USGBC to Outsource LEED Certification

GreenSource, a publication of McGraw Hill (publisher of ENR), reports that the US Green Building Council (USGBC) is preparing to outsource certification of buildings for its multitude of LEED rating systems. Outsourcing is intended to bring LEED into alignment with norms established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for certification programs, which norms require the standard-setting organization to be separate from the certification organization.

Certification of buildings will be performed by independent, accredited certifiers overseen by the Green Building Certification Institute, a non-profit affiliate of the USGBC. In addition to providing a "high quality, auditable third-party certification", outsourcing should allow the USGBC to better manage the increasing demand for LEED certification of buildings and improve customer service.

Certification of buildings by independent, accredited certifiers will begin in January, 2009. For a more detailed description of how the process will work, visit GreenSource.