Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Green Building Council has announced its annual Top 10 States for LEED list, and, for the third year in a row, Illinois earned the top spot for its 161 LEED certifications, representing 3.43 square feet of certified space per resident. Second is Maryland (127 projects; 3.06 sf/resident), followed by Massachusetts (112 projects; 3.03 sf/resident) and Washington (101 projects; 2.60 sf/resident).
- Washington, DC, is absent from the list because of its status as a federal district rather than a state, but it is actually the most "green," with 84 projects and a whopping 19.30 square feet of certified space per resident.
- The USGBC has been ranking cities since 2010, and all commercial and institutional building projects that were LEED certified in 2015 are calculated to determine the winner.
Dive Insight:
"Green construction is quickly outpacing conventional construction in the U.S.," USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi said in a statement. "LEED has become an essential tool for the transformation of building design and construction. By recognizing these states excelling in the use of LEED, we are celebrating the green building professionals, architects, business, policy and community leaders who work tirelessly to design and develop innovative solutions toward a healthier, more sustainable future. LEED construction drives economic growth, creates jobs and makes communities greener."
Among the top 10 states, 1,633 projects and 274.9 million square feet, became LEED-certified in 2015, and the average certified space per resident increased to 2.47 square feet from 2.34.
At the COP21 climate conference in Paris last year, the USGBC pledged to add five billion square feet of green buildings over the next five years through the LEED and EDGE green building rating systems. EDGE is a green building certification system for new residential and commercial buildings in developing countries.
It seems that a significant portion of the infamously slow-adapting construction industry has come around on the subjects of green building and sustainability. According to Dodge Data & Analytics' World Green Building Trends 2016 report, green building is doubling every three years, and the Urban Land Institute has found that real estate property management firms are significantly reducing their properties' energy and water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
The remainder of the Top 10 States for LEED list includes:
5. Colorado (95 projects; 2.43 sf/resident)
6. Nevada (30 projects; 2.42 sf/resident)
7. California (618 projects; 2.34 sf/resident)
8. Texas (237 projects; 2.09 sf/resident)
9. Virginia (121 projects; 1.63 sf/resident)
10. Utah (31 projects; 1.63 sf/resident)
