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2017 LEED Rankings- Houston Passes 500 Projects but Slips in Rankings

January 15, 2018 By tmurray

Is LEED losing its appeal or is the difficulty of the new LEED version 4 starting to be reflected in the overall LEED numbers? Nationally, all measures of LEED growth were down in 2017. Houston slowed down even more, as it lagged in all national averages, most likely reflecting its commercial construction slowdown of the past few years.
Houston added 46 LEED projects in 2017 for a total of 528 LEED projects, surpassing the 500-project milestone. This was a 9.54% increase and a slight drop in the growth rate from 2016, when 50 projects were certified. There was a good distribution of project types with an increase in Schools and a decrease in Existing Buildings.
The average increase for the Top 50 cities was 10.76%, down from a 14.08% increase in 2016. The top 50 cities added 1,040 LEED projects, certifying 246.36 million square feet in 2016. The top 50 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) added 1,868 LEED projects, certifying 369.33 million square feet, a 12.59% increase. The quantities and percentage increases were down in every category from 2016.

Number of Certified Projects in City Limits
Houston maintained its ranking as #5 for LEED projects within city limits but continues to lose ground to Los Angeles which added 21 more projects than Houston in 2017. There is a good chance that Houston will fall to #6 by the end of 2018. The first rank change was Miami moving up to #18 and Sacramento falling to #19. New York City continues to hold the top spot, adding 114 projects (13.97%) and Washington D.C. comes in at 32, adding 129 projects (16.79%). Chicago and Los Angeles both added 67 projects.
Minneapolis was the biggest rank jumper, soaring from #31 to #27, adding 16 projects, a 15.01% increase. The biggest dropper was Orlando, falling from #29 to #32. Other big gainers were Raleigh (19.18%), Boston (18.35%), Richmond (16.67%), and Honolulu (15.38%).

City Number
1 New York City   930
2 Wash. D.C.        889
3 Chicago             762
4 San Francisco   577
5 Houston            528
6 Los Angeles      502
7 Seattle              402
8 San Diego        385
9 Atlanta             370
10 Boston           329
11 Denver           293
12 Portland         283
13 Dallas             251
14 Charlotte        221
15 Philadelphia   218
16 Austin            208
17 Pittsburgh      190
18 Miami             163
19 Sacramento    160
20 Cincinnati       158
21 Albuquerque  152
22 San Antonio   150
23 Phoenix          144
24 Baltimore       135
25 Grand Rapids 133

Number of Certified Projects in Metropolitan Statistical Areas
Houston kept its #8 ranking in this category, adding 65 projects in the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) for a total of 678 projects, a 10.6% increase. The top 50 cities averaged a 9.59% gain in MSA growth.
All rankings remained the same until San Jose (#16) and Baltimore (#15) switched places. Detroit was the big gainer, jumping from #35 to #32, a 14.84% gain. The biggest loser was San Antonio, dropping from #30 to #35. Other big gainers were Richmond (15.04%), Washington D.C. (14.71%), Charlotte (14.53%), Boston (14.03%).

MSA Number
1 Wash. D.C.       2,066
2 New York City  1,782
3 Los Angeles     1,530
4 Chicago           1,329
5 San Francisco   1,167
6 Boston                886
7 Seattle                751
8 Houston             678
9 Dallas                 638
10 San Diego        605
11 Atlanta             601
12 Miami               567
13 Philadelphia     550
14 Denver             515
15 Baltimore         478
16 San Jose          477
17 Portland           435
18 Phoenix            395
19 Minneapolis     325
20 Riverside          313
21 Sacramento      311
22 Pittsburgh        294
23 Charlotte          268
24 Austin               248
25 Cincinnati          247

Area of Certified Projects in City Limits (in million square feet)
The first time that Houston has slipped in any ranking since these statistics started being compiled in 2014, Houston has fallen to #4, being passed by Washington D.C., by a margin of only 100,000 square feet. Houston gained 16.8 MSF (11.96%), while D.C. added 21.7 MSF (15.99%), a pace that suggests that Houston will not regain the #3 spot without enacting a LEED mandate similar to the one that D.C. enforces.
We also have a new #1 in this category with New York City moving into the top spot, ahead of Chicago. NYC’s addition of 42.2 MSF (20.42%), was the biggest percentage increase on the Top 45 cities. Chicago gained 26.3 MSF (12.03%). The Top 50 cities gained an average of 13.10% in area certified.
Baltimore was the biggest rank gainer, moving from #28 to #25 (gaining 19.6%). Other big gainers were Austin (19.93%), Atlanta (19.3%), Minneapolis (17.95%), and Miami (17.05%)

City Area-MSF
1 New York City    250.00
2 Chicago             244.90
3 Wash. D.C.         157.40
4 Houston             157.30
5 San Francisco     129.20
6 Los Angeles       115.90
7 Atlanta                 90.85
8 Boston                 90.18
9 Seattle                 81.20
10 Denver               69.32
11 Dallas                 64.28
12 Las Vegas          49.14
13 San Diego          46.80
14 Minneapolis       45.67
15 Portland             43.40
16 Charlotte            39.09
17 Philadelphia       35.11
18 Austin                 33.28
19 Miami                 32.40
20 Sacramento        30.79
21 San Antonio       23.83
22 Phoenix              23.03
23 Pittsburgh          22.73
24 Cincinnati           19.86
25 Baltimore           17.75

Area of Certified Projects in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (in million square feet)
Houston maintained the #6 ranking with an 11.9% increase of projects certified in the metropolitan statistical area, adding 18.5 million square feet. New York City stayed at #1 with a large 17.86% increase, adding 51.8 msf.
Dallas dropped from #7 to #8 behind Boston. Another big rank drop was Las Vegas, falling from #16 to #20. Big rank gains were enjoyed by San Jose, jumping from #19 to #17 and Detroit from #36 to #34. Honolulu was the largest percentage gainer with 47.67%. Other large gains were New Haven with 23.83%, Atlanta with 19.36%, and Austin at 18.67%.

MSA Area-MSF
1 New York City    341.80
2 Wash. D.C.         338.50
3 Chicago             317.00
4 Los Angeles       242.80
5 San Francisco    199.50
6 Houston            174.00
7 Boston              151.20
8 Dallas                137.40
9 Atlanta              122.70
10 Seattle             120.30
11 Denver              96.37
12 Minneapolis      73.27
13 Miami               66.41
14 Riverside           64.29
15 Philadelphia      60.90
16 San Diego         60.75
17 San Jose            57.99
18 Phoenix             56.26
19 Portland            56.00
20 Las Vegas          55.16
21 Baltimore           53.40
22 Charlotte            42.41
23 Sacramento        42.00
24 Austin                 36.74
25 Pittsburgh           32.99

Source: www.gbig.org data taken on 12/31/2017.

These rankings were calculated for the largest 65 U.S. cities based on population, but we only show the top 25 for brevity. We’re happy to share the complete database with anyone.

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Filed Under: LEED Buildings, LEED Rating Systems, Local LEED Statistics / Rankings

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