ARCHITECTS, engineers and contractors are racing to sit the Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) exams before May 31 next year, after which the assessments are expected to get more stringent.

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced that applicants can take the exams based on Leed v2009 materials until the 2014 sunset date. The new exams, which will be available after June 2014, are expected to be more difficult due to the addition of new credits and a new credit category.

Individuals who wish to earn a Leed professional credential must first pass the exam related to the credential and agree to continuing education requirements. There are six different Leed exams, each related to a different credential. Every credential requires starting with the Leed Green Associate exam.

Leed v4 will introduce many new programmes that might be unfamiliar to design professionals and product manufacturers. Some of the most significant changes are in the Materials and Resources (MR) category, which will now offer three new building product disclosure and optimisation credits. The first of these new credits rewards projects that use products with an environmental product declaration (EPD). An EPD reports a product’s total contributions to environmental impacts such as global warming, ozone depletion, and energy consumption.