Course requirements and definitions

• What are the requirements for courses submitted to GBCI?
• How do I reference a product in an educational offering?
• When should I provide a Certificate of Completion to participants of my course?
• What are the Learning Objective requirements necessary for a course to qualify for general CE hours?
• In what language may a course be presented?
• What does “fact-based” mean?
• Who can submit a course to GBCI for approval?
• What are the Learning Objective requirements that allow a course to qualify for rating system-specific CE hours?
• Does the course review platform allow for more than one person within an organization to access the course management pages?
• As the course submitter, how do I determine the number of CE hours to submit for an On-demand course?
• What is educational contact time?
• What is the definition for each course level?
• What course formats may be submitted for review?
• What is the fee to submit a course for GBCI review, and are there any course review discounts available?

What are the requirements for courses submitted to GBCI?

GBCI has established Continuing Education Course Criteria for consistent evaluation of each education course. These criteria represent the minimum required by GBCI. Course submitters may be asked to provide additional supporting documentation and/or make changes on a case-by-case basis prior to receiving approval.

How do I reference a product in an educational offering?

When referencing a product, the product line, rather than a manufacturer’s product, should be used in a course presentation, e.g. fiber cement siding, instead of Hardiplank or Cemplank siding.

When should I provide a Certificate of Completion to participants of my course?

The GBCI course submitter is the individual or organization responsible for issuing the certificate of completion for all courses.

On-demand Article/Print/Online courses should include an outcome-based, quantifiable assessment that is tied to the course’s learning objectives. Participants are required to achieve an assessment score of 80% or higher to successfully complete the course and earn CEU.

All live sessions (Live Facilitator-led course/panel discussion/webinar, Live Tour, or Live Conference/Summit) require that participants attend at least 80% of the event. A Certificate of Completion should include the following:

• Course name
• GBCI course ID
• Course creator name
• Attendee name
• Course completion date
• Number and type of CE hours.

What are the Learning Objective requirements necessary for a course to qualify for general CE hours?

Three fourths of the learning objectives and the course content are related to green building, which includes human health and well-being, sustainability, equity, and/or resiliency with respect to the built environment.

In what language may a course be presented?

Any GBCI approved course may be advertised and delivered in any language. However, all course review applications are required to be completed in English. Within the course submission application, a course submitter designates the language in which the course is advertised and delivered to the public.

What does “fact-based” mean?

GBCI strives to verify the truthfulness and accuracy of all courses approved for CE hours. At a minimum, GBCI expects course content to be based upon sound research, logic, and expertise; information in course materials is reviewed by GBCI with the expectation that material is based on facts, not opinions. Subject matter expert reviewers may require course presentations to include links to publicly available, third-party citations for any assertions made.

GBCI expects all topics addressed in course content to be current and timely. Further, content is expected to be relevant to the green building industry, and/or to demonstrate the application of green building best practices or technology.

Who can submit a course to GBCI for approval?

Anyone may submit courses for review (course review fees apply). Access the course application.

What are the Learning Objective requirements that allow a course to qualify for rating system-specific CE hours?

A least four Learning Objectives are required for course approval. Three-fourths of the learning objectives are rating system-specific and feature rating system-relevant topics listed in Appendix A of the Continuing Education Course Review Criteria, i.e., LEED AP with Specialty, SITES AP, WELL AP.

Does the course review platform allow for more than one person within an organization to access the course management pages?

No. Access to course management pages is limited to the individual who submits the course. A course submission is tied to the course submitter’s usgbc.org account through this link. The course submitter may view the status of each course submitted (draft, pending, live) at any time.

As the course submitter, how do I determine the number of CE hours to submit for an On-demand course?

All GBCI CE-approved courses must be at least thirty minutes in length. GBCI CE credit is allocated at a rate of 0.5 CE per thirty minutes of educational contact time. For articles and self-paced on-demand courses, GBCI allows the course submitter to determine the amount of time it takes an average participant to complete the course. As guidance for an article, a course submitter can consider that 2,500 words = 0.5 CE hours and 5,000 words = 1 CE hour. The use of complex infographics or diagrams may cause an article to take more time for a reader to complete than the number of words would indicate.

As guidance for an On-demand course, a course submitter is encouraged to pilot test their course prior to submission to GBCI to gauge how long it takes the average attendee to complete the course.

If GBCI has questions about the requested number of CE hours for a course, a course submitter may be asked to submit documentation that supports the number of CE hours requested.

What is educational contact time?

Educational contact time refers to the time the attendees work towards achieving the learning objectives, which must be a minimum of 0.5 hours in length to qualify for CE credit. Time for questions and answers (Q&A) should not be relied upon as the core CE time. Networking time, cocktails, non-working lunches, and breaks are not educational contact times and should not be counted towards the total CE time. Below are the guidelines for determining CE hours:

What is the definition for each course level?

Each course must specify the knowledge level, learning objectives, and materials so learners can determine if it will meet their professional development needs. The knowledge levels are defined as:

• Basic: Course presents introductory concepts and a general understanding of the topic; learners should have minimal to no prerequisite knowledge and a limited interaction with course material.
• Intermediate: Course presents detailed, in-depth materials and instruction; learners should have some prerequisite knowledge and the ability to apply information in practice applications.
• Advanced: Course presents sufficient material and opportunities to gain new knowledge, practice application, apply information, and complete a definitive action; learners should have preexisting knowledge.
• Expert: Course presents detailed training on specific topics with opportunities to be fully engaged with materials and activities, and to demonstrate a mastery of content through coursework; learners should have extensive prior knowledge or experience with the topic.

What course formats may be submitted for review?

Five course formats are currently accepted for review:

1. On-demand: Online format is an online course that is ongoing and is delivered through a series of lessons in a prerecorded format that the participant can access anytime.
2. On-demand: Articles/Print format is online print media courses offered in written format. These types of courses are available 24/7, self-paced and participant-accessible.
3. Live: Facilitator-led/Online format is an educational program offering, e.g., a workshop, webinar course, event, or panel discussion (except for conferences or tours). This format can be presented as a one-time offering or presented multiple times.
4. Live: Conference/Summit is a one-time educational program event with multiple sessions or tracks featured live at a specific time and location, e.g., convention, annual meeting, summit. A conference template is completed and submitted to GBCI for approval. Live: Conference/Summit sessions are approved for a specific scheduled one-time event only.
5. Live: Tour format is an in-person tour of one or more projects offered live at a specific time and location with clear green building learning objectives. A Tour can be a one-time event or can be held multiple times.

What is the fee to submit a course for GBCI review, and are there any course review discounts available?

See the table below for fee and discount information. Note that discounts are available for purchases of 10 course reviews or more. The discount is determined using a sliding scale based on the annual volume of course submissions from a course submitter. The discount is automatically applied depending upon the number of course reviews entered.

*Partner organizations should contact education@usgbc.org for information on fees.