LEED General Courses By Sponsor

Deadly hurricanes, blistering heatwaves, melting ice caps, massive crop failures, catastrophic droughts, and significant economic losses are the result of carbon emissions, specifically in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. Addressing carbon emissions is crucial to mitigating these devastating effects. Design professionals play a critical role in mitigating carbon emissions through their design decisions and practices. In this course, we explore the LEED Zero certification program and how it can help fight climate change.

This one hour course will empower project teams and design professionals to take leading roles in using materials selection to promote human health and protect the environment.

Materials make the built environment possible, and collectively, the effects of millions of materials choices have massive consequences for the ecosystem and human health at local, regional, and global scales. Selecting materials with desirable human health and environmental attributes that deliver comparable or improved function, durability, and maintainability—has always been an important component of green building.

In this one-hour course, the participant will discover the importance of high quality indoor air, factors that contribute to quality, and strategies to support the health of construction workers and occupants. Consider the heavy emphasis placed on indoor air quality in LEED credit allocations, and learn how to design and implement indoor air quality management, best practices, and assessments that can help achieve LEED credits.

In this one hour course, the design professional will review implementation strategies for an integrative design and construction process. We also evaluate the new Integrative Process credit in the LEED v4 rating system, and outline the necessary activities to achieve the credit. The design professional will explore collaboration strategies to help control project costs, and discover energy efficiency measures which are enabled through engagement with the building occupants.

In this one-hour course, the participant will explore design strategies that encourage beneficial occupant behavior. Consider the impacts occupant behavior changes can have on a building over its lifetime, dispel myths that key occupant behaviors cannot be directed by designers, and learn how these strategies can help achieve LEED certification.

In this one-hour course, we will explore the challenges of creating a sustainable cannabis facility that reduces energy consumption, water usage, and waste. We identify best practices for sustainable cannabis facilities and how hazards may affect building occupants.

Whole building LCA and carbon analysis play a crucial role in promoting sustainable and low-carbon construction practices. By considering the entire life cycle of a building, these assessments help reduce environmental impacts and contribute to a more sustainable built environment. In this course we explore how project teams can use whole building LCA to reduce carbon for LEED v4.1 BD+C and ID+C projects.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has caused significant damage to the global economy and disrupted people's lives. In this course we will identify COVID-19 challenges with respect to building occupancy, public health, and social equity. We will review LEED v4.1 BD+C Safety First Pilot Credits and discuss their possible impact on building occupant's health. Our team provides a deep-dive into the AIA Re-occupancy Assessment Tool and how design professionals can prioritize the health of building occupants.

Sustainable kitchen design encompasses environmental, health, and social considerations. In this course, we explore innovative approaches that prioritize energy efficiency, the use of healthy materials, and the enhancement of overall well-being. As the demand for eco-friendly living spaces continues to rise, design professionals play a pivotal role in shaping the future of kitchen design. Our team discusses LEED v4.1 BD+C and ID+C strategies that can help design professionals create healthier and more sustainable kitchen spaces for building occupants.

A new Music and Science complex was added to the Hood River Middle School in 2010, earning LEED Platinum certification. Through a series of interviews with the school faculty and the design team, we explore the creation of a net-zero-energy building that complements the children’s studies of the balance of nature. Learn how the school’s existing permaculture curriculum drove the sustainable design of the building and resulted in achieving the ‘School as a Teaching Tool’ credit with one of the most robust sustainable curriculums in the world.

Embodied carbon is the hidden impact embedded within construction materials and products and contributes significantly to our carbon footprint. By understanding the implications of your specification decisions, you possess the key to not only reducing embodied carbon, but also creating resilient and environmentally conscious structures. In this course, we explore how LEED v4.1 BD+C, ID+C, and O+M ratings systems address embodied carbon and help reduce environmental impacts.

Our planet is facing significant environmental challenges. There are over 7 billion people on our planet vying for limited resources. Our oceans are overfished, polluted with toxic chemicals, plastic, and sewage. Our forests have been clearcut for timber, mining, and livestock purposes. We are living in the 6th mass extinction, with a large number of plants and animals being annihilated every year. The good news is that there are strategies to solve these challenges and ensure a future for our children.

Our planet is facing significant environmental challenges. There are over 7 billion people on our planet vying for limited resources. Our oceans are overfished, polluted with toxic chemicals, plastic, and sewage. Our forests have been clearcut for timber, mining, and livestock purposes. We are living in the 6th mass extinction, with a large number of plants and animals being annihilated every year. The good news is that there are strategies to solve these challenges and ensure a future for our children. This presentation focuses on selecting a sustainable site for building a LEED project.

Stormwater runoff in urban areas is one of the leading sources of water pollution in the United States. As the runoff flows over the land, paved streets, parking lots, and building rooftops, it accumulates chemicals, sediment or other pollutants that can adversely affect water quality if the runoff is discharged untreated. Through a series of video interviews with specialists from the City of Portland, we explore green infrastructure (GI) and low-impact development (LID) rainwater management strategies.

In this one-hour course, the design professional will explore the impacts of light pollution, including harm done both to people, and to the environment. Strategies used by LEED projects to achieve SS Credit: Light Pollution Reduction are considered for all LEED BD+C v4 compliance options, including calculation methods and the B.U.G. prescriptive methods to assess compliance for light trespass and sky glow. We conclude with a reference list of lighting terminology.

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) have been gaining fast recognition as the gold standard of product disclosures. We explore the inherent limitations of these tools, and discuss potential strategies for project teams to use EPDs for product specification.

In this course we describe how project teams can use Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for LEED v4.1 projects. Our team describes the environmental impacts referenced in EPDs and how these impacts may affect the planet and its inhabitants. We discuss how EPDs can contribute to the LEED v4.1 BD+C, ID+C, and O+M ratings systems to create sustainable buildings.