Pass the USGBC Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) LEED-Green-Associate Questions and answers with CertsForce

Installing a bioswale is a design technique that should be used to help prevent stormwater damage to the building and surrounding site. A bioswale is a vegetated channel that conveys stormwater runoff while filtering pollutants, reducing peak flow rates, increasing infiltration, and providing habitat. A bioswale can help prevent stormwater damage by reducing erosion, flooding, sedimentation, and contamination of waterways. The other options are not design techniques that should be used to help prevent stormwater damage to the building and surrounding site. Directing runoff into a stream is a design technique that can cause stormwater damage by increasing the volume and velocity of water entering the stream, resulting in erosion, flooding, sedimentation, and contamination of the stream. Paving the site with high Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) material is a design technique that can reduce the heat island effect by reflecting more solar radiation than conventional paving materials, but it does not prevent stormwater damage as it does not reduce runoff or improve water quality. Paving the site with impervious material is a design technique that can cause stormwater damage by preventing infiltration and increasing runoff, resulting in erosion, flooding, sedimentation, and contamination of waterways. References: LEED Green Associate Candidate Handbook, page 32; USGBC [Sustainable Sites], page 4-5.

 Life-cycle costing is an economic analysis method that considers all costs associated with an asset over its entire life cycle, from acquisition and installation to operation, maintenance, and disposal. In this case, the building manager is comparing the total costs of owning and operating two different boilers over their respective lifetimes. References: LEED Green Associate Candidate Handbook, U.S. Green Building Council resources

An exemplary performance point is earned if the project achieves a performance level that is significantly higher than the credit requirements, as specified in the LEED Reference Guide1. The incremental performance threshold varies depending on the credit and is typically double the credit requirements or the next percentage threshold2.

 1 NC-v4.1 INc1: Innovation | LEEDuser2 What Is Exemplary Performance In LEED? | LEED Blog - Projectific, Inc.

LEED allows flexibility:

“If a project has overlapping eligibility, the project team must choose the rating system that best aligns with the majority of the project scope.”

The team determines applicability based on scope and use.

The best way to prevent a building’s indoor pollutant(s) is to eliminate or control pollutants at the source. Indoor pollutants are substances or particles that can adversely affect the indoor air quality (IAQ) of a building and the health, comfort, and productivity of the occupants. Indoor pollutants can originate from various sources, such as building materials, furnishings, cleaning products, combustion appliances, outdoor air, or occupant activities. Eliminating or controlling pollutants at the source can prevent them from entering or spreading in the indoor environment, which can reduce the exposure and risk for the occupants. Some examples of source control strategies are: using low-emitting materials, installing local exhaust ventilation, sealingcombustion appliances, implementing green cleaning practices, and prohibiting smoking13. References: LEED v4 Green Associate Candidate Handbook1, EPA’s Indoor Air Quality3

The Location and Transportation (LT) category addresses the location and accessibility of a project site, as well as its impacts on transportation, land use, and community connectivity. One of the credits in this category is LT Credit: Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses, which rewards projects that are located in areas with high density and a variety of land uses, such as retail, residential, and civic facilities. This can reduce vehicle miles traveled, greenhouse gas emissions, and infrastructure costs, as well as promote walkability, livability, and social interaction. A new project that is built adjacent to a park with a trail leading to an urban business district qualifies for this credit by providing pedestrian access to diverse uses within a 1/2 mi. (0.80 km) walking distance1 . References: LEED v4 Green Associate Candidate Handbook1, LEED v4 BD+C Reference Guide

The water use reduction for a project is determined by finding the difference between the baseline conditions and the calculated installed case. The baseline conditions are the water use of the project if it were designed to meet the minimum requirements of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 or a local equivalent, whichever is more stringent. The calculated installed case is the water use of the project based on the actual fixtures and fittings installed or specified. The water use reduction is calculated as a percentage of savings from the baseline conditions. The LEED Green Associate Candidate Handbook states that one of the strategies for achieving water efficiency is to “calculate water use reduction by comparing a building project’s water use with the water use baseline calculated for the building after meeting the Energy Policy Act of 1992 fixture performance requirements” [1, p. 14]. References: LEED Green Associate Candidate Handbook, [Water Use Reduction | U.S. Green Building Council]

LEED Thermal Comfort credit requires:

“Comfort Control – defined as the ability to adjust air / radiant temperature, air velocity or humidity… Ensure 50% of individual occupant space have thermal comfort controls.”

Ventilation control combined with adjustable temperature directly supports occupant comfort as per ASHRAE 55-2010.

ASHRAE 90.1-2010, Appendix G is the referenced standard for defining the baseline building performance for energy simulation modeling in LEED v4 for Building Design and Construction. The baseline building is a hypothetical building that represents the minimum energy performance required by ASHRAE 90.1-2010, which is a standard for energy efficiency in buildings. The baseline building is used as a benchmark to compare the proposed design of the project and to calculate the percentage of energy cost savings achieved by the project. The baseline building performance is evaluated by following the procedures and assumptions specified in Appendix G of ASHRAE 90.1-2010, such as building envelope, lighting, HVAC systems, service water heating, and renewable energy.

The other options are not relevant to the question, as they are standards for different aspects of green building, such as thermal comfort (ASHRAE 55-2010), air filtration (ASHRAE 52.2-2007), and ventilation (ASHRAE 62.1-2010).

The Materials and Resources Credit category calculation addresses the permanently installed building products that are part of the building’s structure, enclosure, and interior elements. These include framing, flooring, insulation, windows, doors, interior walls, ceilings, and finishes. Process equipment, elevators, furniture, and formwork for concrete are not included in the calculation . References: LEED v4 Green Associate Candidate Handbook, LEED v4 BD+C Reference Guide