Faculty of Architecture the First in Europe to Start Lectures on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Course

This semester, the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Architecture will commence the Green Building and LEED course for students wanting to learn details about the principles of sustainable building practices and prepare for the Green Associate (GA) exam. It will be a semester long course and over 70 students applied already. With USAID Serbia Competitiveness Project support, the course is in the process of accreditation by the United States Green Building Certification Institute. This will be the first such course on academic level offered outside of the USA. The positive effects of this initiative will be felt by Serbia’s construction industry as well as real estate developers.

BELGRADE – On October 6th and 7th, the USAID Serbia Competitiveness Project and the Association of Consulting Engineers of Serbia (ACES) organized two-day Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) course at the Faculty of Architecture for those interested in a career in the Green Building industry. This effectively announced the introduction of the new course at the Faculty. The LEED course was taught by Lauren Yarmuth from Columbia University, member of the Board of Directors for the New York Green Building Council “Urban Green”, and a co-founder and Principal of YRG sustainability, a leader in the sustainability industry in the US. Ms. Yarmuth works with the Faculty of Architecture and USAID Competitiveness Project on the curricula for the new LEED course and market development activities.

Serbia now stands a real chance to become a leader in the Green Building movement in the region. “It was my great pleasure to be here and provide the students a dynamic and informative training course on the key concepts of LEED and green building, which will help them to prepare themselves to take the LEED Green Associate exam. The dynamic discussions that were continued even after the course finished just show that the students in Serbia have a great interest to learn and apply the LEED Green building standards”, commented Yarmuth.

Green Building

Green building is one of the most important and transformative trends in building design, construction and operations around the globe today, and LEED is the primary benchmarking tool being used to support and characterize these efforts.

The USAID Competitiveness Project covers up to 50% of the cost of the certification course and exam. The training breaks down the key issues and trends including what green building and LEED entails, why it is important, how it works and how it can be incorporated on a wide range of building projects, and, what you can do to enhance your professional career and get involved.

Note: This text is taken from the USAID Serbia Competitiveness Project, dated 18 October 2010.