Section 3: Sustainability and final project

The long-form section. You build something, and you prove you understand sustainable design.

What's on Section 3.

Section 3 is the section that breaks pattern. It's longer, more involved, and you actually produce a deliverable. Plan your time differently than the other three.

Topics in this section

Reference books

What we pull from.

The references behind every practice question in Section 3.

Reference
CHOP

Canadian Handbook of Practice

Reference
LEED v4 BD+C

LEED v4 for Building Design and Construction

Reference
Zero Carbon Building Standard

Zero Carbon Building Design Standard v2

Reference
WELL

WELL Building Standard v2

Reference
Sustainable Development of Buildings in Canada

RAIC sustainability primer

Study tips

How to prep for Section 3.

Advice from people who took the test and remember what tripped them up.

  • For Final Project, the rubric rewards process documentation. Show your thinking, not just your conclusion.
  • Sustainability questions love acronyms. Build a one-page LEED, WELL, ZCB cross-reference for yourself.
  • Embodied carbon is the new energy. Know the difference between operational and embodied carbon cold.
  • Don't skip passive design fundamentals. They show up disguised as performance questions.

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FAQ

Section 3 questions.

Final Project is the longest single sitting of the ExAC. Plan time management like you would for a charette, not a quiz.

No. You need to understand the LEED framework, not be credentialed in it.

Yes, increasingly. Recent ExAC cycles have leaned harder on embodied carbon. Read the Reducing Embodied Carbon in Buildings primer.

Yes. Like all sections, you can retake just Section 3 if you fail it.