In the first six months of 2016, Houston added 29 LEED certified commercial projects, a 6.71% increase, for a total of 461 projects. The top 50 U.S. cities added 508 LEED certified commercial projects, an exact 6.00% increase over project totals at the end of 2015. Currently, the top 50 U.S. cities now host a total of 8,891 certified commercial projects.
In the same six months, the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) added a total of 36 LEED certified commercial project, a 6.63% increase. The top 50 US MSAs added 1,098 certified commercial projects, a 6.68% increase.
The Top 50 Metropolitan Area certified projects increased 1,098 or 6.68% to a total of 17,539 LEED certified commercial projects. The top 50 U.S. project square footage in city limits increased 111.2 million square feet or 6.79% to a total of 1.749 billion sq. ft. and square footage in metropolitan areas increased 177.7 million sq. ft. or 7.00% to a total of 2.716 billion sq. ft.
The numbers almost uniformly show a slight dip in certifications compared to last year’s totals. For example, Houston is on track to certify 58 projects this year, compared to a total of 63 in 2015.
There were also two cities that dropped in the number of certifications from the end of 2015. I don’t see that year-end data was faulty, but I can’t account for the drop either. It could possibly be because of LEED-EB projects not recertifying and losing their certifications.
The data below is for LEED commercial projects and excludes LEED for Homes and LEED-Neighborhood Development projects.
Number of Certified Projects in City Limits
Houston reaches the midpoint of 2016 with an additional 29 LEED certified projects for a total of 461 LEED certified projects. Houston is still ranked #5, following behind NYC, Washington D.C., Chicago and San Francisco. NYC was the biggest gainer with 56 (8.3%) new certifications with Washington DC close behind with 52 new certifications. The Top 9 all stayed the same, but Boston moved up one spot to #10, Denver moved up one spot to #11 and Portland made the room by falling from #10 to #12. The biggest percentage increases were made by San Antonio (9.76%), Nashville (9.71%), Boston (8.75%) and San Francisco (8.52%).
| City | Number | |
| 1 | New York City | 731 |
| 2 | Wash. D.C. | 693 |
| 3 | Chicago | 652 |
| 4 | San Francisco | 484 |
| 5 | Houston | 461 |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 391 |
| 7 | Seattle | 352 |
| 8 | San Diego | 326 |
| 9 | Atlanta | 322 |
| 10 | Boston | 261 |
| 11 | Denver | 255 |
| 12 | Portland | 249 |
| 13 | Dallas | 216 |
| 14 | Charlotte | 186 |
| 15 | Philadelphia | 179 |
| 16 | Austin | 175 |
| 17 | Pittsburgh | 166 |
| 18 | San Antonio | 135 |
| 19 | Sacramento | 133 |
| 20 | Cincinnati | 129 |
| 21 | Miami | 129 |
| 22 | Albuquerque | 126 |
| 23 | Phoenix | 123 |
| 24 | Grand Rapids | 121 |
| 25 | Baltimore | 116 |
| 26 | Nashville | 113 |
| 27 | Syracuse | 108 |
| 28 | Cleveland | 106 |
| 29 | St. Louis | 103 |
| 30 | Orlando | 96 |
| 31 | Minneapolis | 94 |
| 32 | Jacksonville | 94 |
| 33 | Columbus | 94 |
| 34 | Las Vegas | 92 |
| 35 | Salt Lake City | 89 |
| 36 | San Jose | 88 |
| 37 | Tampa | 84 |
| 38 | Tucson | 73 |
| 39 | Milwaukee | 67 |
| 40 | Raleigh | 66 |
| 41 | Indianapolis | 64 |
| 42 | Fort Worth | 62 |
| 43 | Kansas City, MO | 62 |
| 44 | Colorado Springs | 61 |
| 45 | Honolulu | 61 |
| 46 | Richmond | 59 |
| 47 | Louisville | 52 |
| 48 | Little Rock | 47 |
| 49 | New Orleans | 41 |
| 50 | Virginia Beach | 40 |
Number of Certified Projects in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA)
The Houston MSA added 36 projects through June 30, a 6.63% increase, for a total of 579 certified projects in the MSA and maintained the #8 spot overall. Atlanta and San Diego continue their dance and switched places again with Atlanta taking over the #10 spot and San Diego at #11. Sacramento and Riverside each moved up a single spot to #20 and #21, respectively. Pittsburgh fell two spaces to #22. Nashville made a two spot jump to #32. Washington D.C. retained the top spot and furthered its lead by adding more projects than any other MSA, an additional 137 projects for an 8.97% increase. The other big MSA gainers were Tampa (9.49%), Nashville (9.29%), New York City (8.39%), Miami (8.31%), Denver (8.29%), Baltimore (8.14%) and Boston (8.06%).
