Texas fifth in LEED Green buildings

​​​​​WASHINGTON – For the first time since 2016, Texas has landed on the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) annual list of the top ten states for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) buildings. 

The Lone Star State ranked fifth, certifying 277 buildings total over 88.4 million gross sf (GSF) in 2018. That is 3.52 GSF of LEED-certified space per resident. 

Although Texas ranked fifth in GSF per capita, it was behind only California in total square footage (112.4 million GSF).

USGBC ranked states by GSF per capita. Other states in the top ten are:

• No. 1 Illinois, 5.31 GSF per capita;

• No. 2 Massachusetts, 5.3 GSF;

• No. 3 Washington, 4.25 GSF;

• No. 4 New York, 3.76 GSF;

• No. 6 Colorado, 3.39 GSF;

• No. 7 Hawaii, 3.31 GSF;

• No. 8 Virginia, 3.17 GSF;

• No. 9 California, 3.02 GSF; and 

• No. 10 Maryland, 2.92 GSF.

Washington D.C. had the highest GSF per capita at 61.74. However, it was not included in the rankings as it is a federal district rather than a state. 

Nationally, 2,886 commercial projects were LEED-certified in 2018.