New York topped the U.S. Green Building Council’s annual ranking of states for LEED green building in 2023 after ranking No. 3 on the list in 2022, according to USGBC.
States were ranked based on the number of LEED-certified square feet per capita in the state. In 2023, New York certified 201 LEED projects for a total of more than 93 million square feet, equating to nearly 4.6 LEED-certified square feet per person. The top 10 states certified 1,221 projects and more than 338 million gross square feet under LEED.
The states following New York in the Top 10 included Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington, Georgia, Virginia, California, Colorado, Hawaii and Maryland. USGBC notes Washington, D.C., would have had the highest ranking with 43.04 green square feet per capita and 126 green building projects, but it is not included because it is not a state.
