Sources: U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, D.C.; CP staff
Illinois tops the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) annual Top 10 States for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) list as measured by building square footage certified under the green building rating system. As the number one state in 2018, the Land of Lincoln certified 172 projects equating to 5.31 square feet of LEED-certified space per resident. The list is based on 2010 U.S. Census data and includes commercial and institutional green building projects certified throughout 2018:
| 2018 Top 10 States for LEED | ||||
| Rank | State | Certified Gross Square Footage (GSF) | GSF Per Capita | Number of Projects Certified |
| 1 | Illinois | 68,133,942 | 5.31 | 172 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 34,718,212 | 5.30 | 122 |
| 3 | Washington | 28,555,753 | 4.25 | 137 |
| 4 | New York | 72,881,287 | 3.76 | 214 |
| 5 | Texas | 88,404,993 | 3.52 | 277 |
| 6 | Colorado | 17,042,295 | 3.39 | 114 |
| 7 | Hawaii | 4,504,287 | 3.31 | 20 |
| 8 | Virginia | 25,348,631 | 3.17 | 136 |
| 9 | California | 112,388,968 | 3.02 | 521 |
| 10 | Maryland | 16,869,680 | 2.92 | 113 |
USGBC does not include Washington, D.C. in the ranking, as it its not a state, but notes that the District is far and away the leader in terms of 61.74 gross sq. ft. per capita, based on 145 buildings certified in 2018 and spanning 37.2 million gross sq. ft.
“These Top 10 states are examples of how we can create lasting, measurable change and improve the quality of life for everyone in our communities,” says USGBC CEO Mahesh Ramanujam. “A better future requires a universal living standard that leaves no one behind—and that future would simply not be possible without the extraordinary work being done in these states.”