Professional Credentials

The LEED AP program has always been grounded in the pursuit of excellence and continuous improvement. To continue to meet these goals, GBCI developed a new, multi-faceted credentialing system that ensures that LEED professionals have the latest knowledge and understanding of green building practices and that they are recognized for distinction.



The new LEED professional credentialing program was developed to encourage green building professionals to maintain and advance their knowledge and expertise.

A LEED credential provides employers, policymakers, and other stakeholders with assurances of an individual’s current level of competence and is the mark of the most qualified, educated, and influential green building professionals in the marketplace.

These goals had to be balanced with three market challenges:
  • Staying current: Technology, best practices, and the LEED rating systems evolve rapidly.
  • Differentiation: A credentialing system that provides for multiple levels of accomplishment and expertise is needed to distinguish among green building professionals with basic, advanced, and extraordinary levels of knowledge.
  • Specialization: Many green building professionals develop expertise in specific sub-sectors of the industry.
Three fundamental changes to the LEED credentialing program are being phased in throughout 2009:
  • Three levels of excellence that distinguish practitioners with basic, advanced, and extraordinary levels of knowledge.
  • Eligibility requirements for all levels of the exam system.
  • Credential maintenance requirements that ensure that LEED professionals have the latest knowledge and understanding of green building practices.