LEED AP ND study guide
LEED AP ND · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The LEED AP Neighborhood Development credential belongs to the LEED AP with specialty family listed on USGBC's professional credentials pages, alongside LEED Green Associate, LEED Green Rater and LEED Fellow. It is aimed at professionals who work at the district and community scale - planners, urban designers, civil engineers, landscape architects, sustainability consultants and local-government staff - rather than at single-building project teams. Candidates are expected to understand how neighborhood-scale decisions about location, connectivity, street networks, mixed use, open space, stormwater, buildings and documentation interact across a whole project. This study page organises preparation around four domains: LEED Neighborhood Development overview and process; neighborhood pattern and design; green infrastructure and buildings; and smart location, linkages, and project documentation. The LEED AP ND study guide has 4 sections and about 1,270 words.
01LEED Neighborhood Development Overview and Process
The LEED ND overview domain tests how the rating system is built and how a project reaches certification. Know the 110-point scale, four certification levels (Certified 40–49, Silver 50–59, Gold 60–79, Platinum 80–110), and the five categories: Smart Location and Linkage, Neighborhood Pattern and Design, Green Infrastructure and Buildings, Innovation, and Regional Priority.
327 words, about 2 min02Neighborhood Pattern and Design
NPD tests the physical pattern of a neighborhood: walkability, density, connectivity, mixed use, housing diversity, public space, and parking. Three prerequisites anchor it: Walkable Streets, Compact Development, and Connected and Open Community.
287 words, about 1 min03Green Infrastructure and Buildings
GIB tests building and infrastructure performance: certified green buildings, energy and water efficiency, stormwater, heat island, site disturbance, waste, and historic reuse. The prerequisites are the gate: Certified Green Building, Construction Activity Pollution Prevention, Minimum Building Energy Performance, Indoor Water Use Reduction, and Stormwater Management.
334 words, about 2 min04Smart Location, Linkages, and Project Documentation
Smart Location and Linkage tests where the project sits and how it connects: preferred locations, transit, bicycle networks, housing and jobs balance, schools, steep slopes, habitat, wetlands, agricultural land, and floodplains. The documentation portion tests whether those claims are provable with boundary maps, site plans, calculations, and commitments.
322 words, about 2 min