Congratulations to Garry Hoholik and Deepika Padam for Becoming Perlman's FirstLEED Accredited Professionals

Nov 19, 2004(Date Posted)

Deepika Padam		Garry Hoholik

Deepika Padam answers questions about becoming LEED accredited.

What are the benefits of being LEED accredited for you and for Perlman Architects? For me it has been helpful because I have increased my knowledge of sustainable architecture do to the whole process of becoming LEED certified. My network has increased and I have a better understanding of the importance of collaborative work. Perlman Architects has the benefits from LEED accredited professionals because it opens the doors for a client who wants to do a LEED accredited building. It helps the firm in its marketing efforts, increases clientele, networking and recognition opportunities. For every project that is looking for a LEED Certification, a LEED accredited professional on the team adds one point to the required points needed for the certification. It helps to have many people accredited because it helps to streamline the whole process.

What does being LEED accredited mean to you? It is an added credential to my experience. In terms of the USGBC, LEED accreditation stands for a person who is believed to have an expertise in sustainable building and is capable to produce LEED certified buildings through design and construction. Yet being accredited is only one step towards creating green buildings, the next step I look forward to is working on a LEED building so I can use my expertise on a project.

What do you think is the most important fact about being LEED accredited that other people should know about? It is very important to use consultants that have LEED accredited people in a LEED project because there are a lot of documentation requirements and technicalities that architects alone can't take care of. It is essential to educate your clients and consultants. LEED accreditation is only a means to create sustainable architecture. More important is to build sustainability. LEED is a tool to measure building performance, not an end itself.

What steps did you have to take to become LEED accredited? I am a regular member of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Las Vegas Regional chapter, the Programs Committee, which helped me a lot. I spoke to people who had already taken the exam and learned from their experiences and I did a lot of research to get a better understanding of all of the standards referenced in the LEED reference guide.