LEED AP Certificate...

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LEED AP Explained

...finally came in the mail today. I had totally forgotten about it, so it was a good surprise on an otherwise mediocre day. If you don't know, LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the AP is for accredited professional. It's probably the number one standard for building green, whether it be new construction, renovations, additions, etc. and addresses commercial and institutional buildings. Basically, LEED is a point system for showing quantifiable reductions in energy and other resource use. It's a little more expensive to build a LEED building in the beginning, but the payoff is a reduction in operating costs. There was one LEED project that my company bid on before I was even considering becoming a LEED AP, so I didn't know much about it then. Since then, I haven't seen any LEED projects come to bid that we've looked at. Although, there isn't much building going on period, and owners are already having trouble getting financing without extra LEED costs. Hopefully, if the economy ever turns around, I can actually use my certification. Until then, I guess I just have to keep upcycling sweaters from Good Will!