Chicago has achieved LEED for Cities Platinum Certification, the highest level of certification available from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Chicago is one of the first cities in the world to be certified using LEED, the world’s most widely used green building rating system that focuses on human and environmental health. The LEED for Cities program was launched in 2016 and enables cities to benchmark and communicate performance from ongoing sustainability initiatives.
“Chicago continues to show world-class leadership when it comes to reducing harmful carbon pollution while also strengthening and improving neighborhoods across the city,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. “This award is evidence that our efforts are making an impact. We will keep accelerating initiatives that improve our quality of life and conserve resources, all while supporting clean, 21st-century jobs.”
Last month, Chicago was for the second year in a row ranked as the nation’s greenest city by the Green Building Adoption Index—a collaboration between CBRE and Maastricht University—with 70 percent of its space green certified. A number of city initiatives have helped maintain Chicago’s sustainable reputation, such as the Energy Benchmarking Ordinance and Retrofit Chicago. Next year, the city will implement the Chicago Energy Rating System, the first of its kind in the U.S., which will which assign a zero to four-star energy rating to all large properties that are subject to the benchmarking reporting requirements.
“Chicago has not only committed to bold environmental and sustainability goals, but is now delivering on those commitments, leading to real impact across the city,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO at USGBC and GBCI. “Mayor Emanuel and the city are proving that improving sustainability and increasing economic growth go hand-in-hand.”
