by Brianna Crandall — June 1, 2015—In a recent signing ceremony, Bureau Veritas and Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), the third-party certification body for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED green building program, finalized the terms of their exclusive global agreement to facilitate LEED certification internationally.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program is a system used worldwide for the certification of design, construction, maintenance and operations of green buildings, with more than 1.85 million square feet of commercial building space certified daily. There are currently more than 69,800 LEED building projects located in more than 150 countries and territories, with approximately 44 percent of all square footage outside the United States.
As part of the agreement, Bureau Veritas teams around the world will review LEED projects for conformity with GBCI’s strict standards for certification. Immediate plans for local LEED review teams have been drawn up for China, Brazil and India, where Bureau Veritas employs approximately 21,000 employees. Local review teams will enhance customer engagement and local support for LEED while advancing the goal for future site verification as part of the LEED certification process.
“GBCI and Bureau Veritas will be able to offer local touch points, local reviews, possible on site verifications and other resources for green building teams on the ground,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, chief operating officer, USGBC, and president, GBCI. “Through this collaboration, we will be able to more closely connect with our customers, which will help accelerate the adoption of green building practices and deliver their benefits to these key economies.”
“Our objective is a seamless customer experience for LEED users and project teams,” said Gerard Biessy, vice president of Building & Infrastructures at Bureau Veritas. “We are investing considerable resources into our local capacity building and the integration of GBCI processes.”
Bureau Veritas is a global provider of testing, inspection and certification services. Created in 1828, the group has over 66,000 employees in some 1,400 offices and laboratories all across the world. Bureau Veritas helps its clients to improve their performance by offering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their assets, products, infrastructures and processes meet standards and regulations, in terms of quality, health, and safety, environment protection and social responsibility.
The partnership enhances Bureau Veritas’ conformity assessment service offerings in the growing and important Building & Infrastructure market. The first buildings to be certified by Bureau Veritas within this partnership are due to be delivered in late 2015.
