How I passed LEED Green Associate V4 Examination in 4 weeks?

In this post I am going to explain how I passed LEED Green Associate Examination within 4 weeks and I will try to answer some of the common questions asked by candidates at the beginning stage of their preparation like,

1. How to get started?
2. Whether to go for self-study or an online course?
3. How to prepare for the exam?

First of all, I would like to introduce myself. I am Venkatesh, a fresh graduate in Mechanical Engineering with no experience in construction sector. I have joined with Green Building Academy as Trainee-Sustainability Engineer on 30/11/2015. I was instructed by my management to go for LEED Green Associate v4 Examination and I was promised for an increment in my salary if I pass.

Step 1: Getting Started

After decided to go for the examination, the first think I did was to understand basic things about the examination like number of questions, passing score, exam duration, etc. The following videos gave me very good information regarding the examination. I shared the links with you here:

1. Introduction to Green Buildings and LEED Credentials -

http://www.greenbuildingacademy.co/leed-ga-v4/introduction/video/

2. Introduction to LEED Rating Systems - http://www.greenbuildingacademy.co/leed-ga-v4/leed-rating-systems/video/

The official examination information is published in LEED Green Associate Candidate Handbook -

 http://in.usgbc.org/resources/leed-v4-green-associate-candidate-handbook

Step 2: Deciding whether to go for self-study or an online course?

A common confusion usually arise in a candidate’s mind is whether to do self-studyor to take a course. In my case I was provided with free online access for LEED Green Associate v4 Made Easy – Online course offered by Green Building Academy. My advice is to take a LEED Green Associate Training Course which was used and tested by many candidates. Online courses available in the market will cost around 150 USD and our online course is available at 55 USD. Free online resources available in the internet are often outdated and misleading. So, in order to limit your time and effort towards preparation I strongly recommend taking an online course or a classroom course(depending on your budget and time). Class room course may cost up to USD 400.
Preparing for the Exam:

I strongly recommend candidates to prepare in the following sequence of topics:

1. Location and Transportation
2. Sustainable Sites
3. Water Efficiency
4. Energy Efficiency
5. Materials & Resources
6. Indoor Environmental Quality
7. Integrative Process
8. Bonus Categories
9. Certification Process

One of the common mistakes people doing in preparation is that, spending lot of time in Integrative Process and Certification Process at the beginning stages of preparation. In my perspective these topics can be well understood after studying all the technical parts. Time required to complete the above topics varies with discipline. However 3 weeks will be sufficient enough to cover all the topics. Give yourself at least 7-10 days for revising.

Step 4: Applying and Scheduling for the Examination

I recommend you to schedule your examination when you are 50% prepared. Scheduling your examination will actually speed-up your process and will provide enough time for you to get psychologically prepared. Remember solving more and more practice questions is one of the keys to success. Take some mock tests available in the internet. It will make you familiar with the exam interface and it will avoid confusions during examination. Applying and Scheduling procedures for the examination are well explained in the video link provided below

http://www.greenbuildingacademy.co/leed-ga-v4/exam-registration/.

I passed the examination on Dec 28, 2015 with a score of 188 exactly on 29th day from the starting date of my preparation.

Question:

A Multinational Automobile manufacturing company has planned to establish one of its production plants in California. During site assessment, which of the following codes the project team has to refer to find if the project site is a farmland?

a) Environmental Protection Agency
b) Environmental Impact Assessment Authority
c) SCAQMD
d) Code of Federal Regulations

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