Green Energy

what is leed and will this certification be in demand in NYC?

I understand that LEED is Leadership in Energy and Environmental design. What job can I expect to get and will this job be in demand? what Green jobs will be in demand?

LEED is a building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Its purpose is to provide independent verification of a real estate project’s degree of resource efficiency. Areas covered include energy and water efficiency, indoor air quality, emissions, proximity to mass transit, use of recyclable materials, renewable energy, etc..

A building is rated as Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum depending on how many points are received in each category. There are regular updates which change the point structure as there is always a discussion as to what level of points should be given to any category.

While it is becoming international, LEED is primarily used on government, university and large industry projects that can afford the administrative work and high fees associated with the verification, and can use it as a marketing tool. Everyone wants to be “green” these days, and large real estate projects want to be LEED Certified!

There are two basic levels of testing to become a accredited: Green Associate, and Accredited Professional. Both are fairly easy to achieve and for that reason there are a lot of them out there. They only require money and a lot of rote memorization to pass the tests. In order to be called a LEED AP, or accredited professional, you need to have worked on a LEED project at some point. Otherwise you can only take the Green Associate test.

It is a greatly evolving accreditation process as there are now many specialties including Retail, Healthcare, New Construction, Core and Shell, Interiors, Existing Buildings, etc. For my money, I prefer the far cheaper and simpler Energy Star systems to LEED.

In New York City, if you work in one of these fields, it would look good on your resume. It should only take you a month or two to get the Green Associate tag, and you can work on the Accredited Professional Certification if you find an opportunity to work on a project. You might offer to work as an intern to be able to claim the experience.

As far as a specialty, in my opinion, due to ever increasing regulations, an aging population, and the focus on re-use, I think the best job opportunities are in Existing Buildings. There are millions of inefficient buildings out there that need updating, and only a handful of significant buildings being planned that would be candidates for LEED New Construction.

Most of the “green” jobs are, and will continue to be in the areas of making buildings and facilities of all types more energy efficient. Other than that, as government requires third party verification as part of the Smart Grid effort, there will be jobs as raters. There will continue to be opportunities in the area of renewable energy production as long as the financial incentives last.

I hope this was helpful!

I a professional engineer and a certified green builder.

Hundreds of Jobs to be Created Across Capital Region Under Governor Paterson’s Green Jobs Bill