LEED GA Exam

So not to hype it up too much, but come Friday I will be parking myself in front of a computer in Towson, MD and will take the LEED GA exam. Am I nervous? A little, I guess. I've heard the test is pretty easy, but however a few of the test exam questions make me anxious.

Example question #1:

A reduction in overall water quality due to an increase in the concentration of chemical nutrients would be an example of which of the following?

a) Xeriscaping
b) Eutrophication
c) Denitrofication
d) Osmosis
e) Hypoalimentation

The correct answer is "b" which I picked solely because I had already reviewed Xeriscaping and Osmosis and Eutrophication just sounded right.

After looking up the terms: Denitrofication occurs in the ground (mostly) and "Hypoalimentation" means you are malnourished.

There are, on the other hand the easier questions like:

Example Question #2:

What are the benefits of better lighting control? (pick 2)
a) it reduces cooling loads
b) it creates energy savings
c) it improves green roofs
d) it helps operators use fewer cars
e) all of the above

This is clearly a&b. However questions like this are almost worse than the hard ones. Doubt creeps in and you start to think: "maybe lighting CAN improve your green roofs...think about it...the plants would grow better." Then before you know it, you're talking like your stoned-out hippie roommate from freshman year. The one with all the batik skirts who was melting crayons in the dead of the night to Dave Matthews for some bizarre art project. Oh wait. That was me. (For the record, Kelly Ford of Avalon, NJ, I'm sorry for being such a weirdo)

but I digress.

The third kind of question are the somewhat self-serving LEED process questions. Now, to be clear, I really do believe in the goals of the USGBC (for those non-archi-nerds out there that is the US Green Building Council). We should be striving for better more environmentally sound buildings, however questions like this:

Example question #3

Which of the following are true regarding costs? (choose 2)
a) Certification fees are waived for Platinum projects
b) Recertification fees are the same as initial certification fees for Existing Buildings
c) Certification fees changed in 2002 and again in 2005
d) Certification fees are based on project location
e) Certification fees for a LEED silver project differ from those of a LEED Gold Project

seem to be the kind of information one would have in a pamphlet or website information page, and not, say, on a licencing exam. About 10% of the practice questions seem to be about when USGBC gets paid for things, when you pay for the building certification, the review, the recertification, etc. It just reminds you that the USGBC despite it's somewhat federal-sounding name, is, afterall, a money making venture.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes.



oh, and the correct answers the third one are a & c