Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1.
Exemplary Performance credits can be achieved in which LEED rating system category?
a. Materials and Resources
b. Innovation
c. Sustainable Sites
d. Water Efficiency
2.
The term “stakeholder” encompasses more than just decision makers and includes:
a. Those who must live with the decisions and those who must carry them out.
b. Everyone who has a financial stake in the building.
c. Everyone who is on the company payroll.
d. Those members of the community who are not affiliated with the company but are affected by its
decisions.
3.
What is the most critical impact category out of the seven, meaning the largest environmental impact, as
determined by USGBC?
a. Reverse Contribution to Global Climate Change
b. Protect, Enhance, and Restore Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
c. Protect and Restore Water Resources
d. Enhance Individual Human Health and Well-Being
4.
The total land area of a project site covered by buildings, streets, parking areas, and other typically
impermeable surfaces constructed as part of the project is called the:
a. Building envelope
b. Project site boundary
c. Development footprint
d. Project to site ratio
5.
Pervious paving areas support which two Sustainable Sites (SS) goals? (select two)
a. Reduce heat island effect
b. Eliminate light pollution
c. Improve ground water quality
d. Protect open space
e. Reduce rainwater runoff
6.
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct 1992) establishes which flush rate as the baseline water consumption
for water closets?
a. 0.25 gpf
b. 0.6 gpf
c. 1.6 gpf
d. 1.6 gpm
7.
A charrette is:
a. Generally held at the end of the project
b. The process of bringing in the design team only for focused conversations
c. The process brings together the project team with stakeholders and outside experts for creative
thinking and collaboration
d. A gathering of LEED APs for a general discussion on sustainability
8.
When applying systems thinking to designing building and communities, we must understand:
a. Systems are always simple and self-contained
b. Most systems are actually systems within systems
c. Unchecked, positive feedback loops can create chaos in a system
d. Both the individual elements of the system and their relationships to each other as a whole
9.
ASHRAE 55 relates to:
a. Minimum energy performance
b. Mechanically ventilated spaces
c. Thermal comfort of indoor occupants
d. Naturally ventilated spaces
10. Two strategies to promote sustainable purchasing during design and operations are: (select two)
a. Provide all employees with a free hybrid car after one year of employment.
b. Develop a sustainable materials policy outlining the goals, thresholds, and procedures for
procurement of ongoing consumables and durable goods.
c. Institute a green signage policy to put up signs reminding employees to turn off lights and
computers, compost their food waste, and to recycle glass, aluminum, and paper.
d. Provide employees incentives such as vacation hours for purchasing products with recycled
content and low VOCs.
e. Specify green custodial products that meet Green Seal, Environmental Choice or EPA standards
to protect indoor environmental quality.
11. A program that allows utilities to call on buildings to decrease their electricity use during peak times, reducing
the strain on the grid and the need to operate more power plants, thus potentially avoiding the costs of con-
structing new plants is called:
a. ASHRAE 90.1
b. HERS
c. Energy Star Portfolio Manager
d. Demand response
12. The use of drought-tolerant native or adapted plants along with rocks, bark mulch, and other landscape
elements is called:
a. Integrative water management
b. Rain gardening
c. Xeriscaping
d. Greenscaping
14. The use of soft surfaces and noise control measures for interiors are part of:
a. Appropriate acoustical design
b. Integrated project delivery (IPD)
c. Space categorization
d. Minimum program requirements (MPRs)
16. The credit category that addresses regional environmental priorities for buildings in different geographic
regions is:
a. Regional Principles
b. Regional Proximity
c. Regional Priority
d. Regional Preferences
19. Installing a vegetative roof will utilize synergies between which two credits?
a. SS Credit—Open Space and SS Credit—Site Development – Protect or Restore Habitat
b. SS Credit—Open Space and WE Credit—Outdoor Water Use Reduction
c. SS Credit—Rainwater Management and SS Credit—Heat Island Reduction
d. WE Credit—Outdoor Water Use Reduction and SS Credit—Rainwater Management
20. The program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to promote green electricity products and
provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products is called:
a. Green-e certification program
b. Green Seal
c. Green Label Plus
d. Green Seed
21. Clerestory windows, light shelves, and reflective paint and materials all enhance what feature of LEED
buildings?
a. Energy efficiency
b. Water conservation
c. Source reduction
d. Daylighting
22. Social responsibility, environmental stewardship, and economic prosperity are three components of the:
a. Triple plan of action
b. Triple bottom line
c. Steps to LEED certification
d. Life-cycle costing
24. The provider and green rater are two roles found in which LEED project type?
a. Building Operations and Maintenance
b. New Construction and Major Renovations
c. Neighborhood Development
d. Homes
25. Recycling is the most common way to divert waste from landfills, but because secondary markets do not
exist for every material, the next most beneficial use of waste materials is:
a. Conversion to energy
b. Waste to water: transported on waste barge to be dumped in the middle of the ocean
c. Transported to smaller landfills in other regions
d. Composting
27. A project team that is almost done designing a new construction office building wishes to achieve option
1 of the EQ Credit—Interior Lighting to get a platinum certification. To achieve the credit they will:
a. Install LED light bulbs in all fixtures.
b. Install one skylight in every regularly occupied space.
c. Provide individual lighting controls for at least 90% of occupants
d. Provide individual lighting controls for 50% of occupants.
