The District of Columbia led the nation in commercial- and institutional-building space certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC's) LEED green-building certification system per person in 2010, the USGBC recently announced.
Based on 2010 U.S. Census information, the District of Columbia had 25 sq ft of LEED-certified space per person, followed by Nevada with 10.92 sq ft.
"Using per capita vs. the more traditional numbers of projects or pure square footage is a reminder to all of us that the people who live and work, learn and play in buildings should be what we care about most," Scot Horst, senior vice president of LEED, said. "2010 was a difficult year for most of the building industry, but in many areas, the hunger for sustainable development kept the markets moving."
More than 40,000 projects comprising more than 7.9 billion sq ft of construction space in all 50 states and 117 countries are participating in the commercial and institutional LEED rating systems. Additionally, nearly 10,000 homes have been certified under the LEED for Homes rating system, with nearly 45,000 more homes registered.
Notable projects certified in 2010 include Susitna Valley Junior/Senior High School in Talkeetna, Ark.; Wells Fargo Center in Denver; the two International Monetary Fund headquarters buildings in Washington, D.C.; the Parc Huron apartment building in Chicago; Edina Crosstown Medical Office Building in Edina, Minn.; Barcelona Elementary School in Albuquerque, N.M.; Centennial Hills Library in Las Vegas; The Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, Ore.; the Greenville, S.C., offices of audit-, tax-, and advisory-services provider KPMG; and Bank of America Fifth Avenue Plaza in Seattle.
Of the projects represented on the list, the most common type is commercial office. The most common owner type is for-profit organization. The cities most represented are Chicago and Washington, D.C.
To download the full list of LEED-certified projects, go to http://bit.ly/h9cSWQ.