[EDIT: I am turning this into a several part series on studying for the LEED GA exam, with more comprehensive tips and outlines, so check back for updates!]
So today I took and passed the LEED Green Associate examination! I can now add the LEED GA credential to add to my resume!
While studying, I pulled together this basic outline of study tips and resources. These are meant for people who are also in the process of studying for the LEED GA exam. If you know nothing about LEED, check out this website first.
Hopefully these notes will help others study for the exam. U.S. Green Building Council is the nonprofit organization that releases the rating systems and standards, and Green Building Certification Institute is the organization that does the certification and accreditation.
Image Credit: Flickr user quapan
Key tips:
- Many things are calculated by area and cost so pay attention to those ratios and things. Know what types of data go into the ratios. For example, recycled materials used is calculated using proportion of costs.
- I had difficulty differentiating minimum occupancy rate and full time equivalent occupancy. Minimum occupancy rate is just for LEED O&M and has to do with how many permanent tenants are in the building, which needs to take up 75% of the floor area for at least 12 months continuously prior to registration of the project. Full time equivalent occupancy has to do with the actual amount of time the people spend in the building, and this is calculated using person-hours per day divided by 8. For example, an 8-hr shift worker is equal to 1 FTE.
On October 10th, a beautiful morning even if the slightly overcast sky and the occasional drips of water threatened more rain, I set out for Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I took part in a group hike through the park with the goal of foraging and learning about foraging in this urban parkscape. The group was led by Leda Meredith, author of “Botany, Ballet, and Dinner from Scratch,” as part of Green Edge NYC’s urban foraging series.
Stepping into the park, I wasn’t sure what to expect for the next 2 and half hours. What I came to realize, though, was that this city is not devoid of edible plants even though it is not as “natural” as people may perceive it to be. My own family members were skeptical that we would find anything when I told them about it later.
The parks of New York turn out to have not only edible greens, but species that are good for medicinal and seasoning purposes too. Leda told us about dandelion leaves, epazote, gingko leaves and nuts, and many others.
For a better look at what we did, watch this video I made:
Today’s cool devices may be too desirable for their own good when they foster the “gotta have it” mentality that in turn leads to high turnover rates for electronics, excessive unnecessary purchases, and unruly amounts of electronic waste.
Image credit: Flickr user databhi ♪♫
While we are in awe of the latest gizmos and smartphones, thousands of electronic devices become e-waste in landfills or be sent to poor third world countries. You probably have seen articles about recycling your electronics through e-waste collection programs or trading in your device when you buy a new one. Maybe you may have seen the photographs of people taking apart televisions, repairing what they can to be reused or sold, or picking out the valuable metal parts. 70% of the heavy metals in the U.S.A. landfills are come from electronics, though only 2% of the trash is electronic waste. Tons of e-waste is exported to Asia and Africa each year for processing, possibly also exposing people to toxic fumes when un-valuable materials and metals are burned. But we still continue to acquire new electronic devices!
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Laundry might be one area of home life that seems the most difficult to “green.” You don’t want to compromise the results of the process, but you want to lessen the impact on the environment.
Traditional detergents are super heavy on the chemicals. I remember reading a book when I was younger, in which a character was murdered and his face unrecognizable because it had been stuck in a tub of detergent for several hours. Truth or not, it makes you think about just what is it in the slow moving liquid.
Image credit: Flickr user cafemama
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Last friday, I volunteered at the Solar-Powered Film Series hosted by Solar One and Green Edge NYC. I found out about this event from Green Edge NYC (specifically Patricia Curry). It was great to meet up with people doing great work in New York regarding sustainability and community outreach! Thanks should go out to both organizations who put on a great series!
This night’s film was The Garden, about a group of urban farmers in L.A. who started their 14 acre garden after the riots in 1992. They go through some hardship starting in 2004 when they have to fight to prevent eviction.
It was an emotional film! It was frustrating how unsympathetic to farming the people trying to get the land were. The community went through several legal difficulties during their fight. I felt worked up about protecting the plants and the relationship that the people developed with the plants, more than the human interests involved. So many of the trees they planted were producing fruit and took many years to reach that point, and the community gained so much from their relationship with the land. But if you watch the film, you will see what happened. The film also brings to the fore the reality that many groups are constantly in conflict with each other because of things like land and development. There are many ways that things could have gone, and the film documents this journey.
Here is a video/slideshow that I made from the pictures and video I took of the events:
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Special 50th Entry!
Female fans often mob their favorite male celebrities, many of them screaming and crying along the way…often at airports, concert halls, hotels, and any other place they can stalk their targets to. Somehow, “favorite” doesn’t seem to be a strong enough adjective in these cases.
This phenomenon isn’t something that is just characteristic of humans. From a biological and ecological point of view, male celebrities may represent all the high quality traits that are desirable in a mate. It would seem natural that the females would congregate around the high quality males so that their offspring would have all the good genes. The scientific term that goes with this idea is sexual selection.
This thought came to me when going on a walk with my younger sister, who, at the time, was attempting to find a male celebrity who was visiting New York City. She followed his Twitter feed, hoping for clues for where he would be next. He announced through tweets that he would be in Times Square, as well as another location, but my sister never found him. She claimed that all she wanted was a hug from the guy, but if it were just a hug she wanted, what would make a hug from him any different than one from a guy friend or even a stranger?
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