US Green Building Council names top 10 states for LEED rankings
With the environment making more headlines than ever, the drive towards greener building standards is gathering pace.
An annual ranking lists the leading US states for the amount of square feet per person that has LEED certification, the most widely used green building rating system in the world. It includes commercial and institutional green building projects that certified in 2019.
The US Green Building Council says that this year’s top states are home to more than 105 million people, including more than 80,000 LEED green building professionals with the skills to support the sustainable transformation of buildings.
For the first time since 2011, Colorado has topped the top 10 based on 2010 US Census data and includes commercial and institutional green building projects certified throughout 2019. Colorado certified 102 green building projects representing 4.76 square feet of LEED-certified space per resident.
While the rankings are for states, Washington, DC, leads overall with a whopping 52.86 square feet of LEED space per resident certified in 2019.
“As we embark on a new decade, the USGBC community is focused on helping more projects get on the path to LEED certification and a more sustainable future,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO, USGBC. “Over the last year, the Top 10 states have certified projects that serve as incredible examples of how green building can create more sustainable and resilient spaces that improve our living standard. There is still much work to be done, but the progress made across these states shows us that our work is having a tangible impact on people’s lives. As we enter our next chapter, we are committed to helping more buildings, cities and communities improve their sustainability performance through LEED.”
**Washington, D.C. is not ranked as it is a federal district, not a state
An interactive graphic can be seen at:
https://www.usgbc.org/resources/top-ten-states-leed-2019
