WASHINGTON, DC – 171 projects totaling nearly 23 million square feet achieved the green building status of LEED certification in the metropolitan Washington region from 2003-2009, according to a study released today by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG).

The study, Green Building Trends, shows that green building – which focuses on sustainability from the design phase, through construction, and into the building’s operations – increased during the six-year period throughout the entire region. A majority (64 percent) of the green buildings constructed were located within half a mile of a Metrorail station.

The study indicates that the overall number of LEED certified green building projects increased every year from 2003-2009, with the numbers increasing dramatically from 2007 forward.

The District of Columbia had the highest number of projects (72) and overall square footage (12.5 million) of green building in the region. Northern Virginia had the second highest number of projects (59) and overall square footage (6.6 million), while Suburban Maryland had 40 projects and 3.8 million square feet of green building. The largest projects in the District, Northern Virginia, and Maryland were the International Monetary Fund Center, T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, and the Discovery Communications Global Headquarters in Silver Spring, respectively.

The Region Forward vision plan, which was adopted by COG and all 21 local governments in 2010, include a target that, by 2020, all new construction in metropolitan Washington attain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) “Silver” or equivalent certification. Green Building Trends is the first region-wide analysis of green building construction.