The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has assembled a lineup of heavy hitters for the roster of independent certification bodies that will handle LEED commercial building certifications starting in January.

The USGBC took the wraps off its list of the 10 companies that will serve as certification bodies yesterday.

They 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. and Underwriters Laboratories-DQS Inc.

The announcement marked the latest step by the organization in its ambitious project to produce LEED Version 3.0, or LEED V3 as the USGBC calls it.

The new version will include updated Leadership in Energy and Environment Design ratings guidelines, an enhanced third-party rating system and a comprehensive tech upgrade of LEED online, the building council has said.

The participation of the independent certification bodies and a sister nonprofit organization, which will administer the process, introduces a new element to the revamped ratings system and certification process that will launch in January as LEED 2009.

At that time, oversight of the certification process will move from the USGBC to the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), which was established last year with USGBC support and now administers the LEED Accredited Professional program.

Working with the independent certification bodies, the GBCI is expected to deliver “a substantially improved, ISO-compliant certification process that will be able to grow with the green building movement,”  the building council said yesterday. The shift is also expected to eliminate backlogs in addition to allowing for expansion.

Under the current certification process, LEED project submissions are reviewed by the USGBC and independent contractors that provide support in the evaluations.  

"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 statement.

The number of LEED certified new and existing buildings has more than doubled in the past two years, according to USGBC figures provided to GreenerBuildings yesterday. As of this month, 1,585 commercial projects have been certified under LEED ratings systems and 12,706 projects are currently registered with the intent of obtaining certification when completed.

"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," Fedrizzi said.

"Third-party certification is the hallmark of the LEED program," said Alice Soulek, vice president of LEED Development. "Moving the administration of LEED certification under GBCI will continue to support market transformation by delivering auditable third-party certification. Importantly, it also allows UGSBC to stick to the knitting of advancing the technical and scientific basis of LEED." 

To draw up the roster of companies to serve as independent certification bodies, the USGBC worked with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, which "went through an extensive screening process to help us with the selection," USGBC spokeswoman Ashley Katz told GreenerBuildings.

The projects seeking LEED certification will be evenly distributed among the companies as the projects are submitted for review, she said.