| City | Number | |
| 1 | Wash. D.C. | 1,664 |
| 2 | New York City | 1,447 |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 1,251 |
| 4 | Chicago | 1,130 |
| 5 | San Francisco | 959 |
| 6 | Boston | 724 |
| 7 | Seattle | 659 |
| 8 | Houston | 579 |
| 9 | Dallas | 557 |
| 10 | Atlanta | 520 |
| 11 | San Diego | 512 |
| 12 | Philadelphia | 480 |
| 13 | Miami | 469 |
| 14 | Denver | 457 |
| 15 | Baltimore | 425 |
| 16 | San Jose | 411 |
| 17 | Portland | 389 |
| 18 | Phoenix | 337 |
| 19 | Minneapolis | 270 |
| 20 | Sacramento | 266 |
| 21 | Riverside | 259 |
| 22 | Pittsburgh | 257 |
| 23 | Charlotte | 223 |
| 24 | Cleveland | 219 |
| 25 | Austin | 205 |
| 26 | Cincinnati | 197 |
| 27 | Columbus | 193 |
| 28 | St. Louis | 178 |
| 29 | Tampa | 173 |
| 30 | Grand Rapids | 158 |
| 31 | San Antonio | 156 |
| 32 | Nashville | 153 |
| 33 | Virginia Beach | 152 |
| 34 | Salt Lake City | 151 |
| 35 | Kansas City, MO | 145 |
| 36 | Albuquerque | 142 |
| 37 | Detroit | 141 |
| 38 | Milwaukee | 137 |
| 39 | Las Vegas | 137 |
| 40 | Orlando | 136 |
| 41 | Syracuse | 131 |
| 42 | Richmond | 125 |
| 43 | Colorado Springs | 121 |
| 44 | Honolulu | 120 |
| 45 | Raleigh | 113 |
| 46 | Jacksonville | 107 |
| 47 | Providence | 97 |
| 48 | Indianapolis | 88 |
| 49 | Hartford | 88 |
| 50 | Tucson | 87 |
Area of Certified Projects in City Limits (in Million sq. ft.)
Houston retained the #3 position in total building area of certified projects within city limits, adding 7.60 million sq. ft., a 5.98% increase, for a total of 134.6 million sq. ft. Chicago widened its national lead by adding the list’s only double digit increase of 13.00 million sq. ft. (6.84%). San Diego (now #14) and Minneapolis (now #15) switched places. Austin was the biggest percentage gainer in this category moving up two spaces to #18, knocking Miami down two spaces to #20. Austin gained 5.46 million sf or 24.93% on the certifications of several very large projects including a JW Marriott Hotel, the Block D24 Condo project and the Airport’s Rental Car Facility. Other cities also had significant gains: Philadelphia (14.78%), Tampa moved up three spots to #28 (14.42%), Boston (13.80%), Cleveland moved up two spots to #24 (12.95%), and Dallas (12.36%).
