LEED Online Training

The LEED certification is becoming a "must have" for any serious professional who wants to work "green" in the building industry. It seems to be either "required" or "preferred" in a majority of the job listings. If you don't have one then it's about time you got one.

If you are a college student then getting the certification is relatively easy. Many schools offer the certification as a regular class. Even proprietary schools like Remington College are offering these classes. But what if you are a mid-career worker already in the labor pool? For these type employees going back to school is difficult. A mid-career employee has to balance his job, his family and other activities within a limited time frame. Adding school to the mix is often difficult or impossible. The answer to this problem is online learning programs.

The biggest problem with traditional learning is not the time spent in the classroom. Everyone has extra hours they can devote to study. What eats up the time is going to and from class. Traditional learning also requires you to fit your schedule to theirs. Sometimes it's just impossible to make all the events listed in your Day-Timer come together.

Online learning solves all these problems. You set the schedule and you decide how long the "classroom" session will last. To paraphrase an old saying, The Mountain comes to Mohammed rather than Mohammed having to go to the mountain.

There are literally dozens of schools on the Internet that offer LEED Certification classes online. Some of them are even offered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). These classes typically last about eight hours. You don't even have to be tied to your laptop. One provider even provides the classes on MP3 files. You can listen to instruction on your MP3 Player while you are on the go. Seriously, could they make it any easier?

Your next question is most likely how much do online classes cost. A quick review of sites showed costs running from $225 to $500. That's not a lot of money when you consider how much it would cost to take a traditional class.

Like anything else there is a "buyers beware" factor to consider with online learning. There are a lot of scams on the Internet. Some providers put together a substandard course while others don't provide anything at all. They just take your money and run. How do you separate the wheat from the chaff? Go back to the USGBC website. The USGBC reviews "third party" training programs which prepare you for the certification exam. Programs that meet their standards are listed in their USGBC Course Catalog.

Anyone considering LEED Certification should start with the USGBC website. It is one of the better written websites on the Internet. Everything is easy to find, explained in detail, and answers all your questions. If a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step; then your LEED Certification starts with the USGBC Website.

Leed Certification Resources

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