Virginia ranked as top state for green buildings in 2012

Virginia ranked as the top state for new eco-friendly buildings in 2012, according to a list issued Wednesday by the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council.

The Old Dominion, once a laggard in the green building movement, led the 50 states in buildings certified during the year as meeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

Virginia had 170 projects certified encompassing 29.7 million square feet of space. That footage translates into a ratio of 3.71 feet of certified space per capita, the measuring stick used by the U.S. Green Building Council to rank the states.

While Virginia was the top state on the list, the overall national leader was densely populated Washington, D.C., with a ratio of nearly 37 square feet of certified space per capita.

Following Virginia among the states are Colorado, 2.1 square feet; Massachusetts, 2.05; Illinois, 1.94; and Maryland, 1.90.
Virginia ranked behind Colorado and Illinois last year.

The Green Building Council’s report singled out a number of significant projects during 2012, including Cooper Vineyards in Louisa, the first winery on the East Coast to achieve LEED platinum certification.