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Pass the LEED AP ID+C Exam, Get Your Building LEED Certified, Fight Global Warming and Save Money! LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is one of the most important trends in 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 AP ID+C Exam. 2. Register and achieve LEED certification for a buildin… More >>
Tags: Building, Certification, Construction, Design, Exam, Green, Guide., ID&C, Interior, LEED, Materials, Mock, MustHave, Questions, Sample, Study, Sustainability
I am a new interior designer that graduated with a BFA in design last year and I am preparing to take my LEED certification exams. An opportunity arose to receive a copy of this book and to write a review of it and I jumped at the chance since these books tend to get quite expensive. I am eager to absorb as much material as possible because in reality I test poorly- I know the material, but when it comes to a testing situation, I have a hard time recalling the information. This book- Gang Chen’s LEED ID&C Exam Guide- features the materials and information covered on the LEED ID&C and a mock exam.
The preface is fairly self-explanatory breaking down why the author included the information in the text and what you can expect from taking the LEED exams, as well as why he felt it important to write the text for others.
Chapter One details methods and strategies for taking the exam. Something Chen really stresses that I have heard many times is that the exam is written in a way to “trick” the test taker into picking the incorrect answer by using ambiguous wording. The chapter is filled with good tips and advice about taking the exam and feels more like a pep talk than a lecture- which I really appreciate.
Chapter Two is an overview of LEED. What is it? Why are there various LEED exams and levels of associate? The chapter looks at the common questions associated with LEED, the USGBC, and certifying a building or associate. It’s full of abbreviations and acronyms, but that is the nature of the beast when dealing with entities and government organizations like USGBC.
Chapter Three is the intro to the LEED ID&C Exam and Chapter Four begins the technical review of the LEED ID&C Exam. Chapter Three is fairly short and details the basic points of the exam. Chapter Four is full of the nuts and bolts detail information. If this was a classroom course, this would be where all of the notes would come from. I spent the majority of my time concentrated on the information detailed in this chapter- partly because the chapter is half the book. There are many charts to help break down the information, but some diagrams or illustrations would have been helpful to illustrate some of the points.
Chapter Five is a breakdown of the various codes, credits, standards, and prerequisites and how many points they are worth.
Chapter Six is the mock exam. The exams are multiple choice, with the majority having 4 possible answers. After each section of questions the correct answers follow- some answers have thorough explanations and charts showing the proper calculations.
Chapter Seven features a FAQ section about the book and how it relates to the LEED ID&C Exam- I appreciate the author thinking about how various people will react to this style of instruction and it could potentially help them. Following this chapter there is an Appendixes with additional resources and information to access for further research.
Overall, I am pleased with this book and will continue to use it as I prepare for my LEED certification exams.
Rating: 4 / 5
Before I begin a proper review of this book, I want to disclose that I received a complementary
copy of this book from the author on condition that I would write and post a review on this site and
others. I will try not to let this influence my perception of the book.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a voluntary program developed by
the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to encourage the construction of environmentally
friendly buildings. A version of this system has been in place for nearly a decade and allows for both
buildings and people to be recognized with a credential.
As of May 2010 there are three levels of credentials a person might achieve. From basic to
most advanced they are; LEED Green Associate, LEED AP+ (Accredited Professional plus specialty),
and LEED Fellow. This book focuses on the exam for one of the LEED AP credentials; the Interior Design
+ Construction exam. It is worth noting here that a person is not eligible to take this exam unless they
have documented experience working on a LEED project. This would not necessarily preclude one
from purchasing this book however.
I want to note here that this book does not merely provide information about LEED and the
USGBC. The authors approach is more comprehensive; it is a guide to the exam as much as it is a
guide to LEED. The reader is presented with concrete information and hard facts, yes, but also
included are general study tips, advice on exam taking, and mnemonic devices to name a few. This
can be seriously useful as many people taking this exam will have been removed from a test-taking
environment for some years.
The first three chapters of this exam guide are dedicated to the basic principals of sustainable
construction under the LEED system. The chapters and introductory in nature and provide all the
information required to take the LEED Green Associate Exam. For the uninitiated, the LEED GA exam is
a prerequisite for all the more advanced LEED AP+ exams. These first few chapters use a question and
answer format to deliver the information which is succinct, easily referenced later, and reads quickly.
One can easily read these first 50 pages over and over again quickly; as the author notes, re-reading is
a key to successful passing of the exams. Pairing these chapters with part one of the included
practice exam (100 questions) makes this book an excellent resource for the LEED GA exam.
Chapter four of this book is a detailed look at the required credits that comprise the LEED
system itself. There is obviously a lot of information to deal with in this section, and this chapter takes up
most of the book. The author makes an attempt to highlight specifically important information with
underlines and liberal use of mnemonic devices throughout the chapter. The first time I read through
this chapter I found the format very distracting. It was clear that good information was there, but it
was tough to get through a paragraph without my eyes being pulled to various underlines and bold
text. I personally needed a better foundation for each credit section, and the author provided more
of the specific details. Useful, no doubt, but perhaps not quite appropriate for a total beginner.
Another criticism I have of this section is that it is all text with only a few tables and no diagrams
or other graphic presentation of the credit material. Seeing a site plan using 50% impervious paving, or
seeing a tenant plan that occupied 75% of the building area might have helped drive the information
home a little more than just text.
I would also have enjoyed a bit more of a discussion on how exactly the ID+C exam differs from
the other specialty exams. I am still a bit confused about why the Interior Design + Construction exam
requires the candidate to understand the strategies for Storm Water Design and Water Efficient
Landscaping. These things take place outside the building and would seem to be less important that
material selection of indoor environmental quality.
