Washington—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) said the total footprint of commercial projects certified under its LEED green building program has surpassed 2 billion square feet. An additional 7 billion square feet is in the pipeline around the world.
“In communities all over, leaders from every sector of the building industry are reinventing their local landscapes with buildings that enliven and bolster the health of our environment, communities and local economies,” said Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC’s president and CEO. “The journey to this milestone has funneled $554 billion annually into the U.S. economy alone and has helped support 7.9 million U.S. jobs.”
Two million square feet of space is being LEED certified each day in more than 130 countries, and nearly 50,000 projects are currently participating, he said.
Additionally, nearly 23,000 homes across the U.S. have earned LEED for Homes certification, with nearly 86,000 additional units in the pipeline, Fedrizzi noted. “That’s more than 159,000 registered and certified projects in LEED.” Since the beginning of July, more than 300 projects have earned LEED certification in more than 20 countries.”
For more on LEED, call 202.742.3738.