To achieve the professional designation of USGBC LEED Accredited Professional Building Design and Construction from the USGBC, candidates must clear the AP BD+C Exam with the minimum cut-off score. For those who wish to pass the USGBC LEED Accredited Professional Building Design and Construction certification exam with good percentage, please take a look at the following reference document detailing what should be included in USGBC LEED AP BD+C Exam preparation.
The USGBC AP BD+C Exam Summary, Sample Question Bank and Practice Exam provide the basis for the real Certified LEED Accredited Professional Building Design and Construction (AP BD+C) exam. We have designed these resources to help you get ready to take USGBC LEED Accredited Professional Building Design and Construction (AP BD+C) exam. If you have made the decision to become a certified professional, we suggest you take authorized training and prepare with our online premium USGBC LEED Accredited Professional Building Design and Construction Practice Exam to achieve the best result.
USGBC AP BD+C Exam Summary:
| Exam Name | USGBC LEED Accredited Professional Building Design and Construction |
| Exam Code | AP BD+C |
| Exam Fee |
Combined exam: $550 ($400 for USGBC members) Specialty only: $350 ($250 for USGBC members) |
| Exam Duration | 120 Minutes |
| Number of Questions | 100 |
| Passing Score | 170 out of 200 |
| Format | Multiple Choice Questions |
| Schedule Exam | USGBC |
| Sample Questions | USGBC LEED AP BD+C Exam Sample Questions and Answers |
| Practice Exam | Certified LEED Accredited Professional Building Design and Construction (AP BD+C) Practice Test |
USGBC LEED Accredited Professional Building Design and Construction Syllabus Topics:
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| LEED Process (7 Questions) |
- Minimum Program Requirements for LEED certification and requirements for Platinum - Different avenues to achieve LEED goals (e.g., developing credit interpretation rulings/requests, project priorities, LEED equivalencies) - LEED system synergies and tradeoffs (e.g., between rating systems, between credits, between strategies) - Project boundary, LEED boundary, and property boundary - Evolutionary characteristics of LEED (e.g., addenda, continuous improvement, development cycles of the rating systems) - Selection of rating systems (e.g., LEED 40/60 rule) - LEED occupancy (e.g., FTE, transients, visitors, residents) |
| Integrative Process Planning and Assessments (8 Questions) |
- Integrative Design Process (e.g. timing, engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, assessment-based understanding, design charrette, discovery, LEED goal setting) - Core and Shell, as applicable (e.g., tenant guidelines, green leases credits) - Climate resilience (e.g., site-specific natural hazards) - Human use, health impact and social context (e.g., cultural awareness, historic or heritage awareness, community engagement) - Carbon assessment (e.g., operational, embodied, transportation, refrigerants, product selection, long-term direct and indirect carbon emissions) |
| Location and Transportation (8 Questions) |
- Development constraints and opportunities (e.g., prime farmland, floodplains, species and habitat, water bodies, wetlands, historic districts, priority designations, brownfields, steep slopes) - Community connectivity terms and definitions (e.g., walkability, street design, surrounding density, diverse uses) - Access to quality transit, concepts/calculations (e.g., accessibility to multimodal transportation choices) - Transportation demand management (e.g., parking capacity and management, bicycle storage and shower facilities) - Electric vehicles (e.g., regionalization of energy sources for electric power generation, EV parking, EV supply equipment specifications) - Economic and social vitality of a community (e.g., equitable construction, supporting a local economy, affordable housing) |
| Sustainable Sites (9 Questions) |
- Site assessment (e.g., special-status vegetation, healthy habitat and invasive species to be identified) - Construction activity pollution prevention (e.g., erosion and sedimentation control plan, airborne dust) - Habitat conservation and restoration (e.g., site restoration or preservation, habitat restoration, habitat conservation, native or adaptive vegetation, disturbed or compacted soils, bird-friendly glass) - Exterior lighting (e.g., lighting trespass and uplight, preservation of night sky, nocturnal animals and migrating birds) - Heat island reduction (e.g., heat island effect, vegetated roofs, solar reflectance, roof and non-roof strategies, tree equity, parking undercover) - Rainwater management (e.g., historical rainfall conditions, natural hydrology, runoff management, low impact development, rainwater harvesting and reuse, implications for zero lot line projects) - Extreme climate change events (e.g., droughts, extreme heat, flooding, hail, hurricanes, sea level rise, tsunamis, wildfire, winter storms) - Accessible quality open space (e.g., barrier-free and physically accessible, social equity element in community outdoor space, amount of space and quality of services, vegetated outdoor space, biophilia) |
| Water Efficiency (9 Questions) |
- Irrigation demand (e.g., landscape water requirement, irrigation system efficiency, native and adaptive species, conceptual understanding of irrigation calculations) - Fixture and fittings (e.g., prescriptive versus performance path, water use reduction through fixtures such as toilets, urinals, showerheads, faucets [kitchen and lavatory], conceptual understanding of calculations) - Appliance and process water (e.g., equipment types [cooling towers and washing machines], commercial kitchen equipment) - Types and quality of water (e.g., potable, nonpotable, alternative water sources) - Water reuse (e.g., water reclamation, alternative water sources) - Holistic approach to building water use (e.g., whole project water use) - Water use measurement (e.g., water meters, submeters, types of water sources to measure, data management and analysis) - Leak detection (e.g., leak detection sensors) |
