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comment LEED AP Credential Maintenance Program Launched
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The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) announced several changes to the LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) program in November 2008. Among those changes was the addition of a credential maintenance program that would require those at all levels of LEED accreditation to obtain a certain number of continuing education hours every two years to maintain their status.
The program, launched on August 3, 2009, requires LEED APs to earn 30 hours every two years and LEED Green Associates, the new lower-tier credential, to earn 15 hours. Some of these hours must be LEED-specific, and some must be rating system-specific. LEED APs will also need to pay a biannual fee of $50.
The launch of the credential maintenance program also starts the clock on a two-year transitional period that GBCI has set for “Legacy LEED APs,” those who earned their credentials under previous versions of the exam, and without credentialing maintenance expectations. GBCI hopes that these professionals—over 130,000 of them—will opt into the program and its requirements, while also picking up a rating system-specific specialty with their credential (such as “LEED AP BD+C” for “Building Design and Construction”). Legacy LEED APs who don’t opt into the new system can still keep the credential.
More information is available at www.gbci.org
Copyright 2009 by BuildingGreen, LLC
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