Every city wants to go green. But when it comes to energy efficient office buildings, no place is greener than Chicago.
Chicago has the highest percentage of LEED or Energy Star certified office buildings in the US, according to a new study by CBRE Group and Maastricht University. Two thirds (66%) of Chicago's commercial office building square footage is green, an increase of 6.5% from the year before.
Chicago overtook San Francisco--last year's top city for green buildings--for the No. 1 spot. San Francisco's green office building square footage is 62%, which is actually down 1% from the year before, the report found. Rounding out the top five were Atlanta (55%), Houston (53%) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (51%).
"Chicago boasts the highest percentage of buildings holding a LEED certification, a distinction also held the prior year," the report said. "This clearly demonstrates the importance this market has placed on the environmental performance of buildings."
The average percentage of green office space in US cities is 38%, according to the report.
Chicago has made a concerted effort to turn its buildings green, and earlier this year Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he wants all city-owned buildings to be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2025. The city also passed an energy benchmarking law in 2013 that required buildings 50,000 sq. ft. and larger to publish their energy scores each year.
Buildings with eco-friendly design features like solar panels and water saving systems help spaces get LEED certified, and buildings that meet energy performance standards are able to get Energy Star certified.
Among the criteria for energy certification are roofs that use vegetated surfaces designed to capture and retain rainwater. However, there are some concerns about the innovation's effectiveness, and a group of researchers at the University of Illinois are using a technique used in earthquake engineering to determine how well green infrastructure works.
Nevertheless, green certifications are quickly becoming the standard in buildings across the US, and are no longer niche or an oddity, Nils Kok, associate professor at the Dutch university, told Bloomberg.
"In many top markets it’s an oddity if you’re not green certified," he said.
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