GBCI and Bureau Veritas Confirm Partnership

WASHINGTON — Washington, D.C.-based Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) and Bureau Veritas of Paris, have finalized the terms of their agreement to facilitate LEED certification internationally.

GBCI is a third-party organization that administers certification for LEED, the International Well Building Institute’s WELL Building Standard (WELL) and the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). Bureau Veritas is a global company that performs tests, inspections and certification services.

As part of the agreement, Bureau Vertitas teams around the world will review LEED projects for conformity with GBCI’s standards for certification. Already, plans are in place for LEED review teams in China, Brazil and India, where Bureau Veritas employs about 21,000 people.

There are currently more than 69,000 LEED building projects located in more than 150 countries and territories, with about 44 percent of all square footage outside the U.S.

“GBCI and Bureau Veritas will be able to offer local touch points, local reviews, possible onsite verifications and other resources for green building teams on the ground,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, chief operating officer, USGBC, and president, GBCI, in a statement. “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.”

The first buildings to be certified by Bureau Veritas within this partnership are due to be delivered in late 2015.

“Our objective is a seamless customer experience for LEED users and project teams,” said Gerard Biessy, vice president of building and infrastructures at Bureau Veritas. “We are investing considerable resources into our local capacity building and the integration of GBCI processes.”

In 2014, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which partners with GBCI to facilitate the USGBC’s LEED certification, named the top 10 countries for LEED outside the U.S. They include:

1. Canada
2. China
3. India
4. South Korea
5. Taiwan
6. Germany
7. Brazil
8. Singapore
9. United Arab Emirates
10. Finland