28. Using the building layout, fabric, and form to achieve heat transfer and air movement through intentional
openings in interior spaces is called:
a. Mechanical ventilation
b. Recirculated air
c. Natural ventilation
d. Mixed-mode ventilation
29. An example of a high-performance irrigation system that channels water directly to root systems is: (select
two)
a. Evapotranspiration systems
b. Sprinkler systems
c. Xeriscaping systems
d. Drip systems
30. To achieve Location and Transportation (LT) credits, an office complex without transit access might provide:
(select two)
a. Incentives for car pooling
b. Discounted gas at the nearest gas station
c. Facilities for alternative-fuel vehicles like plug-in hybrids
d. Lower health insurance premiums to employees who bike to work
31. A new credit in LEED v4 that encourages early analysis of energy, site, and water systems to inform design is:
a. Integrative Process
b. Site Assessment
c. Fundamental Commissioning and Verification
d. Demand Response
33. The distance measurement that replaces the simple straight-line radius used in LEED 2009 that better
reflects pedestrians’ and bicyclists’ access to amenities, taking into account safety, convenience, and
obstructions to movement and better predicts the use of these amenities is called:
a. Parallax system
b. Food mile standard
c. Pacing system
d. Shortest path analysis
34. Which Location and Transportation (LT) credit offers 2–3 points for locating the project on a brownfield?
a. High Priority Site
b. Sensitive Land Protection
c. Site Assessment
d. Site Development – Protect or Restore Habitat
35. This approach emphasizes connections and communication among professionals and stakeholders
throughout the life of a project. It breaks down disciplinary boundaries and rejects linear planning and
design processes that can lead to inefficient solutions:
a. Integrative Process
b. Conventional building and design
c. Life-cycle approach
d. Cradle to cradle
37. Before submitting a credit interpretation request (CIR) for clarification on a credit, a project team should
review:
a. Rating System Selection Guidance
b. Pilot Credit Library
c. LEED certification agreement
d. LEED Interpretations in the online Addenda database
39. In the seven impact categories or LEED goals, water is listed how?
a. Protect, Enhance, and Restore Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
b. Clean and Protect the Global Water Supply
c. Protect and Restore Water Resources
d. Reduce Potable Water Use Globally
41. A project team needs to recommend an HVAC system to the owner. Which of the following options is the
best investment over the lifetime of the HVAC system:
a. The system that costs $10,000, has a payback of 20 years, has a life expectancy of 10 years, and
will cost $20,000 in maintenance over its lifetime.
b. The system that costs $15,000, has a payback of 10 years, a life expectancy of 14 years, and will
cost $17,000 in maintenance over its lifetime.
c. The system that costs $30,000, has a payback of 2 years, a life expectancy of 35 years, and will
cost $10,000 in maintenance over its lifetime.
d. The system that costs $50,000, has a payback of 15 years, a life expectancy of 20 years, and will
cost $20,000 in maintenance over its lifetime.
43. While hard costs of building include such things as labor and materials, soft costs include:
a. All materials whose cost can easily be affected by inflation
b. Architectural and engineering fees
c. Fixtures and furniture
d. Landscaping
45. Early involvement of what professional helps prevent long-term maintenance issues and wasted energy
by verifying that the design meets the owner’s project requirements and functions as intended:
a. A LEED AP
b. A commissioning authority
c. The project owner
d. An architect
47. If a project team decided that a drugstore would earn the LT Credit—LEED for Neighborhood Development
Location, what other Location and Transportation (LT) credit would be easy to earn?
a. Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses
b. Sensitive Land Protection
c. Access to Quality Transit
d. The project would not be eligible for any other LT credits
48. Untreated household wastewater that has not come into contact with toilet waste is called:
a. Indoor water
b. Graywater
c. Blackwater
d. Process water
50. Tradable commodities representing proof that a unit of electricity was generated from a renewable energy
resource are called:
a. Green power certificates
b. Renewable energy certificates
c. Renewable electricity certificates
d. Green-e certificates
53. In the Innovation category, one additional point may be achieved by having at least how many LEED APs
on the project team?
