USGBC Announces Top 10 Countries for LEED

At the end of 2016, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) announced its annual list of the Top 10 Countries for Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) outside the United States. These countries represent the expansion of and growing demand for LEED-certified buildings internationally.

“By recognizing these leading countries, we are showcasing the exponential growth of LEED in the global marketplace and an international commitment to the creation of a sustainably built environment,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of the USGBC. “As we pursue a worldwide effort to mitigate climate change, LEED and the green-building industry have created a path forward for market transformation while changing the way we think about how buildings, communities and cities are planned, constructed, maintained and operated.”

According to Dodge Data & Analytics, green building is expected to double worldwide every three years, and this growth will be fueled by emerging economies, such as those in China, India and Brazil. In these countries, LEED development is set to increase by two to six times the current rate of sustainable building. The same report, World Green Building Trends 2016, states that the global market will climb to $234 billion by 2019.

LEED is the most popular rating and certification system for sustainable building in the world. At present, the U.S. is the undisputed leader in LEED-certified buildings with 336.84 million gross square meters (GSM) of LEED space.

The current global total is 82,000 commercial buildings with 1.4 billion GSM and 112,000 residential units with LEED Homes certification. The USGBC estimates that 170,000 GSM of space in 162 countries around the world earns LEED certification each day.