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Green building badges

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What is a badge?

A “badge” is a digital symbol of recognition that complies with the Open Badge specification. USGBC issues green building badges to signify awards and achievements (such as credentials and certificates) on usgbc.org and to reward awareness or proficiency in distinct knowledge areas.

What badges can I earn from USGBC?

You can earn the following green building badges:

  • Arc Performance Pro: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge of the Arc platform and building performance
  • Biodiversity: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in biodiversity.
  • Building Data Analytics: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in building data analytics.
  • Carbon: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in carbon.
  • Commissioning: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in commissioning.
  • Energy efficiency: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in energy efficiency.
  • Green builder: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in green building.
  • Green Business: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in green business.
  • Health & Wellness: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in issues concerning the health & wellness of building occupants.
  • Indoor air quality (IAQ): Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in indoor air quality.
  • Location and Transportation: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in location and transportation.
  • Material Selection: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in material selection.
  • Occupant comfort: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in occupant comfort.
  • PEER Pro: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in power reliability and resilience.
  • Renewable Energy: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in renewable energy.
  • Resilience: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in resilience.
  • Site Assessment: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in site assessment.
  • Water Efficiency: Badge earners complete courses that demonstrate knowledge in water efficiency.
  • LEED Lab: Badge earners complete the LEED Lab courses where they facilitate the LEED for Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED O+M) process.
  • Pro Reviewer: Badge earners participate in USGBC's Pro Reviewer program.
  • USGBC Faculty: Badge earners participate in USGBC's USGBC Faculty program

The following badges have been retired as of December 2018. Existing badge earners will keep their badges, but no new badges will be awarded.

  • 5 in 30: Badge earners have completed 5 courses in a single month.
  • 5 in 1: Badge earners have completed 5 courses on in a single day.
  • 1-2-3: Badge earners have completed courses on 3 days in a row.
  • 10 Done: Badge earners have completed 10 courses.
  • 20 Done: Badge earners have completed 20 courses.
  • 30 Done: Badge earners have completed 30 courses.
  • Conversation Starter: Badge earners have commented on 10 courses.

What is a Badge Backpack?

A Badge Backpack is a repository for collecting and displaying badges from a variety of sources. Creating a Badgr Backpack account, and adding your badges to it will allow you to share them more easily.

How do I add my badge to my Badgr backpack?

Pushing badges to the Badgr backpack provides the opportunity for the badges to enter a larger badge ecosystem. To add a badge to your backpack, simply follow the below steps:

  1. Your badges will be listed in your usgbc.org account.
  2. Each badge can be managed individually. Under each badge, there is a button to “Push to backpack.”
  3. Clicking on this button will open a new window that will initiate your login process with the Badgr backpack.
  4. You will need an account created with Badgr backpack to maintain/gather all your digital badges, including the USGBC badges.
  5. Use the same email address as the USGBC email address to log in if you already have an account.
  6. If you do not already have an account, you will be able to complete this process within this window by entering the USGBC email address and a password.
  7. Once logged in/registration is complete, you will be given the option to accept this badge and push it to your backpack.
  8. Login to https://badgr.io/recipient/badges to make sure your badges show up.

How do I add my badge to my LinkedIn profile?

For each badge, you will be asked to enter information about the badge, which can be found in your usgbc.org account under Badges. For "Certification URL," you may either use a link to your public profile on usgbc.org or a link to the badge in Badgr Backpack.

How do I share badges on social media?

Badges must be pushed to the Badgr backpack to share on social media or any other public website.

  • After you push your badge to the Badgr backpack, log in to your backpack.
  • Badges in your backpack can be arranged in collections – you will see a menu item on the top of the back called Collections.
  • Clicking on it will allow you to drag and drop badges into a specific collection, name the collection, and make it publicly available.
  • You can group your collection based on the organization that issued it or your areas of expertise, etc.
  • Once the collection is made publicly available, click the Share button on the collection.
  • This takes you to a page where all the badges in that collection are listed along with all their details. This URL is public and can be shared anywhere.
  • You will also see options to share this URL via Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

What can I do with my embed code?

On your Badges listing page under My Account, you will also see an option to download the embed code for a specific badge. This option will provide you with an HTML snippet that can be embedded in a blog or a website, i.e., anywhere that you can add custom HTML code. Embedding this snippet will automatically display your badge along with a link to your USGBC profile for additional details on the badge.

What is a baked badge and what can I do once I download it?

A baked badge is an image that contains all the metadata that is associated with the badge on how it was earned, who earned it, and if and when it expires. The download badge option under My Account will download an OBI-compliant (Open Badges Infrastructure) badge.

Can I earn green building badges for my previous activity on USGBC's course catalog?

Green building badges cannot be earned retroactively. Once a badge is available, your activity from that point forward will count toward earning that badge.

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