Council's LEED Accreditation Spin-off

As a LEED Faculty member, I've been hearing for a while about the conflict-of-interest concerns with USGBC's LEED-Accredited Professional program. USGBC has been putting a lot of effort into improving and standardizing the exams, in an effort to get the accreditation program accredited (geez—how many layers of accreditation can you have?). But to have a truly legitimate program, USGBC as the creator of the standard that is being taught (LEED) and as the provider of trainings, has to be at arm's length from the organization that manages the accreditations.

Knowing all that, I probably should have realized that something substantial was in the works, but I wasn't expecting USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi's letter to LEED-APs on November 2 announcing the imminent creation of the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). According to Fedrizzi, "GBCI is a newly incorporated entity established to administer credentialing programs related to green building practice and standards, including the LEED Professional Accreditation program."

USGBC claims that it will shift the credentials of all LEED-APs to the new organization in an entirely seamless way. Wake up one morning in January and you'll be accredited through the GBCI instead of through USGBC. We've heard such promises before—if it really is that seamless I'll be amazed. But once the transition is complete and the dust settles, this should be a good thing for LEED and for all of us APs, because it's puts our accreditation on more solid footing. Next, watch out for continuing education requirements to keep that AP status!