Whether it was the effects of the oil & gas downturn slowing local construction or a lack of local green building initiatives, Houston ended 2016 with decelerating LEED project certifications. Houston had substantially lower growth than national averages in all categories.
Houston added 50 LEED projects in 2016, an 11.57% increase and down from 63 in 2015. The average for the top 50 cities was 14.08%. This increase brings Houston to a total of 482 projects, nearing the 500 project milestone.
The top 50 cities added 1,193 projects. The top 50 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) added 2,453 (14.97%). The top 50 cities added 258.1 million square feet (msf), a 15.76% increase and the top 50 MSAs added 395.20 msf, a 15.58% increase. Percentages were down in 2016 for all categories while project numbers and areas were up in all categories.
Number of Certified Projects in City Limits
Houston held its rank as #5 in certified projects for cities, but is losing ground to #6 Los Angeles which certified 18 more projects then Houston in 2016. Houston is also falling further behind #4 San Francisco, now lagging by 48 projects, down from only 14 projects in 2015.
Portland fell from #10 to #12 with Boston and Denver moving up to #10 and #11 respectively. New York City stayed #1, adding 141 projects, most of them multi-family, retail and existing building certifications. With a robust benchmarking mandate in place, it also had many LEED for Existing Building projects register in 2016, so we expect NYC to be the leader again in 2017.
Miami was the biggest rank jumper, soaring from #22 to #19. The biggest rank dropper was Colorado Springs, falling from #38 to #43. Memphis had the biggest percentage increase with 52.63% and Richmond VA was the second biggest percentage gainer at 24.55%. Other cities with significant gains were San Francisco (18.8%), Washington D.C. (18.56%), Los Angeles (18.53%), and Columbus (18.18%).
| City | Number | |
| 1 | New York City | 816 |
| 2 | Wash. D.C. | 760 |
| 3 | Chicago | 695 |
| 4 | San Francisco | 530 |
| 5 | Houston | 482 |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 435 |
| 7 | Seattle | 371 |
| 8 | San Diego | 356 |
| 9 | Atlanta | 337 |
| 10 | Boston | 278 |
| 11 | Denver | 272 |
| 12 | Portland | 264 |
| 13 | Dallas | 232 |
| 14 | Charlotte | 196 |
| 15 | Philadelphia | 194 |
| 16 | Austin | 187 |
| 17 | Pittsburgh | 175 |
| 18 | Sacramento | 145 |
| 19 | Miami | 144 |
| 20 | San Antonio | 143 |
| 21 | Cincinnati | 142 |
| 22 | Albuquerque | 136 |
| 23 | Phoenix | 133 |
| 24 | Grand Rapids | 124 |
| 25 | Baltimore | 121 |
Number of Certified Projects in Metropolitan Statistical Areas
The Houston MSA added 70 projects, a 12.89% increase, for a total of 613 projects and maintained the #8 position overall. Miami and Philadelphia switched places to #12 and #13 respectively. Pittsburgh fell from #20 to #22. While Washington D.C. widened its #1 lead by adding 274 projects, New York City added 253 projects and Los Angeles added 217. Riding on it significant city limit gains, the biggest percentage gainer was Memphis again at 35.56%. Tucson was second at 20.78%, thanks to higher education, government and retail building types earning certification. Other big gainers were Raleigh (20.59%), Miami (20.55%) and San Francisco (18.99%).
