Canada ranks fourth in the world for LEED certification
With nearly 57.5 million square feet worth of certified buildings, Canada ranks fourth in the world for adoption of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.
The Canadian Green Building Council (CAGBC) revealed its list of Top 10 Countries and Regions for LEED in 2022 earlier this month. The ranking is released annually by the U.S. Green Building Council. It highlights those countries and regions outside the United States that are making significant strides in healthy, sustainable and resilient building design, construction and operations.
In 2022, Canada certified 248 projects, representing more than 5.3 million gross square metres (GSM) of LEED space.
The list puts Canada in third place, behind Mainland China and India. When the United States – which counts more than 47 million GSM of certified space – is factored into the equation, Canada drops to fourth place.
“Over the last 20 years, CAGBC, its members and stakeholders have proven that green buildings have positive impacts on people, business and the planet. They also drive the innovation and skills development needed for a strong economy,” said Thomas Mueller, President and CEO, CAGBC. “LEED certification continues to be the gold standard for green building, offering Canada’s building sector a holistic way to deliver on sustainability targets, from energy efficiency and wellbeing, to resource use, carbon emissions and resiliency.”
Mainland China topped the list with more than 1,100 projects with a combined footprint of more than 16 million GSM certified to LEED in 2022. India (323 projects, 10.4 million GSM of certified space) ranked second, while Brazil (108 projects, 2.4 million GSM of certified space) and Sweden (152 projects, 2.2 million GSM of certified space) rounded out the top five.
The list ranks countries in terms of total LEED projects as of December 31, 2022.
The full ranking is as follows:
Rank |
Country |
Project Count |
Certified Square Feet |
Certified Square Meters |
1 |
Mainland China |
1,121 |
180,347,421.08 |
16,754,839.89 |
2 |
India |
323 |
112,717,100.08 |
10,471,771.39 |
3 |
Canada |
248 |
57,499,943.21 |
5,341,924.69 |
4 |
Brazil |
108 |
25,863,895.93 |
2,402,836.88 |
5 |
Sweden |
152 |
24,419,164.67 |
2,268,616.83 |
6 |
Republic of Korea |
83 |
23,563,512.84 |
2,189,124.09 |
7 |
Mexico |
92 |
18,427,638.40 |
1,711,985.28 |
8 |
Spain |
99 |
16,851,697.75 |
1,565,575.47 |
9 |
Italy |
96 |
14,469,150.48 |
1,344,229.37 |
10 |
Philippines |
24 |
11,456,313.70 |
1,064,327.40 |
LEED is the most widely used green building rating system in the world and provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings.