This year’s top ten countries for LEED was recently announced.
More than just a friendly race among nations keen on the most prestigious green building standard in the world, it’s all about an increased awareness and appreciation of its awesome benefits to the environment and the economy. You see, carelessly built buildings still contribute up to 30{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab} of greenhouse gas emissions globally, so every bit of planning and design is needed.
LEED top ten countries for green building
So who’s the greenest of them all?
Canada tops this year’s green building list with a total of 26.63 million LEED-certified gross square meters (GSM) of space, well ahead of China’s 21.97. However, China outnumbers Canada in terms of combined LEED-registered and certified space: a whopping 118.34 million GSM, almost double of Canada’s 63.31 million GSM. Ranking third is India with 13.24 million GSM in LEED-certified space, while a distant 4th placer is Brazil.
There are also new entrants to this year’s list, namely Sweden who came in at number 10, and Turkey at number 9. The number 9 spot was previously held by United Arab of Emirates (UAE), but its green construction boom has brought it one notch higher to 8th place this year. And yet, something must be said for UAE’s aggressive construction industry, especially as it pertains to the inevitable construction waste and the treatment of its migrant workers.
China itself, while previously criticized for its rampant construction boom which in some cases have resulted in ghost cities and artificial growth, takes pride in its vigorous nation-wide enforcement of green building. When nations supervise, support, and incentivize green building happening in their own territory, that creates the needed momentum for builders.
Not included in the top ten list is the United States, as it is already the largest market for LEED green building, with a total of 276.90 million GSM.
Towards a Green Dialogue for Green Building
All things considered, it’s nice to see green building at this brisk and lovely pace. LEED has paved the way for ensuring we have buildings that work efficiently, while caring for its occupants, and creating the least impact possible on the environment, and so we can only wish that other countries would also chime in.
As other countries start greening up their construction industry, that’ll open up the market, create a livelier dialogue among nations, as well as develop and enhance better green building policies. Big or small, everyone’s participation can mean so much towards a greener global transformation.
