LEED Certification

LEEDS Certification vs. LEED Certification: Which is Correct?

Many people say LEEDS Certification when referring to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system for green buildings.

LEEDS Certification vs. LEED Certification: Which is Correct?

The first part of my title above is not a typo. Many folks search for LEEDS, LEEDS AP, or LEEDS Certification in Google. When I first started hearing this, I thought it was just a Southern California thing or maybe even just a Los Angeles or Orange County thing, but now I’m hearing people from New York and Texas say LEEDS instead of LEED. Is there a resource on the web that has mistaken LEED for LEEDS, or is it just that people have a natural tendency to add an “s” to the standard? Actually, I wonder if people are familiar with Leeds because of the UK…

If you are, in fact, looking for information about LEED certification, then you should know that the LEED green building standard is administered by the USGBC. That’s the United States Green Building Council, which is both a national and local chapter organization. Now, if you want to become LEED certified, well, that’s a job for GBCI. The Green Business Certification Institute doesn’t actually administer the test, though. So if you want to become LEEDS certified (Oh, I mean LEED certified), you’ll actually have to take the exam through a Prometric testing center. Prometric is a company that specializes in test administration and third-party proctoring.

Anyway, I haven’t even delved into what LEED NC, CI, EB, ND, H, etc. means. That will be a topic for another day! I just wanted to take a moment to say that it’s funny how someone new to LEED generally asks for LEEDS Certification. This is exactly why Everblue’s LEED training course exists – to help newcomers understand the LEED terminology and gain the knowledge and confidence to pass their LEED exam! 

If you have any other questions about LEED terminology or simply how it works, give us a call at (800) 460-2575 and we’ll help you out! 

About Lesley Baulding

Lesley has been passionately advocating for and working with green building and renewable energy since 2009. She has experience with LEED certification, home energy auditing, blower door testing, solar energy, and more. She holds many certifications, including LEED Green Associate and NABCEP Certification. Her work has won numerous awards over the past decade.