a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
d. 3
54. Precedent-setting rulings reviewed by USGBC on formal inquiries submitted by LEED project teams that
can be applied to multiple projects are called:
a. LEED Interpretations
b. Pilot credits
c. Addenda
d. Credit interpretation requests
55. Project teams that are unsure which rating system is the best fit for their project should use the:
a. 40/60 rule
b. 50/90 rule
c. International Green Construction Code
d. Law of averages
56. Surfaces that promote the runoff of water instead of infiltration into the subsurface are called:
a. Pervious
b. Impervious
c. Hardscape
d. Reflective
57. This type of waste constitutes about 40% of the total solid waste stream in the U.S.:
a. Construction and demolition waste
b. Municipal solid waste
c. Biowaste
d. Agricultural waste
58. The location valuation factor in MR Credit—Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Material
Ingredients states that:
a. Products extracted, manufactured, and purchased within 100 miles of the project site can be
counted three times in LEED documentation
b. Products that declare chemicals and toxins harmful to human health in environmental product
disclosures receive one bonus point per credit
c. Products extracted, manufactured, and purchased within 100 miles of the project site are valued
at 200% of their base contributing cost
d. Products that are not extracted, manufactured, and purchased within 100 miles of the project must
be counted by volume not cost
59. A study conducted by the New Buildings Institute investigated 121 LEED-certified commercial office buildings
in the U.S. and found that they used what percentage less energy than the national average?
a. 15%
b. 75%
c. 50%
d. 24%
61. The main consideration in the Sustainable Sites (SS) category of the BD+C rating system is:
a. Reducing water and air pollution through source reduction
b. Reducing environmental impacts through site assessment, site design, and site management
c. Reducing rainwater quantity and increasing rainwater quality
d. Increasing rainwater quantity and reducing rainwater quality
62. Sites not previously developed or graded that could support open space, habitat, or natural hydrology are
called:
a. Brownfields
b. Greenfields
c. Previously developed
d. Open space
64. Buildings account for approximately how much energy used today?
a. 32%
b. 12%
c. 40%
d. 50%
65. Green Seal and Environmental Choice are standards that should be met by what type of products?
a. Floor covering products
b. Green cleaning products
c. Acoustical ceiling tiles
d. HVAC filters
66. Furniture is not required to be included in Materials and Resources (MR) credit calculations. However, if
furniture is included in MR credit calculations:
a. It must be calculated by volume not by cost.
b. It must be included consistently in all cost-based credits.
c. It must be reused furniture.
d. It can only be included in one MR credit.
67. Rather than focusing on specific environmental problems and how they can be reduced, as LEED 2009
did, the LEED v4 rating system asks the critical question of:
a. What is the most effective way to reduce global warming?
b. Will this project protect human health?
c. What should a LEED project accomplish?
d. What will this project contribute to the triple bottom line?
68. For information on how boundaries should be drawn for renovation and addition projects, project teams
should refer to the:
a. Minimum program requirements
b. Rating system reference guide
c. Pilot Credit Library
d. Regional priority database
69. A project team incorporating natural ventilation into a building design would most likely include:
a. Light shelves
b. MERV 13 filters
c. Operable windows
d. LED lighting
70. Any excessively bright source of light within the visual field that creates discomfort or loss of visibility is
called:
a. Light trespass
b. Daylighting
c. Glare
d. Glazing
71. Upon project registration, LEED Online automatically determines a project’s Regional Priority (RP) credits
based on its:
a. Latitude and longitude
b. Zip code
c. Distance from the equator
d. Area Code
72. The use of innovative construction strategies, such as prefabrication and designing to dimensional construction
materials, thereby minimizing material cutoffs and inefficiencies is called:
a. Source inflation
b. Renewable resources
c. Embodied energy
d. Source reduction
74. Two strategies that will lower the demand for traditional sources of energy such as oil, coal, and natural
gas are: (select two)
a. The generation of renewable energy on the project site
b. Joining the local utility’s demand reply program
c. Using Energy Star Portfolio Manager
d. Creating an energy portfolio that includes nonrenewables, on-site renewable energy, green power,
carbon offsets, and RECs
e. The purchase of green power
75. Some project teams use their sites’ annual precipitation to determine how much water they should use.
This is called the:
a. WaterSense budget approach
b. EPAct of 1992
c. Water balance approach
d. Water table analysis
76. The absorption of heat by hardscapes, such as dark, nonreflective pavement and buildings, and its radia-
tion to surrounding areas is known as:
a. Emissivity
b. Heat island effect
c. Eutrophication
d. Embodied energy
77. One of the requirements to achieve LT Credit—Reduced Parking Footprint is that project teams must:
a. Design parking for half the minimum local code requirements for parking capacity.
b. Not include parking lots in the project and offer street parking only.
c. Not exceed the minimum local code requirements for parking capacity.
d. Not exceed the maximum local code requirements for parking capacity.
