LEED GA Course & Exam Prep

LEED Green Associate is the entry-level credential certifying foundational knowledge of the LEED certification. Has no requirements, anyone can take the exam and become accredited. It is commonly held by Architects, Engineers, contractors, interior designers, facility managers, consultants, and students.

The exam draws from the LEED v5 rating system’s credit categories: LEED process, integrative strategies, location and transportation, sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. Focusing on the 3 impact areas in v5: decarbonization, quality of life and ecological conservation and restoration.

The LEED Green Associate exam is made up of 100 multiple questions, no essays or fill in the blanks. Most questions have 1 correct answer, but when stated there are a few questions where you need to choose 2 or 3 correct answers.

The 100 questions are made up of 9 subjects, which will be the study material in the LEED GA course as follows:

1. LEED Process, 16 questions
2. Integrative Strategies, 8 questions
3. Location and transportation, 7 questions
4. Sustainable sites, 7 questions
5. Water efficiency, 9 questions
6. Energy and atmosphere, 10 questions
7. Material and resources, 9 questions
8. Indoor environmental quality, 8 questions
9. Project surroundings and public outreach, 11 questions

The standard fee is $250, reduced to $200 for employees of USGBC member companies and $100 for full-time students. Veterans can sit the exam free. The fee covers one attempt, a retake requires paying in full again.

You get 2 hours to answer 100 multiple-choice questions, plus optional 20 minutes for the intro tutorial and post-exam survey.

No. All LEED exams, including the Green Associate exam, are closed-book. You won’t be able to reference notes, the candidate handbook, or any outside material during the test, whether you’re testing at a Prometric center or remotely.

Yes. You can take it either in person at a Prometric testing center or remotely from home through Prometric’s ProProctor online proctoring platform. Both count equally toward the credential, testing online just requires a quiet, private space, a working webcam, and a system that meets Prometric’s technical setup requirements.

It’s manageable with the right preparation but can catch candidates off guard if they’re new to green building, since questions test applied understanding rather than memorized facts. Structured practice, timed mock exams and review of weak knowledge areas is what separates a comfortable pass from a stressful one.

Most candidates study for 2 months, but with the archiroots LEED Green Associate course you should be able to take the exam in 2 weeks or less. 

Though reference books, study guides are good resources. A simplified LEED Green Associate training with credible practice exams have been proven to be the best and most efficient way to study for the exam.

Ideally the best method is to take the first week to learn the material through the simplified training (30 minutes per day). The second week, take 1 practice exam a day until you pass all practice exams, while reviewing through the flashcards.

There are not enough free resources to fully prepare, most candidates find free content leaves gaps, since it rarely maps cleanly to LEED v5’s exact credit weighting. A structured course built around the current exam objectives typically shortens study time and lowers the odds of needing a paid retake.

The credential needs to be maintained, you’ll need 15 continuing education hours every 2 years to keep it active or upgrade to the LEED AP to gain extra 2 years of credential maintenance.

LEED Green Associate certifies general knowledge of green building and the LEED rating system, with no prerequisites to sit the exam. LEED AP with specialty (BD+C, O+M, ID+C, and others) goes deeper into a specific project type and requires you to already hold or earn simultaneously the LEED Green Associate credential. Maintenance requirements differ too: 15 CE hours every 2 years for LEED Green Associate, versus 30 for LEED AP.

LEED Green Associate comes first. It’s a required prerequisite for any LEED AP with specialty credential, though you are allowed to take both exams back-to-back in the same testing window if you’d rather not wait between them. Most candidates still study for and pass LEED Green Associate first, then move on to a specialty once they’ve settled on which one fits their work.