With the growing awareness and public and governmental demand for energy efficient and environmentally responsible types of construction, careers in the field of rating and developing energy efficient buildings, neighborhoods and communities continues to grow. LEED training, which starts with becoming certified as a LEED Associate, can then branch out into a specific area of specialization, depending on your career goals and interests.
Once you complete the basic course and become an Associate trained in LEED, you are then able to move onto the specific LEED AP course that will meet your needs. There are several possible options, with a specific LEED program for those professionals working in Canada. Within the United States LEED Homes certification offers specialized work in the design and construction of residential buildings that are environmentally friendly and use less energy and water.
Many communities and cities now have green building associations and organizations and these groups typically require LEED certification and ongoing training for members. These green building groups are also very much in demand with private home construction and custom building throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. In all there are over 30 countries that now recognize the LEED rating system for both commercial and residential building, often providing tax incentives or rebates for contractors or developers that have their project meet a specific LEED rating score.
For those working in managing existing buildings, including real estate agents and real estate lawyers, LEED green buildings and maintenance course is a definite specialty area. This program is designed to allow a better understanding and rating for existing buildings and to reduce the impact of the building on the environment throughout its life. This can also include the best way to renovate or upgrade existing buildings to be more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable.
For architects, contractors and project managers the LEED building design and construction is the perfect match. This course focuses on designing and using energy efficient, healthy and environmentally conscious features right into the design. This course is different from the LEED home course in that the focus is on commercial, high rise residential and institutional buildings rather than single family dwellings. Emphasis in the course is also placed on how cost effective and sustainable the energy efficient modifications will be over the projected lifetime of the building or development.
LEED neighborhood development programs are perfect for those considering project manager roles within cities, government agencies or planning committees. The emphasis in this program will highlight the use of sustainable development as well as environmentally responsible planning and building within the area. Both energy efficiency as well as water conservation within a complete neighborhood or community will be included in the course materials.
Another option is LEED interior design and construction. This is a great idea for real estate agents, interior development and designing professionals and those in building management positions. This type of LEED certified professional will be able to make environmentally sound decisions on high performance commercial spaces and tenant improvements for a wide variety of commercial and multi-family styles of dwellings. LEED training offering this specialization is really in demand in the major cities as cost saving renovations are now an important part of budget control.
Before branching off into specialization areas, having the basic LEED training and working on a project is highly recommended. All professionals completing the specialization areas need to have the basics, but with the demand for professionals in the field it is well worth the time, effort and money to become trained and certified.