Massachusetts Ranks 4th in Nation for LEED Green Building

Governor Patrick’s Administration recently announced that the state of Massachusetts is ranked 4th in the nation for sustainable building design, construction and operation by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Massachusetts ranks behind Illinois, Maryland and Virginia, and had 101 Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) certified projects in 2013. Massachusetts also ranked 4th in last year’s survey.

The City of Cambridge has already taken many steps to reduce energy consumption and green its municipal building stock and operations. Since 2004, the City has operated under the policy that all new municipal construction and major renovations should be designed to be certifiable under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. Developed by the USGBC, LEED, is an internationally recognized green building certification system.

Seven city buildings, including the City Hall Annex, Russell Field Athletic Center, the Main Library, West Cambridge Youth Center, War Memorial Recreational Facility, Robert W. Healy Safety Building, and Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School have all been LEED certified, and the recently renovated Alice K. Wolf Center is currently in application to receive LEED certification. Additionally, it is the goal of the City to achieve LEED-Gold certification for the reconstruction of the Martin Luther King Jr. School. The City Hall Annex was the first municipal building in Massachusetts to achieve LEED certification. The City Manager established an inter-departmental Energy Management Work Group in 2004 to track energy consumption and target buildings for energy-efficiency improvements.