The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) announced that Canada has maintained its second-place position in the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC’s) ranking of the world’s top 10 countries for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

The list only ranks countries outside of the United States, which remains the global leader with 385.65 m2 (4151 sf) of LEED-certified space and 30,669 LEED-certified projects.

“Canada’s green building industry has consistently proven we are among the most innovative in the world, and this result further cements that leadership position,” says Thomas Mueller, the CaGBC’s president. “LEED has and will continue to be instrumental in bringing green building solutions to scale including energy efficiency and carbon, health and wellness, resiliency and advanced material choices. With LEED we can deliver now to substantially improve performance for buildings across Canada.”

The annual list ranks the top 10 LEED countries in terms of gross square metres (GSM), reported in millions:

  1. China, at 47.16 m2 (508 sf) and 1211 LEED-certified projects.
  2. Canada, at 40.77 m2 (439 sf) and 2970 projects.
  3. India, at 20.28 m2 (218 sf) and 752 projects.
  4. Brazil, at 14.83 m2 (160 sf) and 461 projects.
  5. Germany, at 7 m2 (75 sf) and 276 projects.
  6. Republic of Korea, at 6.66 m2 (72 sf) and 106 projects.
  7. Taiwan, at 6.15 m2 (66 sf) and 124 projects.
  8. Turkey, at 6.06 m2 (65 sf) and 245 projects.
  9. Mexico, at 5.16 m2 (55 sf) and 305 projects.
  10. United Arab Emirates, at 4.41 m2 (47 sf) and 207 projects.

“Canada remains an important leader in driving the adoption of LEED and green building,” says USGBC president Mahesh Ramanujam. “With nearly 3000 LEED certified projects throughout the country, we are seeing the leaders in this market push the boundaries of what it means to be a high-performing building or space. Progress happens one project at a time and the work being done across Canada is helping to define where the industry is moving and how we stay focused on finding solutions that will continue to improve our quality of life.”

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