Why the World Needs LEED v4 Project Managers

“LEED v4 Project Management” is our first LEED course ever. We sat out the first wave of LEED education because there were a lot of great courses out there already. So why get into LEED now?

A: Because LEED v4 project management tools can drive down the cost of LEED projects and every project manager should know how to use them.

As the market for LEED buildings matures, it’s the fundamental, underlying skills that make or break each project. Sure, making the case for sustainability remains important, but it’s finance, accounting, engineering, and project management that make it possible. A great project manager impacts profitability more than anybody else on a LEED project. You’re not born a great project manager – you get trained using powerful tools and best practices under the guidance of a great mentor.

Where do great LEED project managers come from?

Great project managers come from a variety of disciplines. That can be can be contractors, owners, green building consultants, construction LEED coordinators and LEED project managers, architects and engineers and advanced students in these disciplines. The best project managers come in with building industry knowledge and experience working on LEED project teams.

Brenda Martens: LEED Fellow + Project Manager Mentor

Brenda has over 20 years experience in the building industry working on residential, institutional, commercial/retail and industrial projects throughout British Columbia. Her experience includes office, medical and rehabilitation renovations, recreation facilities, and libraries, the scopes vary from facilitation, design, construction, and project management to Sustainability and LEED Management. Brenda is deeply involved with the US and Canada Green Building Councils (USGBC and CaGBC) and the development community.

Brenda is excited to pass along her no-nonsense, repeatable approach to managing LEED projects for the next wave of great project managers.

What Happens in this LEED v4 Project Management course?

There’s a shocking absence of theory in this course. We dive right into the meaty tools from day one, working hands-on  with the LEED Letter Templates in activities. We provide example projects, but encourage you to use your own projects if you have them.
Get ready for real-life application of concepts – in a perfect world you would be working on a LEED project and use this course to button everything up and make sure it’s air-tight. For some this isn’t possible, so we’ll do our best to simulate that experience through sample projects.

Goals include:

• Get you running with the latest LEED v4 project management tools so you can do more LEED projects better, faster, cheaper.
• Save time and money on LEED certifications by understanding what information is required from the beginning, so you can gather the information as the project progresses
• Avoid stress of last minute scrambles to chase down information from contractors and consultants that have already moved on to other projects
• Save time and money by avoiding making common mistakes.
• Understand what review teams are looking for so you can focus your efforts on what matters most
• Get going faster on projects using your experience with hands- on practice with LLTs
• Get projects certified faster by avoiding delays

The world needs this course because LEED v4 project management tools can drive down the cost of LEED projects and every project manager should know how to use them. We’re late to the LEED game, but excited for this opportunity to add some value.