| MSA | Number | |
| 1 | Wash. D.C. | 1,801 |
| 2 | New York City | 1,588 |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 1,382 |
| 4 | Chicago | 1,212 |
| 5 | San Francisco | 1,065 |
| 6 | Boston | 777 |
| 7 | Seattle | 700 |
| 8 | Houston | 613 |
| 9 | Dallas | 590 |
| 10 | San Diego | 560 |
| 11 | Atlanta | 554 |
| 12 | Miami | 522 |
| 13 | Philadelphia | 506 |
| 14 | Denver | 481 |
| 15 | San Jose | 441 |
| 16 | Baltimore | 440 |
| 17 | Portland | 407 |
| 18 | Phoenix | 367 |
| 19 | Minneapolis | 294 |
| 20 | Sacramento | 288 |
| 21 | Riverside | 283 |
| 22 | Pittsburgh | 272 |
| 23 | Charlotte | 234 |
| 24 | Cleveland | 227 |
| 25 | Austin | 223 |
Area of Certified Projects in City Limits (in million square feet)
Houston added 13.5 msf in certified projects, a 10.63% increase. Houston kept the #3 ranking in this category, but Washington D.C. is quickly catching up, closing what was an 8.8 msf separation in 2015 to only a 4.8 msf difference in 2016. New York City is still #1 and added an amazing 41.4 msf (24.9%). Boston moved up to #7, knocking Atlanta down to #8. San Diego moved from #15 to #13. Columbus was the biggest rank jumper going from #29 to #25 by adding many higher education and K-12 school certifications. Columbus also had several large LEED- Existing Building certifications such as 1 Riverside Plaza at 831,000 s.f. and the JP Morgan McCoy Center Polaris project at 2.3 million square feet. Big percentage gainers were: Cincinnati (37.27%), the leap-frogging Columbus (35.5%), Richmond (32.18%), Memphis (30.46%), Philadelphia (29%) and Dallas (26.96%).
| City | Area-MSF | |
| 1 | Chicago | 218.60 |
| 2 | New York City | 207.60 |
| 3 | Houston | 140.50 |
| 4 | Wash. D.C. | 135.70 |
| 5 | San Francisco | 116.80 |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 101.00 |
| 7 | Boston | 77.55 |
| 8 | Atlanta | 76.15 |
| 9 | Seattle | 71.98 |
| 10 | Denver | 64.79 |
| 11 | Dallas | 62.12 |
| 12 | Las Vegas | 47.88 |
| 13 | San Diego | 40.16 |
| 14 | Portland | 39.73 |
| 15 | Minneapolis | 38.72 |
| 16 | Charlotte | 34.50 |
| 17 | Philadelphia | 32.12 |
| 18 | Sacramento | 28.77 |
| 19 | Austin | 27.75 |
| 20 | Miami | 27.68 |
| 21 | San Antonio | 22.67 |
| 22 | Phoenix | 20.73 |
| 23 | Pittsburgh | 19.43 |
| 24 | Cincinnati | 18.01 |
| 25 | Columbus | 16.92 |
Area of Certified Projects in MSAs (in million square feet)
Houston retained the #6 rank in this category, however there were big changes at the top. New York City gained 56 million square feet in certified projects moving up from #3 to the #1 spot, passing Washington D.C. and Chicago. Miami moved from #14 to #13. Portland was the biggest dropper, falling from #13 to #20. Riverside jumped the most spots, leaping from #21 to #15 by adding 13.82 msf (34.87%). Philadelphia moved up from #18 to #14. Another significant gainer was Cincinnati (28.26%) with many large LEED for Existing Building certifications such as P&G World Headquarters (1.3 msf), Atrium Two Recertification, Peck Federal Building and Scripps Center. Other leading MSAs were Nashville (23.82%), Richmond (23.14%), Miami (22.19%) and Columbus (22.63%).
| City | Area- MSF | |
| 1 | New York City | 290.00 |
| 2 | Wash. D.C. | 289.70 |
| 3 | Chicago | 284.20 |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 214.80 |
| 5 | San Francisco | 178.80 |
| 6 | Houston | 155.50 |
| 7 | Dallas | 129.70 |
| 8 | Boston | 128.70 |
| 9 | Seattle | 108.20 |
| 10 | Atlanta | 102.80 |
| 11 | Denver | 90.19 |
| 12 | Minneapolis | 64.92 |
| 13 | Miami | 58.74 |
| 14 | Philadelphia | 55.53 |
| 15 | Riverside | 54.15 |
| 16 | Las Vegas | 53.26 |
| 17 | San Diego | 52.63 |
| 18 | Phoenix | 52.14 |
| 19 | San Jose | 51.97 |
| 20 | Portland | 51.96 |
| 21 | Baltimore | 48.96 |
| 22 | Sacramento | 39.18 |
| 23 | Charlotte | 36.51 |
| 24 | Austin | 30.96 |
| 25 | Pittsburgh | 29.10 |
Source: www.gbig.org, data taken on 12/31/2106
These rankings are calculated for the largest 65 U.S. cities based on population, but we only show the top 25 for brevity. Let us know if you want detailed information on your city