In summation, this guide provides a wealth of useful information on the exam and is one of the
few resources that focuses specifically on the LEED ID+C exam. I don’t think this guide should be your
sole study material for the exam, but is a good resource that can be supplemented with the free
material from the USGBC website. As stated above, I feel that this book is very good on the specifics of
the credits, but one can get bogged down in the minutiae somewhat. To use the cliché, the credits
section “loses the forest for the trees”. Understand the exam and the LEED ID+C structure in general
though and this is your book. The practice exam (200 total questions in two parts; for both the LEED GA
and LEED ID+C) in the back was extremely useful.
I recommend this guide for anyone looking to take the LEED GA exam, and anyone with some
prior knowledge of the LEED ID+C framework (not a total beginner).
Good luck on your exams!
Rating: 4 / 5
There are two main purposes for this book: to help you pass the LEED AP ID+C (Building Design and Construction) Exam and to assist you with understanding the process of getting a building LEED certified.
The LEED AP ID+C Exam has two parts (or sections):
Part One is EXACTLY the same as the LEED Green Associate Exam. It has 100 multiple choice questions and must be finished within two hours (The total exam time for BOTH parts of the exam is four hours). In this book, “LEED AP ID+C Exam Part One,” “LEED AP ID+C Exam Section One,” and “LEED Green Associate Exam” are used interchangeably since they are EXACTLY the same.
Part Two is the LEED AP ID+C specialty exam. It focuses on information and knowledge related directly to green interior design and construction (ID+C). It also contains 100 multiple choice questions and must be finished within two hours.
Both sections (Part One and Part Two) of the LEED AP ID+C Exam must be taken back-to-back in the same sitting. The only exception is when a test taker fails one of the two parts, he can retake only the failed section of the exam at a later date.
The raw exam score is converted to a scaled score ranging from 125 to 200. The passing score is 170 or higher. You need to answer about 60 questions correctly for each section to pass. There is an optional 10-minute tutorial for computer testing before the exam and an optional 10-minute exit survey.
The LEED Green Associate Exam is the most important LEED exam for two reasons:
1. You have to pass it in order to get the title of LEED Green Associate.
2. It is also the required Part One (2 hours) of ALL LEED AP+ exams. You have to pass it plus Part Two (2 hours) of the specific LEED AP+ exam of your choice to get any LEED AP+ title unless you have passed the old LEED AP exam before June 30, 2009.
There are a few ways to prepare for the LEED AP ID+C Exam:
1. 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 Part One of the exam. USGBC classes at 300 level (Green Interior Design and Construction: The LEED Implementation Process) can be taken to prepare for Part Two of the exam. A one-day course normally costs $450 (as of publication) with an early registration discount, otherwise it is $500. You will also have to wait until the USGBC workshops or courses are offered in a city near you.
OR
2. Take USGBC online courses. Refer to the USGBC or GBCI websites for information. The USGBC online courses are less personal and still expensive.
OR
3. Read related books. Unfortunately, there are few official USGBC books on the LEED AP ID+C Exam, and, as of publication, no exam guides with sample questions. LEED AP ID+C Exam Guide is one of the first books covering this subject and will fill in this blank to assist you with passing the exam.
OR
4. The USGBC Reference Guides: They are comprehensive, but they give too much information. Searching for information related to LEED AP ID+C Exam from the USGBC Reference Guides is like “looking for a needle in a haystack.” For example, The LEED 2009 Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction (ID&C) has about 480 full-size pages. Many of the calculations in the books are too detailed for the exam. They are also expensive (approximately $200 each, so most people may not buy them for their personal use, but instead, will seek to share an office copy).
It is good to read a reference guide from cover to cover if you have the time. The problem is that few people have the time to read the whole reference guide. Even if you do read the whole guide, you may not remember the important issues to pass the LEED exam. You need to reread the material several times before you can remember much of it.
Reading the reference guide from cover to cover without a guidebook is a difficult and inefficient way of preparing for the LEED AP ID+C exam, because you do NOT know what USGBC and GBCI are looking for in the exam.
OR
5. Various books published by a third party are available on Amazon. However, most of them are not very helpful.
To stay at the forefront of the LEED and green building movement, I sign up for USGBC courses and workshops myself, and I review the USGBC and GBCI websites and many other sources to get as much information as possible on LEED. Based on this very comprehensive research, I summarize the information in my latest book, “LEED ID&C Exam Guide: A Must-Have for the LEED AP ID+C Exam: Study Materials, Sample Questions,
Mock Exam, Green Interior Design and Construction, Green Building LEED Certification, and
Sustainability (LEED v3.0).” I have done the hard work so that you can save time preparing for the exam by reading it.
“LEED ID&C Exam Guide” will fill in the blanks and become a valuable, reliable source:
a. It will give you more information for your money. It has more information than the related USGBC workshops.
b. It is exam-oriented and more effective than the USGBC reference guides.
c. It is better than most, if not all, of the other third-party books. It gives you comprehensive study materials, sample questions and answers, mock exams and answers, and critical information on building LEED certification and going green. Other third-party books only give you a fraction of the information.
d. It is comprehensive yet concise. It is easy to carry around. You can read it whenever you have a few extra minutes.
e. It is great a timesaver. I have highlighted the important information that you need to understand and MEMORIZE. I also make some acronyms and short sentences to help you easily remember the credit names.
It should take you about 1 to 2 weeks of full-time study to pass each of the LEED exams. I have met people who have spent 40 hours to study and passed the exams.
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.
Rating: 5 / 5