LEED Certification Stats for the Office Sector in 2023

LEED certifications remained high on the list of priorities in 2023, even as the office sector has been fighting through a slowdown. According to data from the U.S. Green Building Council, office projects in 40 U.S. states achieved a certain level of LEED recognition.

Overall, 814 office projects were awarded LEED certifications or recertifications in 2023, amounting to 244 million square feet. Specifically, 506 projects were new LEED holders, totaling 99 million square feet of office space, while 308 projects (145 million square feet) were recertified. These numbers reflect robust attention to sustainability targets, and more so, they confirm the advantages brought on by building sustainable space.

Less than 10 percent of the 814 LEED properties that received certifications in 2023 were to the highest level. Specifically, 72 projects received LEED Platinum, including 43 certifications and 29 recertifications. LEED Gold was awarded to 490 projects across the U.S.—245 new and 245 recertified. To the Silver level, 176 office projects received the recognition—143 new and 33 were recertified, while LEED-certified designation went to 76 projects, 75 of which are new and only one recertified.

Nearly two thirds of the 244 million square feet of certifications across the office sector in 2023 were to the Gold level (171.8 million square feet). Next in line by square footage were LEED Silver (34.5 million square feet), LEED Platinum (24.3 million square feet) and LEED-certified (13.5 million square feet).

Office LEED-ing states & D.C.

The top 10 states by number of square feet awarded LEED certification accounted for 206 million square feet. That is the equivalent of 84 percent of the total volume. This square footage was spread across 620 projects.

California and New York were the only two states with more than 100 LEED certifications issued in 2023. Rounding up the top 10 were Texas (77 projects), Washington, D.C. (65), Georgia (46), Illinois (39), Washington (38), Massachusetts (37), Colorado (35) and Virginia (33).

California maintained the lead in both the overall volume of LEED certifications for office projects—146 projects—87 new and 59 recertified, for 35 million square feet combined—as well as in the volume of LEED Platinum awards. Across the state, 22 office projects received USGBC’s highest distinction, totaling some 7 million square feet. Another 93 projects (26 million square feet) were awarded LEED Gold, 22 LEED Silver (2 million square feet) and nine received the basic LEED certification (1.3 million square feet).

Notable LEED Platinum certifications in the state include the South Park Center at 1149 S. Hill St. in Los Angeles. The 970,000-square-foot project received the award in August with a scorecard totaling 92 points. Built in 1963, the asset has been under LBA Realty’s ownership since 2005, according to CommercialEdge.

New York was next in line with 104 LEED-awarded office projects and surpassed California on total square footage—59.3 million square feet of office space were upgraded to LEED standards in 2023. Of these, 62 awards were given to new projects and 42 were recertifications. Across the state, 11 projects received LEED Platinum (5 million square feet), 68 scored LEED Gold awards (4.2 million square feet), 10 LEED Silver (4.3 million square feet) and 15 were awarded the basic LEED certification (8.3 million square feet).

One of the largest LEED Platinum certifications awarded to a New York property went to BlackRock’s headquarters at 413-427 10th Ave. Spanning over 665,332 square feet, the project received the certification in December with a scorecard of 81 points.

The 77 office projects awarded LEED in Texas were spread across 25.4 million square feet—46 certifications and 31 recertifications. Texas had just two LEED Platinum certifications handed out in 2023 (2 million square feet). Another 44 projects were awarded LEED Gold (16.5 million square feet), 26 received LEED Silver (6.4 million square feet) and seven basic LEED certifications (498,437 square feet).

Trammell Crow’s asset at 601 W. Second St. in Austin is one of the two LEED Platinum certifications awarded in Texas in 2023. The project won de recognition with a scorecard of 82 points.