USGBC Unveils Real-Time Green Building Data Tool
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) last week launched a new online data visualization resource that allows viewers to survey real-time green building data for each state in the U.S. and Washington, D.C.
The tool highlights the LEED projects, LEED-credentialed professionals and USGBC members in each individual state or district. Not only does the real-time data tool demonstrate how many LEED-registered and LEED-certified projects are in each state, but it also demonstrates gross square footage of LEED-registered and -certified space. Project totals are organized by owner type and space type, while USGBC memberships are organized by type and LEED professional credential holders are highlighted. The online resource also provides links to chapters serving that state and project profile scorecards.
This new tool will provide green building advocates and the general public a look into LEED’s impact within any U.S. state, according to the USGBC.
“Our state-level market briefs demonstrate USGBC’s commitment to data and information transparency at an important level of granularity. You can’t find this data anywhere else in the market,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, chief operating officer of the USGBC, in a statement. “The choice to build green buildings is simple. These state-level data visualizations make it even simpler.”
The real-time market briefs were developed in order to provide green builders with instant data to demonstrate the benefits of green building in the state. Though this tool is specifically for U.S. states, market briefs for countries outside the U.S. are made available upon request.
“The ability to tune in to what the green building marketplace looks like in real time is remarkably impactful, no matter what your connection to the industry is,” said Ari Kobb, director of sustainability and green building solutions, Siemens Industry Inc., in a statement. “The state market briefs are clean and simple snapshots for each state. As someone who loves to dig into data, especially LEED data, I find this a useful tool for analysis.”
USGBC chapters were offered a glimpse of the tool before it officially launched.
“Working at the state level, I see story after story of LEED success in North Carolina,” said Emily Scofield, executive director of the USGBC North Carolina Chapter, in a statement. “The state market briefs are really useful to us in the way that they aggregate individual successes into crisp numbers that have a real impact on our conversations with businesses and policymakers.”
The USGBC stated that it is the only green building organization to provide access to this level of data and information. USGBC prioritizes data transparency and access through its data access policy campaign, its Green Building Information Gateway and as a joint organizer of the Data Access and Transparency Alliance, according to the USGBC.
“Providing the green building market with this detailed level of information is critical to the success of USGBC’s mission of market transformation,” said Ramanujam.
The USGBC will expand on this tool by providing LEED for Homes and LEED for Neighborhood Development data later this year.