LEED v4 was launched in November 2013. Yet, many building product manufacturers are still unprepared in today’s marketplace. Despite several new opportunities, many building product manufacturers haven’t developed Health Product Declarations (HPDs) for LEED v4. Other companies have failed to update their LEED product documentation from LEED v3 to LEED v4. Forward thinking manufacturers and early adopters will reap the benefits of LEED v4 while others will be playing catch-up and have less specification opportunities. Today we will explore how LEED courses can benefit building product manufacturers in two key ways.

Increase Product Specification Through LEED Courses

Building product manufacturers can increase opportunities for getting specified on LEED certified projects through education. As of 2017, there are over 200,000 LEED professionals. Architects, engineers, interior designers, contractors, and other design professionals who maintain a LEED credential need continuing education. LEED courses provide a significant avenue for manufacturers to educate LEED APs about their products.

There are more than 90,500 commercial projects that are LEED certified with more than 5.8 billion certified commercial square feet. LEED is not going away and any manufacturer who thinks LEED is a fad is misinformed. So, how can building product manufacturers leverage LEED v4 to get specified? Developing a GBCI general hour course or LEED specific hour course can help reach thousands of LEED APs who need their mandated CE hours. In a previous blog, we discussed how LEED AP’s must earn 30 continuing education hours to maintain their credential. At least 6 hours must be LEED-specific hours related to their LEED specialty. The remaining 24 hours can all be General CE hours.

Free LEED courses, provide the greatest benefit for manufacturers. Architects prefer free AIA online courses and free GBCI courses compared to CE courses that cost $50 an hour. Free LEED courses are a sure way to reach the maximum number of architects and designers. The winning results and effectiveness of free education cannot be overstated. LEED certification can be a complicated process so the more an architect knows about a product, the higher the probability that they will specify it.

LEED Certification Courses

As important as it is to educate architects about your products, it is crucial that your sales and marketing team understand the LEED certification process. How does your building product contribute to LEED v4? Manufacturers can lose out on jobs when they don’t understand how the LEED certification process works. Building product reps should be well versed in what potential LEED credits apply to their building product.

LEED certification training is beneficial for building product manufacturers by providing the necessary foundation for employees to understand the big picture. Not every employee has to be a LEED AP or LEED Green Associate, they only need to have a basic understanding of LEED v4 and how it applies to their products. Untrained staff can deplete your resources and distract your best people from urgent and important tasks. Luckily, there are free resources for building product manufacturers to train their employees about LEED certification.

Instead of spending a fortune to buy your employees a LEED study guide, LEED practice questions, and other resources, a free LEED exam prep program is now available to train your staff. Does your company provide LEED certification classes? Have LEED courses improved your specification opportunities?