GBCI and Bureau Veritas Partner on LEED Certification

WASHINGTON —Bureau Veritas has partnered with the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) to help verify projects for LEED certification. Acting on behalf of GBCI, Bureau Veritas’ certification services will expand the global scope of the LEED system. The institute announced the agreement on July 31.

GBCI , a third-party organization that provides independent oversight for green building programs, hopes to benefit from Paris-based Bureau Veritas’ international capabilities. Those include management, testing and inspection of infrastructure and processes to ensure they meet specific standards for a wide range of regulatory requirements, including environmental. Bureau Veritas has 62,000 employees in 1,330 offices and labs in 140 countries. The conglomerate has provided sustainability reviews for major businesses such as Hitachi, Nestle and British Airways.

“This collaboration with Bureau Veritas helps us take LEED to the next level,” said Rick Fedrizzi, GBCI board member and president, in a statement. “Through our collaboration, we will leverage the scale and scope of Bureau Veritas’ operations and quickly build capacity and global reach to deliver best-in-class, third-party certification for LEED.”

Worldwide, more than 60,000 commercial projects are using LEED, and the green building market is expected to grow by 780 percent by 2020, according to Bureau Veritas. Massive growth for green building is expected in leading construction markets such as China, India and Brazil.

“GBCI and Bureau Veritas will be able to offer local touch points and resources for green building teams on the ground in a way that we have never before been able to offer,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, chief operating officer for USGBC and president of GBCI, in a statement. “Connecting with our customers and deepening our engagement with them will help accelerate the adoption of green building practices and deliver its benefits to these key economies.”

“Partnering with the GBCI and USGBC places Bureau Veritas at the forefront of this growing market,” said Didier Michaud-Daniel, CEO Bureau Veritas, in a statement. “Our teams are dedicated to helping our clients improve people’s daily lives the world over through the implementation of the LEED standard.”

The first building certifications by Bureau Veritas will come later in 2015. GBCI did not give a specific date.