The LEED Accredited Professional system continues to evolve. First, when LEED 2009 was introduced earlier this year, the new organization called the Green Building Certification Institute (which handles certification for both people and buildings) announced two new "levels" of accreditation. The LEED Green Associate is for non-technical industry professionals, and the LEED Fellow recognizes the highest tier of leadership in the green building industry.
Next, also with the release of LEED 2009, the organization announced that current LEED APs could re-test and be re-credentialed in a particular specialty - Operations and Maintenance, Interior Design and Construction, or Building Design and Construction. New tests have been and are being developed to attain these specialties - and by many accounts, the exams are much, much more accurate barometers of green building and LEED knowledge than the test may have been a few years ago.
More recently, the organization has announced a LEED AP Credentialing Maintenance System - basically a system that requires LEED APs who wish to maintain their specialties acquire 30 hours of continuing education over a two-year period. The system, first unveiled in early August, has already had more than 1,600 LEED APs sign up.
So what does all this mean? In essence, the system overhaul will make it easier for facility executives to tell who is actually a LEED expert - designated by the specialty associated with their LEED AP credential. That's because those who have earned and are maintaining the O&M, ID&C or BD&C specialties show a commitment to the integrity of the credential - and to keeping up with their knowledge of green building in general and LEED specifically. Current LEED APs are not required to re-test, but they'll just be known as LEED APs with no specialty. So there would be no way for facility executives to tell when they actually passed the test, or if they done anything since then to stay current with LEED.
When LEED AP was first introduced, many skeptics took pot shots at its credibility. After all, anyone could study and pass a test, and then pass themselves off as an expert. Now, many of the criticisms have been addressed and the GBCI (and USGBC) has a robust, reliable credentialing system that truly can provide an indication of green building expertise.