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

LEED vs. The Living Building Challenge

I just read (and earned 1 CEU) Architectural Record's "Live | Build | Sustain" article which discusses an alternative sustainable scoring system. I'd recommend you check it out for yourself.

Basically, to summarize, the Challenge is similar to LEED in that it is a system for certifying a building for sustainability. That is about the only similarity. Whereas LEED awards points for using certain green technology, the Challenge requires certain levels of sustainability. It's an ends vs. a means approach, which I think is pretty cool. The point of the system is to have an awesome earth-friendly building. LEED may be intended similarly, but you can have a LEED certified building that draws from the grid, or uses materials with VOCs, etc. The Challenge is more intense tree-hugging, essentially.

Anyway, check it out. I thought I would share this with you since I know our experiences in sustainability tend to be LEED-biased. It's always good to see what's out there. Plus, I was trying to think of other sustainable/green point systems outside of LEED the other day... and I could not think of one. Therefore, I am pleased to have stumbled upon this little ar-tickle!

http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=5&C=705

Charette: Sustainable Home

Thursday I attended the Eastern PA chapter of AIA's design charette for students (and architects) in the area. I served as a "sketchup facilitator," which meant my sole job was to create a sketchup model of whatever design my team of 15+ students and professionals came up with. I wasn't allowed to participate in the designing portion. I will offer that 15+ people in an hour and a half wouldn't have afforded me much opportunity to participate anyway! However, it was still interesting. My only qualm was the communication that seemed to lack between my group and I, for example literally 2 minutes before the models were "due," some of my team members came up to me and said that we needed some skylights on the roof... And of course they weren't just ordinary skylights, they had to be some funky shape. Needless to say, that did not make it into the model.

I will admit it was kind of fun to fiddle in sketchup, and as a bonus I received a Dunkin Donuts gift card as compensation for my services. As another bonus, I can hopefully count the experience as 4 hours towards community service for my IDP.

I have included some screenshots of the model below for your viewing pleasure. To give you a sense of the design challenge, the teams were to design a home for a group of 4 (college students, family members, roommates, etc.) incorporating various sustainable technologies. This challenge was inspired by the Decathlon. The site was an open lot on Hamilton Street in Allentown, PA. My team decided on a mixed-use facility where the family who lived upstairs owned and operated the bike shop/gym downstairs. Part of their design was the implementation of stationary bicycles rigged to generators to produce electricity... I swear I had nothing to do with this concept!






For the record, my team was a "close second." Out of 3 teams we received Gold (as you know, with LEED the ratings are silver, gold and platinum).

Hidden Risks of Green Buildings (NCARB)

I just completed the reading and passed the quiz for this particular NCARB Mini-Monograph.  I have to say I had not thought about LEED in this way.  Of course, I don't know much about LEED other than the few instances we "applied" its score system in our academic assignments.

Obviously nothing in this world is perfect, so it is foolish to assume that following LEED guidelines will result in a flawless building.  However, I think the way the monograph states it, "combining LEED certification with the best practices," is a great summarization.  LEED is an attempt to standardize one aspect of building design.  There are numerous aspects of building design that also require consideration, with varying degrees of precedence.  Moisture penetration and mold prevention are obviously some of the big ones in this category.

I originally thought the flaws with LEED were with its own system - the fact that you can get points for specifying certain energy efficient lightbulbs, which the owner can then replace months after the building has received its LEED award.  However, I had not realized that other non-green areas could suffer if a designer or architect were to design solely with LEED guidelines.

If you haven't already downloaded a copy, I'll save you 30 seconds:

http://www.ncarb.org/Publications/Mini-Monographs/Hidden-Risk-of-Green-Buildings.aspx

This quiz was easier to me than the Ethics and Professional Rules of Conduct one.  I found that particular reading challenging in and of itself!  I don't know if it is because architects are poorly trained in the art of diction, or if it is because it is simply a difficult subject to eloquently discuss.  Whatever the case, I am finding that I have to reread certain nuggets of text to get the gist of the sentence or paragraph.