Party over heeeeere . . .

I passed my LEED exam today - yea! Now, some of you are likely asking "what the heck is that . . ." and, "I thought you were taking the ARE exam." Well . . . as some of you know, I have 1 more section to pass out of the 9 sections for the ARE exam. (The ARE is for me to obtain my architecture license.)

A few months ago, my employer was pushing for all of our engineers and architects to take the LEED exam. "Heck no," I thought. I'm already up to my neck in alligators with the damn ARE exam. I actually told my boss that I will not even begin to think about taking the LEED exam until I pass my final section of the ARE. However, as the economy worsened and lay offs become more frequent in my office, I thought it might be a good thing to reconsider. You know me, I am pretty stubborn.

Anyway . . . I took the exam today--passed it--and got a higher score than my boss, my boss's boss, and our lead architect. And . . . (more bragging), I never went to the all day seminar, or the study sessions most of my peers went to, because I had initially refused to take the exam. Moreover, had little sleep last night because Bryan and I didn't pget home until after midnight because we had films to see at the Cleveland International Film Festival (priorities, priorities you know).

Oh yeah--I rock. (Not really, because I'm having trouble passing my last section of the ARE, which I take AGAIN in June. Don't even get me started on THAT topic.)

So what is LEED? Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Yeah, I know that tells you nothing. LEED is the standard in green building design. You know all that stuff you hear about saving energy, use recycled materials, and saving the environment . . . blah, blah, blah. Buildings which meet these requirement become LEED "certified". And let me tell you . . . it's a complicated process. Depending on how many requirements you meet, you are awarded one of 4 certificate ratings (Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum).

My husband's new office building is a great example. Go FE - their building is currently in the LEED review process and should be awarded a "Gold" rating. For the last few weeks, I've been asking Bryan a ton of about his building, thus helping me to understand the LEED requirements. "Do you have an accessible recycling area?", "does Jennifer (who has an energy efficient car) get to park close to the entrance?", "do you have a rention pond on site?". LEED and the whole green design idea is not going away - it's big businesss - Which is another reason why I decided it was a good idea to take this exam - our clients are asking for it.

So, what does it mean now that I passed the exam? It means I, as a LEED AP (Accredited Professional), supposedly have the knowledge and skills to lead a team toward obtaining a LEED certified building. In nutshell, it's just something to put after my name, a piece of paper on the wall, but most of all . . . it will help me keep my job.