Massachusetts supplanted previous champion Illinois in the top spot of the U.S. Green Building Council’s annual list of top 10 LEED States. Illinois moved to second in 2022, and New York, California, and Maryland round out the top five.
USGBC’s methodology for the ranking is to calculate the total square footage of LEED projects certified and divide that by a state’s population, and then rank the states for its list by per capita square footage of LEED space certified. Massachusetts per capita square footage in 2022 was 3.76. This included 96 projects certified comprising 26.4 million square feet.
In total, the top 10 LEED states certified 1,225 projects and 353 million square feet of space in 2022.
“It was a strong year for LEED certifications across the U.S. as companies and governments embrace LEED as a tool for meeting ESG goals and organizational commitments to climate action, occupant well-being and resource efficiency,” said Peter Templeton, USGBC president and CEO. “LEED buildings are environmentally friendly, cutting their emissions and waste, and use less energy and water. At the same time, they also help reduce operational and maintenance costs, contributing to the bottom line.”
The District of Columbia, because it’s a federal territory and not a state, issn’t included in the rankings, but it had a per capita LEED certified square footage of 46.06, about 15 times a higher per capita square footage than Massachusetts.
Greg Zimmerman is senior contributing editor for FacilitiesNet.com and Building Operating Management magazine.
