Too many people think of professional exams or continuing education as cruel exercises in futility; a complete waste of time spent learning about a new concept that will eventually be trumped in a year by a newer, more innovative concept. But, what if your medical doctor thought this way?

Too many people think of professional exams or continuing education as cruel exercises in futility; a complete waste of time spent learning about a new concept that will eventually be trumped in a year by a newer, more innovative concept. But, what if your medical doctor thought this way?

Whether you have been reading headline after headline in the news, or perhaps your clients are already asking for it, the green movement is here to stay! It's time to pull up your bootstraps and get yourself educated in all things green. Developments like new International Green Construction Code (IGCC) are gaining momentum fast and many people find that becoming a LEED professional is the fastest way to better understand all the new, more stringent, green codes. Plus, you get a shiny new professional credential that identifies you as a green-minded professional.



What is IGCC? In March 2010 the International Code Council (ICC) launched Public Version 1.0 of the new International Green Construction Code (IGCC). Big names like the American Institute of Architects (AIA); ASTM International; American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); United States Green Building Council (USGBC); and the Illuminating Engineers Society (IES) are strong supporters of the new IGCC building code. These well-established groups have set industry codes and standards for the safe design, construction, operations and maintenance of buildings for decades. Therefore, the convergence of their efforts into the new International Green Construction Code is a strong indicator that the building industry's demand for a more environmentally sound code was high and if they didn't develop the code soon - someone else would have.



You may think the LEED exam isn't a fair or decent predictor of a person's ability to carryout green building strategies and technologies - but that attitude won't help you pass the LEED exam! The key discovery that people who have passed a LEED exam have made is that raging against the machine doesn't hurt the machine. If that's what you choose to do, rage on my friend. However, people who pass the LEED exam tend to approach the LEED training process as an opportunity to advance their skills - not an instrument of punishment, but an opportunity for reward.



A good way to face your fears is to do a little research, check out your LEED training options, view a LEED training course demo to excite your interests, and let the LEED training experts teach you all the information you need to know to pass the LEED exam the first time. Planet Principles offers online LEED exam prep courses so you don't even have to leave the comfort of your home while studying for the LEED exam.



Believe us when we say that none of the LEED exam prep experts who work at Planet Principles were born acing the LEED exams. No one is. That's because the LEED exams do not measure innate skills; they measure acquired skills. People who pass the LEED exams are simply people who've acquired these skills, maybe by working on a LEED certified project, or by reading a lot of green industry articles, or by studying green practices in college, or perhaps the easiest way - in one of Planet Principles LEED exam prep courses. But they have, perhaps without realizing it, acquired the skills that spell success on the LEED exam. And if you haven't, you have nothing whatsoever to feel worried about. You just have to acquire them now.