Top 10 States for LEED-Certified Office Properties in 2022

LEED’s popularity among property owners continued to increase and, in 2022, the green rating program surpassed 100,000 LEED-certified projects globally, which equates to more than 11 billion gross square feet, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

In the U.S., 2022 was a great year LEED-wise, totaling 510 million square feet of certified space across 1,981 projects. The top 10 states for certified space accounted for nearly 354 million square feet across 1,225 projects. In addition, the District of Columbia had 115 projects certified to a LEED level, totaling nearly 32 million square feet.

Drilling down on the data provided to us by the USGBC, we extracted the numbers by property class and discovered that nearly 142 million square feet of LEED-certified space were awarded to office projects. This volume shows a decline from 2021 when more than 200 million square feet of office space were certified nationally. Moreover, 101 million square feet of these were in the top 10 states for overall LEED certifications. In the ranking below, we list these top 10 states (and the District of Columbia) ordered by the number of office square feet awarded LEED certification at various levels in 2022.

Rank	State	Office Project Count	Square Feet of LEED-Certified Office Space
1	California	96	28,328,198
2	New York	39	27,606,207
3	Illinois	33	14,147,515
4	Texas	53	11,534,068
5	Massachusetts	27	7,798,161
6	Georgia	23	6,799,544
7	Virginia	21	3,560,952
8	Maryland	8	2,613,751
9	Colorado	7	1,473,797
10	Oregon	7	760,229
4***	Washington, D.C.	38	12,155,888

1. California

The West Coast state led the ranking with more than 28 million square feet of LEED-certified office space in 2022, across 96 projects. Of these, 27 received the highest designation, LEED Platinum, 48 the LEED Gold award, 17 were certified to the Silver level and four received the basic LEED certification. Moreover, 61 of these projects made their first appearance on the USGBC’s map, appearing as ‘certified’; the remaining 35 projects appear as recertifications.

The largest office property to receive the LEED Platinum award in 2022 was 515 South Flower Street in Los Angeles, with a scorecard of 81 points. The current designation is a recertification and an upgrade from LEED Gold. Known as City National Plaza, this twin-tower skyscraper complex is located in the CBD and totals more than 3.6 million square feet combined. A Class A office property, the towers were built in 1971 and have been under CommonWealth Partner’s ownership since 2013, according to CommercialEdge data.

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READ ALSO: Top 10 States for LEED-Certified Office Properties in 2021

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2. New York

On the East Coast, New York was close behind California, with 27.6 million square feet of LEED-certified office space last year, across just 39 projects. Most of the certifications were LEED Gold (32 projects); only two projects were awarded LEED Platinum, another two received the LEED Silver award and three got the basic LEED certification. Certifications outnumbered recertifications, 30 to 9.

The largest project awarded a LEED certification in 2022 was 55 Water Street in Manhattan’s Financial District. The 3.6 million-square-foot property received LEED Gold with a scorecard of 61 points. Rising 53 stories high, the Class A tower was built in 1973, and was acquired by New Water Street Corp. 30 years ago, per CommercialEdge data.

3. Illinois

The Midwestern state ranked third with 14.1 million square feet of LEED-certified office space across 33 projects. The highest ranking—the LEED Platinum award—was offered to four projects, LEED Gold went to another 20 projects, seven LEED Silver designations went out in the state and two projects were given the basic LEED certification. Certifications here also outnumbered recertifications, 21 to 12.

The largest project in the state to receive an award from the USGBC was the 1,239,203-square-foot River Point at 444 West Lake St. in Chicago. The award was in fact a recertification to the LEED Platinum level, with a scorecard of 80 points. Hines Interests’ 52-story tower was built in 2017 bearing Pickard Chilton’s design and in 2019 achieved its first LEED Platinum status.

4. Texas

The Southern state has been a constant presence in USGBC’s rankings, and in 2022, more than 11.5 million square feet of office space across 53 projects received some level of LEED certification. Of these, only three projects received LEED Platinum awards, 20 rose to LEED Gold, 17 projects received LEED Silver and 13 were awarded the basic LEED certification. Similar to the states holding the higher ranks, Texas counted more certifications (42 projects) than recertifications (11 projects).

The largest project awarded a LEED certification in 2022 was 1600 Smith in Downtown Houston. The 1.9-million-square-foot tower received LEED Gold with a scorecard of 62 points. Brookfield Properties’ 51-story Class A asset was built in 1984 and has previous LEED Gold certifications dating back to 2011 and 2017.

5. Massachusetts

LEED-certified office space in Massachusetts stopped at 7.8 million square feet across 27 projects in 2022. Half of these, or 13, received the LEED Gold designation, five rose up to the LEED Platinum certification, one received LEED Silver and two the basic LEED certification. Of the 27, 17 were certifications and 10 were recertifications.

The largest project awarded LEED in 2022 was also at LEED Platinum level—One Financial Center at 675 Atlantic Ave. in Boston received the highest designation from USGBC with a scorecard of 86 points. MetLife Real Estate Investment’s 1.3-million-square-foot tower rises 46 stories and was built in 1984.

6. Georgia

In Georgia, LEED-certified office properties totaled 6.8 million square feet in 2022, across 23 projects. Most of these received the LEED Gold award (18 projects), one property was awarded LEED Platinum, two received LEED Silver and two the basic LEED certification. Certifications led 16 to seven.

The Salesforce Tower at 950 East Paces Ferry Road in Atlanta is the state’s sole bearer of a LEED Platinum award for office properties. The property was built in 1986 and, since 2019, it’s been under KKR’s ownership umbrella, according to CommercialEdge data. The 690,000-square-foot, 34-story property was awarded the recertification with a scorecard of 81 points.

7. Virginia

Virginia made the list with nearly 3.6 million square feet of LEED-certified office space, across 21 projects—16 were certified to the LEED Gold level and five to the Silver level. Moreover, the distribution consisted of 13 certifications and eight recertifications.

The largest office project in the state to receive a LEED award in 2022 was Waterview Office Tower in Arlington. The 723,334-square-foot tower was recertified to the LEED Gold level with a scorecard of 68 points. The 24-story property was acquired by Morgan Stanley in 2017.

8. Maryland

LEED-certified office space in Maryland amounted to 2.6 million square feet across eight projects. Seven received the LEED Gold award and one the basic LEED certification. Furthermore, five of the awards were certifications and three were recertifications.

The largest project awarded a LEED designation in 2022 was the 770,000-square-foot Bethesda Center Office at 7750 Wisconsin Ave., which received LEED Gold with a scorecard of 64 points. Rising 22 stories high, this Boston Properties Class A+ asset is at its first certification, as the development was completed in 2022.

9. Colorado

Colorado had seven office projects totaling 1.5 million square feet awarded LEED certifications in 2022: one to the Platinum level, three to the Gold level and three to the Silver level. Moreover, five awards were recertifications and two were certifications.

The project that received the LEED Platinum certification—with a scorecard of 80 points—was also the largest office property that received the designation from the USGBC, the Metropoint park at 4600 South Ulster St. in Denver. The 1986-built property totals 469,736 square feet across two buildings and has been under CalSTRS ownership since 2006.

10. Oregon

Oregon closes the list of LEED-certified office space, with 760,229 square feet across seven projects. Specifically, four were awarded LEED Gold designations, one LEED Silver and two received the basic LEED certification. Only one property was recertified, the other six appear as certifications.

One notable office project that received USGBC’s award was Adidas’ Gold Building, a 169,823-square-foot property at 5055 North Greely in Portland. The asset received a LEED Gold award with a scorecard of 62 points.

* Washington, D.C.

Were it a state, the District of Columbia would have ranked fourth on our list, behind Illinois and ahead of Texas, with 12 million square feet of office space LEED-certified across 38 projects in 2022. Of these, three projects received LEED Platinum, 27 LEED Gold, five LEED Silver and three received the basic LEED certification. The spread between certifications and recertifications was balanced, counting 19 each.