Next up, San Francisco garnered 67 points. In this case, the score it obtained for its share of LEED-certified office spaces within its stock was its standout performance. The city also boasts the highest share of LEED Platinum workspaces among primary markets (24%), in addition to the fourth-largest inventory of green buildings. At nearly 72 million square feet, it’s only outranked by New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Furthermore, despite the recent slowdown in office development, San Francisco continues to be one of the most active markets in providing state-of-the-art green workspace solutions with roughly 3.8 million square feet of office space currently under construction. The City by the Bay also had the second-best mobility score in this category — earning the top honors as the most walkable city — and the third-highest ratio of Energy Star office square footage per capita.
Meanwhile, a good showing for its mobility score and a string of fourth-place finishes provided a solid base for Boston to pick up the 60 points that secured the last spot on the podium. The city also ranked third for its Transit Score and Walk Scores — behind the likes of New York City and San Francisco — and fourth in terms of its share of LEED-certified buildings, as well as the percentage increase of these green office spaces throughout the last decade.
In fourth place, Denver’s performance in terms of its ACEEE Building Policies scorecard are worth pointing out: The city obtained the maximum number of points for this metric, which focuses on a range of strategies to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. Moreover, Denver’s Green Code plays a key role in the city’s sustainability efforts by setting high standards for new construction and renovations, pushing developers to adopt sustainable practices.
Then, due to its excellent mobility score and good performance for the ACEEE Building Policies category, New York City ended up in seventh place overall. Here, the pursuit of sustainability in the nation’s largest office market is significantly shaped by its continually updated building codes, which integrate the latest energy-efficiency standards and sustainable construction practices. However, a major challenge lies in the Big Apple’s vast inventory of older buildings. Therefore, alongside advancing codes, there’s a substantial emphasis on retrofitting existing structures.
Not to be outdone, honorable mentions include Atlanta; Austin, Texas; San Jose, Calif.; and Sacramento, Calif., which are clustered around the 8th through 11th spots in our ranking. Of these, Atlanta had the second-highest square footage of Energy Star office space per resident at 8%, whereas Austin witnessed the highest increase of LEED-certified buildings within its office inventory between 2015 and 2024. Out west, San Jose ranked third for the same metric — behind Austin and Charlotte, N.C. — and boasted the second-lowest CO2 emissions, behind Sacramento.
Secondary Market Leaders: 2 California Entries Lead in LEED Office Building Growth & Percentage of Stock
With 66 points, Oakland, Calif., benefits from the strong sustainability culture that’s prevalent throughout the San Francisco Bay Area with its emphasis on environmental awareness and innovation. Specifically, it boasts the highest LEED score and the largest share of properties that have obtained Platinum certification (11% of its green office stock). The city also came third in terms of its increase in LEED-certified workspaces within the last decade, as well as its relatively low CO2 emission levels and balanced mobility options.
Up north, Minneapolis came in second with noteworthy performances in terms of its share of LEED- and Energy Star-rated office spaces. More precisely, the city has roughly 48 square feet of energy-efficient space per capita (compared to runner-up Tampa’s 29 square feet per capita), as well as the highest ratio of LEED Gold-certified office buildings among secondary markets (33%). On top of that, Minneapolis — which ranked highest for ACEEE Building Policies — is also pushing for the adoption of innovative green building technologies, such as solar panels, green roofs and advanced building management systems. Finally, the city also ranked first on the mobility index by being the most bike-friendly city on this list.
