Houston moves up to #8 for Certifications in Metro area, passing DFW and Atlanta! 2014 has come to a close and it was a substantial year for LEED certifications, a result of many stalled projects resurrecting following the recession as well as an increase in corporate policy and government mandates. Most of the Top 10 City rankings remained the same, except that Houston passed up DFW and Atlanta for the #8 spot in certified projects in the metropolitan statistical area. Also, New York City reclaimed the number one spot for certified projects in city limits after having slipped to number two briefly mid-year behind Washington DC.
Overall, the Top 50 cities had a 19.99% increase in number of certified projects to a total of 7,292, a 20.12% increase in projects in MSA limits to a total of 14,225, an increase of 19.42% in building area certified in city limits totaling 1.4 billion square feet, and an increase of 19.73% in building area certified in MSA limits to a total of 2.18 billion square feet.
Number of LEED Certified Projects in City Limits
Houston ended 2014 by adding 65 new LEED certifications for a total of 369 LEED certified projects, an increase of 21.3% and stayed in fifth place between #4 San Francisco and #6 Los Angeles. As mentioned, NYC regained first place. The next change in rank was Austin overtaking Philadelphia for #16. While not changing rank, the two biggest increases in the top 25 cities were Denver, up 31% and Miami, up 30%. The biggest overall increase was Syracuse, increasing a huge 58% and moving up seven spots to #27. Several cities fell more than two spots with the biggest drop going to San Jose, falling six levels to #34
| 1 | New York City | 563 |
| 2 | Wash. D.C. | 558 |
| 3 | Chicago | 539 |
| 4 | San Francisco | 384 |
| 5 | Houston | 369 |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 306 |
| 7 | Seattle | 285 |
| 8 | Atlanta | 274 |
| 9 | San Diego | 258 |
| 10 | Portland | 226 |
| 11 | Boston | 200 |
| 12 | Denver | 199 |
| 13 | Dallas | 177 |
| 14 | Charlotte | 156 |
| 15 | Pittsburgh | 148 |
| 16 | Philadelphia | 135 |
| 17 | Austin | 138 |
| 18 | Grand Rapids | 116 |
| 19 | Sacramento | 112 |
| 20 | San Antonio | 113 |
| 21 | Albuquerque | 105 |
| 22 | Cincinnati | 114 |
| 23 | Phoenix | 106 |
| 24 | Miami | 108 |
| 25 | Cleveland | 90 |
Number of LEED certified projects in the M.S.A.:
As mentioned in the mid-year check, Houston moved up two spots in the number of certified projects in Metropolitan Statistical Areas, ending 2014 at #8 by adding a total of 90 projects. It was the biggest percentage increase in the Top 25 MSAs. Houston increase was 24.5%, while the largest increase was Cleveland with 28% and the smallest was Portland with 9%. This caused Portland to fall two spaces to #15. In the top 50 MSAs, Nashville jumped five spaces to #36 and Syracuse jumped six spaces to #40.
| 1 | Wash. D.C. | 1,330 |
| 2 | New York City | 1,117 |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 974 |
| 4 | Chicago | 925 |
| 5 | San Francisco | 781 |
| 6 | Boston | 582 |
| 7 | Seattle | 548 |
| 8 | Houston | 457 |
| 9 | Dallas | 453 |
| 10 | Atlanta | 438 |
| 11 | San Diego | 411 |
| 12 | Philadelphia | 384 |
| 13 | Miami | 364 |
| 14 | Denver | 363 |
| 15 | Portland | 350 |
| 16 | Baltimore | 330 |
| 17 | San Jose | 323 |
| 18 | Phoenix | 290 |
| 19 | Pittsburgh | 227 |
| 20 | Minneapolis | 225 |
| 21 | Sacramento | 215 |
| 22 | Charlotte | 188 |
| 23 | Riverside | 182 |
| 24 | Cleveland | 180 |
| 25 | Austin | 169 |
Area of LEED projects by City (In MSF):
Houston added 18.4 million square feet of LEED certified space, an increase of 20.3%. Houston remained in the #3 spot for this category with a total of 108.90 million square feet, with Washington D.C. nipping at our heels. Chicago is still in the 31 spot but by a wider margin than before. The first rank change was Denver moving ahead of Las Vegas to the #10 spot by having one of the largest increases at 33%. The largest increase went to Baltimore with 37%, allowing it to jump 4 spots to #25. Other big gainers in the Top 50 ranks were Nashville moving up six spaces to #32, New Orleans moving up seven spaces to #40 and Syracuse (again!) moving up seven spaces to 41
| 1 | Chicago | 156.30 |
| 2 | New York City | 147.70 |
| 3 | Houston | 108.90 |
| 4 | Wash. D.C. | 107.10 |
| 5 | San Francisco | 82.87 |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 75.47 |
| 7 | Atlanta | 62.14 |
| 8 | Boston | 50.11 |
| 9 | Seattle | 49.91 |
| 10 | Denver | 46.79 |
| 11 | Las Vegas | 40.05 |
| 12 | Dallas | 38.85 |
| 13 | Portland | 34.28 |
| 14 | Minneapolis | 32.40 |
| 15 | San Diego | 30.87 |
| 16 | Charlotte | 26.46 |
| 17 | Sacramento | 22.08 |
| 18 | Miami | 21.47 |
| 19 | Philadelphia | 18.94 |
| 20 | San Antonio | 18.40 |
| 21 | Austin | 18.04 |
| 22 | Pittsburgh | 17.21 |
| 23 | Phoenix | 15.61 |
| 24 | Cleveland | 12.87 |
| 25 | Baltimore | 12.37 |
Area of LEED projects by MSA (In MSF):
Houston stayed in sixth place nationwide with 119.10 million square feet, an increase of 21.6%, with the addition of 21.2 million square feet. Chicago nudged past NYC for the #2 spot, but those two may be trading #2 and #3 all year. Also in the top 10, Atlanta moved past Seattle for the #9 spot. There were no particularly big drops in this category. The biggest gainer was Cleveland with 32.4% increase. Memphis also moved up five spots to #42.
| 1 | Wash. D.C. | 221.90 |
| 2 | Chicago | 204.00 |
| 3 | New York City | 203.70 |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 159.40 |
| 5 | San Francisco | 125.60 |
| 6 | Houston | 119.10 |
| 7 | Dallas | 92.09 |
| 8 | Boston | 88.82 |
| 9 | Atlanta | 81.97 |
| 10 | Seattle | 79.44 |
| 11 | Denver | 67.51 |
| 12 | Minneapolis | 52.53 |
| 13 | Portland | 43.67 |
| 14 | Las Vegas | 43.42 |
| 15 | San Jose | 43.18 |
| 16 | Phoenix | 41.61 |
| 17 | Miami | 41.38 |
| 18 | San Diego | 41.01 |
| 19 | Philadelphia | 36.97 |
| 20 | Baltimore | 36.83 |
| 21 | Sacramento | 29.85 |
| 22 | Riverside | 29.79 |
| 23 | Charlotte | 28.31 |
| 24 | Pittsburgh | 25.19 |
| 25 | Austin | 21.34 |