WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Inexperienced Constructing Council (USGBC) has launched its annual rating of U.S. states main the best way on inexperienced constructing, with Massachusetts topping the listing. The USGBC rating is predicated on LEED-certified gross sq. footage per capita over the previous yr. The LEED score system is the world’s most generally used inexperienced constructing program and was created by USGBC as a management commonplace defining greatest practices for wholesome, high-performing inexperienced buildings.
“It was a robust yr for LEED certifications throughout the US as corporations and governments embrace LEED as a instrument for assembly ESG objectives and organizational commitments to local weather motion, occupant wellbeing and useful resource effectivity,” mentioned Peter Templeton, USGBC president and CEO. “LEED buildings are environmentally pleasant, reducing their emissions and waste, and use much less power and water. On the identical time, additionally they assist scale back operational and upkeep prices, contributing to the underside line.”
The states following Massachusetts—the place 96 buildings encompassing over 26 million sq. ft had been LEED-certified in 2022, equating to just about 3.7 LEED-certified sq. ft per resident—had been Illinois (3.47 sq. ft per capita), New York (3.17 sq. ft per capita), California (2.43 sq. ft per capita), and Maryland (2.39 sq. ft per capita).
As a federal territory, Washington, DC, doesn’t seem within the official prime 10 listing of states, however it persistently leads the nation in LEED-certified sq. footage per capita, partially due to the federal authorities and District’s ongoing commitments to inexperienced constructing. In 2022, the nation’s capital licensed over 46 sq. ft of area per resident throughout 115 inexperienced constructing tasks.
The total rankings:
In 2022, the highest 10 states licensed 1,225 tasks and practically 353 million gross sq. ft below LEED.
Because it was first established in 2000, LEED’s metrics-based system has set the usual for wholesome, resilient, inexperienced buildings. In 2022, USGBC surpassed 100,000 LEED-certified tasks globally, totaling greater than 11 billion licensed gross sq. ft.
Further info on the 2022 rankings, together with an inventory of notable tasks, may be discovered on the USGBC’s Prime 10 States for LEED web page.