The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released a series of three LEED in Motion reports aimed at equipping green building professionals and advocates with the insight needed to make a strong case for sustainable building activity.
Each of the reports, available exclusively to USGBC members, examines a different facet of LEED’s effects, from its international growth to legislative action promoting green building to the development of innovative new technologies.
The first report, People and Progress, looks at the individuals and organizations that are driving and benefiting from green building. Released in August 2013 and featuring a foreword from Hines President and CEO Jeffrey C. Hines, it revealed that more than 4.3 million people live and work in LEED-certified buildings, while more than 6.2 million people experience a LEED-certified project every day. The report also examines the nearly 13,000 USGBC member organizations, ranging from Fortune 100 corporations to small neighborhood businesses, representing 13 million employees and $1.8 trillion in combined revenue. People and Progress also details the community of more than 186,000 LEED credential holders who are actively applying their specialized knowledge of LEED to advance the green building rating system while adding value to the firms that employ them.
The second report, Places and Policies, was released in October 2013, detailing the global, regional and local growth of LEED and outlining the policies and mechanisms supporting it. Featuring a foreword from Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, the report notes that there are nearly 60,000 LEED green building projects across the globe, spanning 10.6 billion square feet. The report showcases in-depth statistics and graphics on LEED projects and areas of growth, examining domestic and international policies and partnerships that support the framework of LEED and drive global progress. Currently, more than 400 localities have LEED-specific policies in place, and there are nearly 100 green building councils in various stages of development as well as a LEED International Roundtable with members from 30 countries.
The final report, Impacts and Innovation, was released in November 2013 at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Philadelphia. The report details key impact areas and results of the thousands of projects that are utilizing LEED, as well as innovation highlights related to LEED and green building technologies. With a foreword from Bridges to Prosperity Executive Director Avery Bang, the report looks at the impacts of LEED through the lens of both business and human health.
Notably, Impacts and Innovation also features new LEED project energy data, revealing that 450 LEED projects that reported data experienced an energy use intensity (EUI) that was nearly 31 percent lower than the national median source EUI over a 12-month period. Additionally, 404 LEED projects indicated an Energy Star score of 85 in the same period, well above the level required for the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Top Performer” designation.
The green building movement has made tremendous progress in the last 13 years, and the LEED in Motion report series stands as a powerful testament to those achievements. However, rather than being merely celebratory, they also impel action to spur further transformation. As USGBC President, CEO and Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi notes in his foreword to People and Progress, “Though its end result is better buildings and communities, LEED is really about not settling for a passive status quo, but delivering with intention a built environment that actively partners with us on our health and well-being and our future. It’s about leadership.”
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