Ottawa, ON — Canada has ranked second in the world on the U.S. Green Building Council’s annual Top 10 Countries and Regions for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in 2021. The list ranks countries and regions in terms of cumulative LEED-certified gross sq. metres as of Dec. 31, 2018.
In 2021, Canada certified 205 projects, representing more than 3.2 million gross sq. meters of LEED space, according to the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC).
The U.S. is not included in the list but recorded more than 26 million gross sq. metres of certified LEED space in 2021.“There is much work to be done to meet Canada’s climate and environmental goals. In this critical decade for climate and environmental action, we must accelerate LEED adoption across the building sector to achieve high levels of performance, including the pursuit of net-zero carbon emissions,” said Thomas Mueller, president and CEO of CaGBC.
Mainland China took first place with 1,077 projects and more than 14 million gross sq. meters certified to LEED in 2021. With Mainland China and Canada take the top two spots, India (146 projects, 2.8 million gross sq. meters), the Republic of Korea (42 projects, 1.5 million gross sq. meters), and Spain (100 projects, 1.4 million gross sq. meters), round out the top five.
The U.S. is not included in the list but recorded more than 26 million gross sq. metres of certified LEED space in 2021.
The global LEED ranking is released annually by the U.S. Green Building Council and highlights countries and territories outside the U.S. that are making significant strides in healthy, sustainable and resilient building design, construction and operations.