LEED-Green-Associate Questions Bank

The LEED rating system is designed to address the most important environmental impacts and human benefits of green building. The impact categories are based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s TRACI method (Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental Impacts), which evaluates the potential environmental effects of a product or process over its life cycle. The impact categories are: reverse contribution to global climate change; enhance individual human health and well-being; protect and restore water resources; protect, enhance and restore biodiversity and ecosystem services; promote sustainable and regenerative material cycles; build a greener economy; enhance social equity, environmental justice, community health and quality of life. Among these categories, reducing contribution to climate change and enhancing human health and well-being have been identified as the most important ones for a LEED project to accomplish. References: LEED v4 Green Associate Candidate Handbook, LEED v4 BD+C Reference Guide

LEED encouragesTransportation Demand Managementstrategies to reduce single-occupancy vehicle use when access to public transit is not available. One such strategy is:

“Encouraging carpooling… provides options to users in areas without access to transit.”

Offering preferred parking for single-use vehicles contradicts the intent, and LEED cannot require changes to local transit systems. Providing extra parking encourages single-occupancy vehicle use.

Covering duct work with plastic is a strategy for improving indoor environmental quality during construction. Covering duct work with plastic prevents dust, debris, and contaminants from entering the ducts and affecting the air quality of the building. This also reduces the need for cleaning and maintenance of the ducts after construction. The LEED Green Associate Candidate Handbook states that one of the strategies for achieving indoor environmental quality is to “protect ducts during construction by sealing or covering with plastic” [1, p. 16]. References: LEED Green Associate Candidate Handbook, [Indoor Air Quality During Construction | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]

Water Efficiency is the only credit category that does not have a prerequisite in LEED v4 for Building Design and Construction. Prerequisites are the minimum requirements that all projects must meet to be eligible for LEED certification. They are mandatory and non-weighted, meaning they do not contribute to the project’s score. The other credit categories have at least one prerequisite each, as shown in the table below: