when you go there, after you spend 8 hours and close to $500 for each workshop, the instructor will tell you that the workshops are NOT for LEED exam prep. Come on, you have just spent so much money and time and go through the trouble for the workshops, and they just tell you now the workshops are NOT tailored for the LEED exams? Give me a break.
So, I think third party books are absolutely necessary and they are much more helpful than the USGBC publications and workshops or GBCI and USGBC websites alone.
You can find sample texts and other information on the LEED Exam Guides Series in customer discussion sections under each of my book’s listing on Amazon.
From the Back Cover
Why“LEED GA Mock Exams” is needed?
First of all, there are many people who passed the LEED GA Exam by reading my book, “LEED GA Exam Guide” ONLY. There is one reader passed the LEED GA Exam by studying my book for three days.
Secondly, people learn in many different ways. Some people learn better by doing extra mock exams. If you want to be safe and do additional sample tests to find out if you are ready for the real exam, I would suggest “LEED GA Mock Exams.”
The practice questions in “LEED GA Exam Guide” are normal in term of difficulty, but its mock exam is harder than the real LEED GA Exam. We want it to be harder to make the readers nervous and force them to go back and review the study materials in my book a few more times.
This approach is apparently working. Even the people who gave my book an unfair 1-start review passed the LEED GA Exam on the first try. The only complaint they have is that I have made them study too hard. So, they complaint and gave my book a 1-star review instead of thanking me for helping them passing the LEED GA Exam. Well, I’d rather my readers pass the LEED GA Exam on the first try. It is better safe than sorry.
A set of hard mock exam can be very helpful: What does not kill you makes you stronger.
We want your LEED knowledge to peak on the day of the LEED GA Exam, NOT before or after. One way to achieve this goal is to make you nervous and keep the pressure on, and you will be willing to go back and seriously study and keep reviewing the materials in my book. It is a hard fight against human brain’s natural tendency to forget things:
“The process of memorization is like filling a cup with a hole at the bottom: You need to fill it faster than the water leaks out at the bottom, and you need to constantly fill it; otherwise, it will quickly be empty.
Once you memorize something, your brain has already started the process of forgetting it. It is natural. That is how we have enough space left in our brain to remember the really important things.” —Quoted from page 5 of “LEED GA Exam Guide.”
Our goal is for “LEED GA Exam Guide” to stand alone. In fact, there are readers who passed the LEED GA Exam by reading “LEED GA Exam Guide” ONLY. One reader passed the LEED GA Exam by studying it for three days. If you choose ANY other books (most of them constantly refer you back to the 700-page USGBC reference guide, and do not stand alone at all) or study materials, you need at least 3 weeks to even go through their study materials once, let alone reviewing the materials several times or passing the LEED GA Exam.
To balance your exam prep effort, the sample tests in “LEED GA Mock Exams” are very close to the real exams. They will definitely help you.
About the Author
Gang Chen holds a master’s degree from the School of Architecture, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, and a bachelor’s degree from the School of Architecture, South China University of Technology. He has over 20 years of professional experience. Many of the projects he was in charge of or participated in have been published extensively in Architecture, Architectural Record, The Los Angeles Times, The Orange County Register, etc. He has worked on a variety of unusual projects, including well-known, large-scale healthcare and hospitality projects with over one billion dollars in construction costs; award-winning school designs, highly-acclaimed urban design and streetscape projects, multifamily housing, high-end custom homes, and regional and neighborhood shopping centers.
Gang Chen is a LEED AP BD+C and a licensed architect in California. He is also the internationally acclaimed author of other fascinating books, including
Building Construction, Planting Design Illustrated, ARE Mock Exam Series and LEED Exam Guides Series, which include one guidebook for each of the LEED exams. For more information, visit GreenExamEducation.com
Wow! eBook