| 1 | Chicago | 203.10 |
| 2 | New York City | 175.30 |
| 3 | Houston | 134.60 |
| 4 | Wash. D.C. | 124.40 |
| 5 | San Francisco | 104.60 |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 92.08 |
| 7 | Atlanta | 73.11 |
| 8 | Boston | 71.68 |
| 9 | Seattle | 67.65 |
| 10 | Denver | 60.74 |
| 11 | Dallas | 54.98 |
| 12 | Las Vegas | 46.14 |
| 13 | Portland | 38.22 |
| 14 | San Diego | 38.02 |
| 15 | Minneapolis | 37.62 |
| 16 | Charlotte | 33.25 |
| 17 | Philadelphia | 28.58 |
| 18 | Austin | 27.36 |
| 19 | Sacramento | 26.18 |
| 20 | Miami | 25.83 |
| 21 | San Antonio | 22.28 |
| 22 | Phoenix | 19.48 |
| 23 | Pittsburgh | 18.95 |
| 24 | Cleveland | 15.61 |
| 25 | Orlando | 14.57 |
| 26 | Baltimore | 14.44 |
| 27 | Cincinnati | 13.87 |
| 28 | Tampa | 13.09 |
| 29 | Columbus | 13.02 |
| 30 | San Jose | 12.71 |
| 31 | Nashville | 11.89 |
| 32 | Milwaukee | 11.83 |
| 33 | St. Louis | 10.88 |
| 34 | Jacksonville | 9.14 |
| 35 | Kansas City, MO | 9.08 |
| 36 | Indianapolis | 8.98 |
| 37 | Fort Worth | 8.87 |
| 38 | Salt Lake City | 8.84 |
| 39 | Grand Rapids | 7.75 |
| 40 | Raleigh | 7.20 |
| 41 | Albuquerque | 6.58 |
| 42 | Syracuse | 5.62 |
| 43 | Honolulu | 5.41 |
| 44 | Memphis | 5.38 |
| 45 | New Orleans | 5.30 |
| 46 | Richmond | 5.22 |
| 47 | Detroit | 4.48 |
| 48 | Louisville | 4.31 |
| 49 | Tucson | 4.15 |
| 50 | Omaha | 3.92 |
Area of Certified Projects in MSAs (in MSF)
Houston stayed in the #6 position in square footage of certified projects in Metropolitan Statistical Areas, adding 8.10 million square feet (5.78%) reaching a total of 148.2 msf. Washington D.C. still leads this category and has pulled away from #2 Chicago by adding 19.5 msf in just six months. The top 12 remain the same, then Miami moves up to #13, Las Vegas moves up to #14 with Portland falling to #16. Philadelphia is the biggest jumper, moving from #18 to #15 with a 10.75% gain. Austin again has the biggest percentage increase (21.79%) because of its city numbers. Austin moved from #25 to #24. Other big gains were Nashville (16.93%), Tampa (11.78%), Boston (11.67%), and Denver (10.27%).
| City | Area- MSF | |
| 1 | Wash. D.C. | 269.50 |
| 2 | Chicago | 264.40 |
| 3 | New York City | 248.70 |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 200.60 |
| 5 | San Francisco | 156.80 |
| 6 | Houston | 148.20 |
| 7 | Dallas | 120.60 |
| 8 | Boston | 118.70 |
| 9 | Seattle | 101.10 |
| 10 | Atlanta | 98.32 |
| 11 | Denver | 85.28 |
| 12 | Minneapolis | 63.12 |
| 13 | Miami | 52.29 |
| 14 | Las Vegas | 51.36 |
| 15 | Philadelphia | 50.57 |
| 16 | Portland | 50.25 |
| 17 | San Diego | 50.05 |
| 18 | Phoenix | 49.45 |
| 19 | Baltimore | 47.01 |
| 20 | Riverside | 46.94 |
| 21 | San Jose | 45.62 |
| 22 | Sacramento | 35.98 |
| 23 | Charlotte | 35.26 |
| 24 | Austin | 30.52 |
| 25 | Pittsburgh | 28.38 |
| 26 | Cleveland | 24.36 |
| 27 | San Antonio | 24.15 |
| 28 | Columbus | 23.49 |
| 29 | Cincinnati | 22.36 |
| 30 | St. Louis | 18.94 |
| 31 | Nashville | 18.65 |
| 32 | Milwaukee | 18.19 |
| 33 | Tampa | 17.75 |
| 34 | Orlando | 17.65 |
| 35 | Kansas City, MO | 17.13 |
| 36 | Detroit | 16.41 |
| 37 | Salt Lake City | 15.18 |
| 38 | Indianapolis | 13.02 |
| 39 | Raleigh | 12.44 |
| 40 | Richmond | 12.42 |
| 41 | Memphis | 11.53 |
| 42 | Virginia Beach | 10.26 |
| 43 | Grand Rapids | 10.23 |
| 44 | Jacksonville | 9.46 |
| 45 | Providence | 9.17 |
| 46 | Honolulu | 8.92 |
| 47 | Bridgeport | 8.02 |
| 48 | Colorado Springs | 7.86 |
| 49 | Albuquerque | 7.50 |
| 50 | Syracuse | 7.09 |
Source: www.gbig.org, data taken on 06/30/2016
These rankings are calculated for the largest 65 U.S. cities based on population, but we only show the top 50 for brevity. Let us know if you want detailed information on your city.