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The U.S. Green Building Council has announced its annual list of the Top Ten States for LEED green building certifications. Each of the 50 states is ranked based on the number of LEED-certified square feet certified per person in 2019, based both on 2010 U.S. Census population data and on commercial and institutional green products certified throughout 2019.
This year’s top ten states are home to more than 105 million people total, including more than 80,000 LEED green building professionals. Colorado took the top spot this year for the first time since 2011, after coming in sixth in 2018, with 23,962,344 new certified gross square footage across 102 green building projects. Altogether, these projects represent 4.76 square feet of certified space per Colorado resident. Illinois came in second, with 3.85 square feet of certified space per capita, and New York in third, with 3.76.
While Washington, D.C. is not included in the top ten, as it is a federal territory and not a state, it far and away leads the nation with 52.86 new LEED-certified square footage per capita this year, or 31,810,018 square feet across 143 projects. D.C. became the first LEED-certified city in 2017, and in 2019 earned LEED Platinum certification for the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District – the world’s first business improvement district to earn this certification.
“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,” says 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…As we enter our next chapter, we are committed to helping more buildings, cities and communities improve their sustainability performance through LEED.”
Click here to view the full top ten list.
