Colorado ranks first in LEED Top 10 states

Colorado ranks first on the latest list of top 10 states for LEED.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s annual list ranks states based on the number of LEED certified square feet per person. Colorado had 4.76 sf of certified space per person in 2019 to claim the top spot. The state has made the Top 10 list every year, but jumped to number one after ranking sixth in 2018.

The top 10 states are home to more than 105 million people, including more than 80,000 LEED green building professionals. Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, Minnesota, Oregon, California round out the top 10 list.

Washington, D.C. does not appear on the list because of its status as a federal territory, but it consistently leads the nation. In 2019, the district certified 52.86 sf of space per resident across 143 green building projects.

LEED is the most widely used green building rating system in the world, with more than 100,000 projects engaged, according to a USGBC news release.