Dive Brief:

• The world’s most profitable companies include sustainability as an important social responsibility goal, and most use LEED certification as their measure of success in that arena, a new survey shows.

• In a study by the U.S. Green Building Council, which is responsible for LEED, 80% of Fortune 200 companies use the 15-year-old LEED program to achieve their sustainability goals.

• The survey revealed that 82% of the companies plan to continue to use LEED over the next three years for new construction and retrofit projects, and 60% believe LEED boosts their bottom lines.

Dive Insight:

The survey results suggested that the companies comply with LEED building standards as much to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability as to save energy and protect the environment. In fact, 80% of the survey respondents said LEED is “a key way” they communicate their sustainability efforts to the public and to stockholders.