Which States Added the Most LEED-Certified Buildings in 2011?

Very nice article from Sustainable Business.com that gives some insight into the changing landscape of commercial buildings.

We've had real state guests on the shows who have confirmed that efficient commercial buildings are the hot market in leasing.

Take a look: "SustainableBusiness.com News


Which states added the most LEED-certified square footage in 2011?

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released its 2011 list of top 10 states for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita, based on the U.S. 2010 Census information.

If you're looking at the amount of LEED-certified space added per person, the District of Columbia (not really a state) comes first, followed by Colorado, Illinois and the State of Washington.

The District of Columbia leads the nation, with more than 31 square feet of LEED-certified space per person in 2011, with
Colorado being the leading state, with 2.74 square feet per person in 2011.

However, in terms of pure square footage added, California leads by a wide margin, followed by Texas, New York, and Illinois.

In December 2011, USGBC announced that LEED-certified existing buildings outpaced their newly built counterparts by 15 million square feet on a cumulative basis.

The USGBC gives credit to its 79 local chapters as instrumental in accelerating the adoption of green building policies and initiatives.

Top 10 States: square footage to earn LEED certification in 2011

District of Columbia: 18,954,022 sf; 31.50 per capita
Colorado: 13,803,113 sf; 2.74
Illinois: 34,567,585; 2.69
Washington: 19,358,193; 2.42
Maryland: 11,970,869; 2.07
Massachusetts: 13,087,625; 2.0
Texas: 50,001,476; 1.99
California: 71,551,296; 1.92
New York: 36,538,981; 1.89
Minnesota: 9,591,445; 1.81

Notable projects that got certified in 2011:

Washington DC: US Treasury Building - the
oldest LEED-certified project in the world
Boulder, CO: Casey Middle School, LEED-Platinum
Chicago, IL: the iconic Wrigley Building
Lynchburg, VA: Frito-Lay, LEED-Gold for operations and maintenance of an existing building
Seattle, WA: Hard Rock Café, LEED-Silver
Annapolis, MD: Anne Arundel Medical Center
Boston, MA: Yawkey Distribution Center of The Greater Boston Food Bank
Austin, TX: Austin Convention Center, LEED-Gold
San Francisco, CA: SFO's LEED Gold Terminal 2
Syracuse, NY: Hotel Skylar, LEED-Platinum
Minneapolis, MN: Marquette Plaza, LEED-Platinum

LEED is the internationally recognized mark of green building excellence, with more than 44,000 projects commercial projects participating, comprising over 8 billion square feet of construction space in all 50 states and 120 countries. In addition, more than 16,000 homes have been certified under the LEED for Homes rating system, with more than 67,000 more homes registered.

The USGBC has nearly 16,000 member organizations, and more
than 167,000 LEED Professional Credential holders.

The green building industry is projected to contribute $554 billion to the U.S. GDP from 2009-2013."

Notable, of course, is green building's contribution--554b--to the US GDP. That is good for the green economy and growing jobs while reducing our future energy use and pollution levels.