| Energy and Atmosphere (18 Questions) |
- Energy performance and efficiency (e.g., referenced standards, building performance factors, prescriptive, performance [energy modeling]) - Electrification (e.g., limit on-site combustion, electrification readiness) - Reduction of peak thermal loads (e.g., ventilation, thermal bridging, infiltration) - Renewable energy supply (e.g., on-site and off-site renewable energy; renewable energy readiness, photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind, low-impact hydroelectricity, Energy Attribute Certificates [EACs], equity project) - Refrigerants (e.g., use of refrigerants on site, methods and approaches, Global Warming Potential [GWP] benchmarks, installation, leakage amounts) - Commissioning (e.g., commissioning authority [CxA], owner’s project requirements [OPR], basis of design [BOD], monitoring-based commissioning, envelope commissioning, Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing [MEP] systems, building enclosures, monitoring based commission [MBCx], training of staff, operations and maintenance plan, referenced standards) - Advanced energy metering (e.g., energy use measurement, building automation controls, benchmarking) - Emergency and future proofing (e.g., energy storage, renewable energy readiness, power resiliency [critical loads]) - Grid interactive (e.g., grid efficiency and reliability, demand response programs, load shifting) |
| Materials and Resources (13 Questions) |
- Whole-building life-cycle assessment (e.g., life-cycle stages, modules, standards and building scope; high[1]impact materials; project structure enclosure and hardscape materials; quantify global warming potential [GWP] impacts) - Procurement of low-embodied carbon materials (e.g., environmental product declaration [EPD], embodied carbon conservation measures, multi-attribute products, buy-clean program [locally made, low-carbon materials, social responsibility in the supply chain, raw material source and extraction practices]) - Carbon emissions from construction activities (e.g., track fuel and utility usage, reduce transportation emissions) - Building and material reuse (e.g., partial- and whole-building, enclosure materials [skin, framing], permanently installed interior elements [walls, doors, floor coverings, ceiling systems], incorporating reuse from off-site) - Material stewardship (e.g., where materials came from, end of life of materials, how to recover value, durability, extended producer responsibility [EPR], recycled content) - Low-emitting materials selection (e.g., product categories [paints and coatings, adhesives and sealants, flooring, ceiling, walls, insulation, composite wood, furniture]) - Human and ecological health impacts (e.g., evaluation criteria, material ingredient reporting and optimization, volatile organic compound [VOC] emissions and content, toxicity, evaluating environmental claims) - Construction and demolition waste management (e.g., waste reduction, waste diversion goals, recycle and/or salvage nonhazardous construction and demolition materials, waste management plan, source separation of materials) - Operations and ongoing waste management (e.g., waste reduction, storage and collection of recyclable materials [mixed paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, plastics, and metals], safe storage areas for batteries and mercury-containing lamps, organic waste composting) |
| Indoor Environmental Quality (13 Questions) |
- Thermal environment (e.g., over-cooling, heating, thermal safety, cooling solutions and fans, thermal comfort control) - Sound environment (e.g., exterior and interior noise, background noise, reverberation, noise exposure, acoustical comfort, acoustical privacy, soundscape, quiet zones, sensory zones) - Lighting environment (e.g., color rendering, surface reflectance, types of fixtures, luminance, Unified Glare Rating [UGR], lighting controls, daylight [building massing and orientation, glare, human health impacts, illuminance, surface reflectance, spatial Daylight Autonomy [sDA], Annual Sunlight Exposure [ASE], proximity to windows for daylight access]) - Biophilic environment (e.g., connection to outdoor environment; direct line of sight to outdoors, repeated and sustained engagement with nature, quality views) - Accessibility and inclusion (e.g., accessibility codes, strategies for safety and aging, social health, wayfinding, neurodiversity, adaptable environment [choice and flexibility]) - Construction management (e.g., no smoking, extreme heat protection, HVAC protection, source control, pathway interruption, housekeeping, scheduling, construction indoor air quality) - Ventilation levels (e.g., natural vs. mechanical, outdoor air, regional climate conditions, local air quality, ventilation design, performance-based indoor air quality procedure [IAQP]) - Management of and improvements to indoor air quality (e.g., filtration, air cleaning, air testing, ongoing monitoring) - Exposure to emissions (e.g., prohibit smoking, prohibit vehicle idling) - Management modes for risk events (e.g., infection risk management mode, wildfire, power outages) - Resilient planning and design (e.g., thermal safety, extreme heat and cold, operable windows) |
Both USGBC and veterans who’ve earned multiple certifications maintain that the best preparation for a USGBC AP BD+C professional certification exam is practical experience, hands-on training and practice exam. This is the most effective way to gain in-depth understanding of USGBC LEED AP BD+C concepts. When you understand techniques, it helps you retain USGBC LEED Accredited Professional Building Design and Construction knowledge and recall that when needed.
