Number of LEED-Certified Commercial Projects Hits 10,000 Mark

The green building revolution reaches a milestone as the Green Building Certification Institute has given the LEED stamp of approval to the 10,000th property.

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Santa Cruz, Calif.—The green building revolution reaches a milestone as the Green Building Certification Institute, the third-party entity charged with administering the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED building certification program, has given the LEED stamp of approval to the 10,000th property. The achievement comes just over one decade after USGBC established the sustainable building rating system.

The Live Oak Family Resource Center, located on 17th St., in Santa Cruz, Calif., carries the prestigious distinction of being the 10,000th commercial property to achieve LEED certification. The 7,000-square-foot building opened its doors earlier this year and achieved LEED Platinum status, the highest level of the LEED designation.

“In 10 short years, we’ve fundamentally changed how we construct and operate buildings and communities, and during that time LEED has continued to evolve, pushing sustainable building practice forward with each evolution,” Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of USGBC, noted in a prepared statement. “But there’s much more to do.”

The multifamily sector is certainly doing its part to increase the number of LEED-certified properties. In the low- and mid-rise building category alone, the number of LEED for Homes-certified projects has reached 379 since 2008, accounting for 7,046 residential units. And the pool of qualifying multifamily properties is only going to get bigger, particularly with the greening of structures that were developed before the sustainable building trend took hold.

“There is growing interest in the multifamily community in systems that benchmark and measure the sustainability of existing buildings,” Nate Kredich, vice president of residential development for USGBC, tells MHN. “The Energy Star Portfolio Manager program is certainly one example. The LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance rating system is also available and of growing interest to multifamily owners and operators, and USGBC is currently evaluating whether any special adaptation of EB:OM would be required to drive greater adoption.”

A total of approximately 1.4 million square feet of existing multifamily and commercial buildings obtain LEED status every day.