LEED GA Accelerator | Video Lessons | Practice Exams | Ebook

Identify greenwashing as exaggerating sustainability claims and understand that true sustainability requires evaluating a product's full life cycle and implementing real changes that benefit people, the planet, and profits.

Explore how the built environment drives the world's footprint and how green building design can reduce energy use, CO2 emissions, and waste while boosting user satisfaction and cost savings.

Review the built environment impact and its environmental footprint, including the triple bottom line and greenwashing concepts, and learn green building benefits with low-cost LEED certification.

Practice questions reinforce green building concepts from the LEED GA accelerator, covering economic benefits, energy intensity reductions, and the value of certifying green office buildings to prep for the exam.

Explore the LEED categories, from integrity of process to regional priority, including credits and prerequisites, covering location and transportation, sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, and indoor environmental quality.

Distinguish accreditation from certification in the Leed process, cover Leed green associate and ap with specialty, and explain maintenance, prerequisites, points, and Leed online for project certification.

Review key terms for the exam: life cycle assessment from cradle to grave, lifecycle costs including hard and soft costs, and the triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit.

Practice questions familiarize you with the LEED exam format, terminology, credits, prerequisites, and rating systems, while reinforcing concepts like life cycle assessment and LEED plus construction.

Explore LEED for neighborhood development location as a credit. Avoid inappropriate sites, reduce vehicle distance traveled, and enhance livability and health by encouraging daily physical activity.

Learn how the sensitive land protection credit prioritizes previously developed sites or avoids wetlands, floodplains, and habitats, with practical site adjustments and distance buffers.

Encourage development in constrained areas to enhance surrounding health; choose infill in historic districts, redevelop brownfields with remediation, or invest in economically depressed neighborhoods to revitalize communities.

Prioritize sites within a 400 meter radius of densely populated areas and seek diverse uses within an 800 meter radius to boost walkability, access to amenities, and public health.

Access to quality transit supports diverse transportation choices. Place projects within 400 m of bus, streetcar, or rideshare stops; within 800 m of bus rapid transit, rail, or ferry terminals.

Promote bicycling and public health by meeting bicycle facilities: storage for occupants and visitors, changing rooms, and bicycle network within 200 yards of school, employment centre, or bus stop.

Promote eco friendly vehicles by designating 5% of parking for green vehicles and 2% for EV supply or fueling facilities, with green vehicles having a minimum green score of 45.

Understand Leed neighborhood development credits, including automatic location transportation credits within certified boundaries, sensitive land protection, infill concepts, surrounding density and diverse uses, transit access, bicycle facilities, and parking reductions.

Practice questions for the LEED GA exam challenge you with scenarios on encouraging alternative transportation, reducing parking footprint, walkability, transit access, and sustainable site decisions.

Develop an erosion and sedimentation control plan to reduce construction pollution from soil erosion, sedimentation, and dust; protect the site and meet LEED requirements: dust minimization, topsoil preservation, silt fences.

Protect and restore habitat by preserving 40% of greenfield area or restoring 30% of previously developed land, or contributing at least $400 to a conservation organization to promote biodiversity.

Open space credits require at least 30% of the site, with 25% vegetated, to foster social interaction, passive recreation, and physical activity; design with benches, visual gardens, and sport carts.

Learn heat island reduction strategies to lower urban temperatures with reflective surfaces, green roofs, and vegetated areas, and place 75% of parking spaces under cover while reducing impervious surfaces.

Increase night sky access and protect nocturnal ecosystems by applying light pollution reduction strategies that direct light only where needed, avoid upward lighting, and minimize light trespass.

Learn site assessment, erosion and sedimentation control, habitat protection, open space with vegetation, rainwater management, heat island reduction, and light pollution reduction to improve ecological and social value.

Practice questions cover LEED concepts such as site assessment criteria, open space benefits, light pollution reduction, vegetated roofs, heat island reduction, and rainwater management.

Develop strategies to reduce outdoor water use by 30% or more through native landscaping, efficient irrigation (drip, soaker hoses, smart systems), and rainwater harvesting to lower potable water demand.

Learn indoor water use reduction in LEED GA by meeting a 20% prerequisite and 25% credit with high-efficiency toilets, low flow faucets, and rainwater or treated wastewater for non-potable uses.

Install permanent water meters to measure potable water use and earn credit by applying submeters to two or more subsystems, irrigation, indoor plumbing, domestic hot water, and rainwater or greywater.

Minimize potable water use indoors and outdoors by prioritizing efficiency first, then exploring alternative sources like greywater and green water, with metering and fixtures considerations for the Green Associate exam.