78. The Montreal Protocol effectively bans and/or phases out all:
a. VOCs and PVCs
b. Halocarbons and hydrocarbons
c. HFCs and CFCs
d. CFCs and HCFCs
79. LEED ratings systems are continually evaluated and regularly updated to respond to new technologies
and policies and to changes in the built environment through a:
a. Strategic alliance with the EPA
b. National network of USGBC chapters
c. Partner-based process
d. Consensus-based process
80. A project team is working on a LEED certification for a printing company in the Midwest with printing
presses that run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The company has many employees that smoke and
cannot afford to lose these employees. The project team will:
a. Provide covered smoking areas located at least 25 feet (7.5 meters) from all entries, outdoor air
intakes, and operable windows.
b. Designate a separately ventilated room inside the building for smokers.
c. Give employees six month notice that smoking will be prohibited building wide and offer free
smoking cessation packages.
d. Allow smoking outside all building entrances.
81. Furniture, office equipment, appliances, and audio-visual equipment are all examples of:
a. Soft costs
b. Durable goods
c. Ongoing consumables
d. Net project materials
82. A landmark national effort to codify green building practices into adoptable, adaptable, and enforceable green
building codes has produced a green building code now available as an overlay to traditional building codes
called the:
a. National Green Construction Code (NgCC)
b. National Green Building Code (NgBC)
c. International Green Building Code (IgBC)
d. International Green Construction Code (IgCC)
84. The goal of the triple bottom line, in terms of the built environment, is to:
a. Protect the interests of company shareholders.
b. Ensure that buildings and communities create value for all stakeholders, not just a restricted few.
c. Put the environmental needs of the community before those of the shareholders.
d. Ensure that stakeholders create value for all buildings and communities.
85. The best way to determine the comfort level of building occupants is:
a. Through a town-hall-style meeting
b. Through a confidential survey
c. By disabling all temperature control buttons on wall thermostats in regularly occupied spaces and
dealing with feedback on an as needed basis
d. By keeping the temperature in each room different and monitoring production rates of employees
in each room
86. Ventilation provided by powered equipment such as motor driven fans and blowers is called:
a. Air conditioning
b. Mechanical ventilation
c. Outside air
d. Indoor air
87. Often a reduction in water use will offer greater benefits in the area of:
a. Heat Island effect
b. Stormwater quantity control
c. Erosion control
d. Financial savings
88. Nonrenewable resources that emit greenhouse gases, are limited in quantity, and cannot be replaced as
fast as they are consumed are:
a. Solar, wind, and biomass
b. Oil, coal, and natural gas
c. Ethanol, hydrogen, biodiesel, and natural gas
d. Wood, methane, and CO2
91. When choosing a location, what two attributes must the team consider to reduce environmental impact?
(select two)
a. What is the annual rate of precipitation?
b. What plant species are native and adapted to the project area?
c. Has the site been previously developed?
d. Will the location be near a brownfield site?
e. Is it connected to local infrastructure and public transportation?
92. A project team wishing to design for flexibility is designing a healthcare facility with multiple levels on a
remediated urban site that has been previously developed. Their design for flexibility will include:
a. Install undifferentiated “technology floors” that can accommodate surgery, cardiology, and
radiology programs in equally sized, adaptable modules
b. Passive design features such as thermal mass, shading, and ventilation
c. Rainwater harvesting cisterns
d. A vegetative roof
93. The location valuation factor in the Materials and Resources (MR) category:
a. Adds value to products and materials that are produced with renewable resources
b. Takes away value from products and materials that are not locally produced
c. Adds value to locally produced products and materials
d. Takes away value from products and materials that are produced with fossil fuels
94. The only Sustainable Sites (SS) prerequisite in the BD+C for New Construction rating system is:
a. Site Assessment
b. Open Space
c. Rainwater Management
d. Construction Activity Pollution Prevention
95. A project team has been asked by the owner to achieve Silver level certification on an LEED O+M regis-
tered dental clinic. How many total points must the project receive to be certified to the Silver level?
a. 40–49
b. 50–59
c. 60–79
d. 80 or above
96. Water pollution from diffuse land uses, rather than a single facility, and one of the biggest threats to surface
water quality and aquatic ecosystems is called:
a. Multisource point pollution
b. Water source point pollution
c. Nonpoint source pollution
d. Point source pollution
98. A nationally recognized system for inspecting and calculating a home’s energy performance, HERS stands
for:
a. Heating, Electrical, and Refrigeration Society
b. Heat Energy Reduction Standard
c. Home Energy Rating System
d. Home Energy Reduction System
99. Reusing previously developed land, cleaning up brownfield sites, and investing in disadvantaged areas
are strategies of which category?
a. Sustainable Sites
b. Location and Transportation
c. Energy and Atmosphere
d. Regional Priority
100. Schools, retail, healthcare, data centers, hospitality, warehouses and distribution centers, and homes are
all examples of:
a. Project types
b. LEED rating systems
c. LEED rating system categories
d. Impact categories