Top 10 States for LEED Building Certifications

Each year, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) releases it’s annual ranking of the Top 10 U.S. States that added the most LEED Certified buildings.  With the growing importance of sustainability, more than 400 million square feet of LEED Certified space is added every year.

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Design, is a green building rating system.  Used worldwide, projects earn points toward across several categories by implementing green building strategies.  The top U.S. States ranked in order from 1-10 were Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, California, Maryland, Georgia, Colorado, Virginia, Texas, and Oregon.

Washington DC Leads in Green Buildings Per Capita

While not a state, Washington D.C. consistently takes top honors for the most green buildings per capita.  With over 46 GSF Per Capita of LEED Certified space, Washington DC is the “greenest” city in America.

The full rankings:

Rank State Projects Gross area (SqFt) 2022 GSF Per Capita
* District of Columbia 115 31,759,516 46.06
1 Massachusetts 96 26,442,008 3.76
2 Illinois 91 44,577,321 3.48
3 New York 142 64,042,120 3.17
4 California 386 96,457,139 2.44
5 Maryland 80 14,769,661 2.39
6 Georgia 66 24,068,422 2.25
7 Colorado 59 12,532,909 2.17
8 Virginia 95 16,289,394 1.89
9 Texas 174 48,717,532 1.67
10 Oregon 36 6,066,035 1.43

Source:  USGBC

Mike Reible is a Commercial Mortgage Broker, and licensed Real Estate Broker with 25 years of experience ∙ Licenses: (DRE 01909623), (MD 17097), (DC BR600242), (FL BK3535437) ∙ LEED Certified Green Associate ∙ Member: U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)