Commissioning verifies energy systems are installed, calibrated, and perform according to owner requirements, with early design involvement and ASHRAE-guided fundamental commissioning to qualify prerequisites, credits, and post-occupancy testing.

Install building level energy meters to measure total energy consumption, then use submeters for HVAC, lighting, and end uses over 10% of annual consumption to manage energy and identify savings.

Enroll in demand response program and install automation systems to reduce or shift energy use during peak periods, in response to utility signals, stabilizing grid and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Explore green power and carbon offsets to reduce emissions through renewable energy technologies and carbon mitigation projects, with RECs covering 50% or 100% of energy use for minimum five years.

Advance refrigerant management to support Montreal Protocol adherence, protect the ozone layer, and reduce climate impact by avoiding CFCs and choosing refrigerants with low ozone depletion and global warming potential.

Explore commissioning goals, fundamental versus enhanced commissioning, baseline energy performance referencing ASHRAE 90.1 2010, and topics like energy metering, demand response, renewable energy, and refrigerant management.

Explore practice questions to prepare for the LEED GA exam, covering fundamental commissioning, demand response, and energy efficiency strategies, including RECs, ASHRAE 90.1 baselines, and CFC phaseout plans.

Establish dedicated storage for recyclables—paper, glass, plastics, metals—and safe collection of at least two hazardous wastes, accessible to all occupants and waste haulers to meet LEED prerequisites.

Develop a plan to identify waste streams and set diversion goals, train staff to separate waste on site, and divert at least 50% of construction waste from landfills through recycling or reuse.

Identify responsibly sourced raw materials and minimize substances by evaluating suppliers with documentation, extended producer responsibility, recycled content, FSC certification, and chemical inventories tracked throughout construction.

Explore strategies for managing materials and resources in construction, including waste reduction, recycling, lifecycle analysis, sustainable purchases, and topics like recyclables, EPDs, and raw materials sourcing.

Practice questions on leed ga topics cover sustainable design, reuse, waste diversion, recycling, and source reduction, plus environmental product declarations, transparency, and cradle to cradle concepts.

Improve indoor air quality by meeting Ashrae 62.1-2010 prerequisites through ventilation, monitoring, and high-efficiency filtration. Implement natural and mechanical ventilation, entry systems, and cross-contamination prevention to boost occupant well-being.

Learn how low emitting materials reduce VOC emissions to improve indoor air quality, with only interior products counting toward this credit and materials meeting VOC limits and low formaldehyde standards.

Develop an indoor air quality management plan for construction and occupancy phases to minimize issues, follow Smacna guidelines, protect absorptive materials from moisture, use filtration systems, replace filters before occupancy.

Assess indoor air quality for post-construction and occupancy. Learn two options: flush out, where outdoor air is forced through the building before occupancy, and indoor air quality testing after construction.

Enhance occupant productivity, comfort, and well-being with interior lighting using multi-zone controls (three levels) and separately controlled projector lighting, meeting low luminance values 45–90 degrees from nadir and reflectance standards.

Learn daylight optimization through annual simulations achieving spatial daylight autonomy and glare control for regularly occupied spaces, then design for thermal comfort per ASHRAE 55 with individual controls.

Provide quality outdoor views for at least 75% of occupied spaces with glazing sightlines to vegetation or water within three times the head height, and meet ASHRAE 2011 acoustic requirements.

Improve indoor air quality through ventilation, filtration, entryway systems, and CO2 sensors per Ashrae 62.1 (2010) and Smacna guidelines, covering IAQ management, flush out, and thermal comfort, lighting, and daylight.

Practice questions cover LEED topics across energy and atmosphere and indoor environmental quality, including ventilation, air quality, filtration, VOCs, daylighting, and safety documentation.

Explore the innovation and regional priority credits that drive LEED sustainability, including the LEED Accredited Professional concept and location-based environmental and public health priorities.

Learn how LEED accredited professional integration streamlines the certification process, ensures the project has a LEED AP with specialty, and helps teams navigate prerequisites and credits.

Identify and pursue regional priority credits to address geographically specific environmental, social equity, and public health priorities, earning up to four of six USGBC regional priority credits.

Explore earning the LEED innovation credit through adopting an innovative strategy, pursuing a pilot credit, or exemplary performance, and note regional priorities defined by USGBC, six credits, and four-point limit.

Engage with practice questions to prepare for the Little Green Associate Exam, covering LEED credits, regional priority credits, prerequisites, and minimum program requirements.