Green Buildings And Leed - Did anyone go to "greenbuild" in Atlanta last week?

USGBC outsources LEED certification process

Posted by [URL="http://blog.mlive.com/squarefootagewm/about.html"]B. Candace Beeke[/URL] July 29, 2008 12:05PM

The U.S. Green Building Council has moved forward in its plans to evolve LEED. The organization today announced the groups chosen as "certification bodies" for LEED certification.
Three of those companies have locations in Michigan. NSF International is based in Ann Arbor. Bureau Veritas has an office in Novi. DNV Certification has one in Auburn Hills.
This change in the certification process is part of a major update to the green rating system which will debut in its new form in January as LEED 2009. I covered this evolution on our cover a few months ago.
Currently, all LEED project submissions are reviewed by USGBC with the support of independently contracted reviewers. Beginning in January, the USGBC will move administration of the LEED certification process to the Green Building Certification Institute, a non-profit organization established in 2007. The GBCI will work with the selected certification bodies.
"During the past year, the dramatic growth in the number of LEED project certifications challenged us to apply our mission of market transformation to ourselves," USGBC President, CEO, and Founding Chairman Rick Fedrizzi said in a prepared statement. "By learning from ISO, engaging with world-class certification bodies, and focusing on our mission, we've been able to create a solution that will expand our capacity to serve the community while letting USGBC continue to focus on improving the LEED rating system and delivering exceptional green building education."
GBCI currently administers the LEED Accredited Professional program, in alignment with ANSI requirements for professional certifications.
The certification bodes are
• ABS Quality Evaluations Inc.
• BSI Management Systems America Inc.
• Bureau Veritas North America Inc.
• DNV Certification
• Intertek
• KEMA-Registered Quality Inc.
• Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance Inc.
• NSF-International Strategic Registrations
• SRI Quality System Registrar Inc.
• Underwriters Laboratories-DQS Inc.

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