Washington, DC (although not officially a state) again tops the US Green Building Council’s list of the top ten states with the most institutional and commercial LEED-certified buildings per capita.

With more than 31 square feet of LEED-certified space per person, the District of Columbia leads the nation. Next is Colorado, with 2.74 square feet per person in 2011. Illinois, Virginia and Washington, clocked in at 2.69, 2.42 and 2.18 square feet of LEED-certified space per person, respectively. The complete USGBC list of top ten states, in order, is: District of Columbia, Colorado, Illinois, Virginia, Washington, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas, California, New York and Minnesota. USGBC compiled the list based on 2010 Census data.

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The United States Green Building Council has launched The App Lab, which will help builders organize their projects and develop strategies to achieve the most certification points.

App Lab is designed to give LEED project teams easy access to compatible software, some of which is already in use. The apps are fully integrated with the LEED Online project management system. The Lab launched with eight applications but USGBC anticipates that it will quickly mushroom.

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San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid was awarded Platinum LEED certification. It previously received Gold certification in 2009.

Among the most impressive accomplishments is the creation of an onsite cogeneration plant that produces an average of 70 percent of the building’s electricity and 100 percent of heating and domestic hot water needs, Nancy Green at Shennum Inc. for the Transamerica Pyramid Center said.

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Federal Express’ cargo facility in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport boasts the largest green roof of any US airport.

Like many green roofs, this one is covered with sedum – a low-growing, drought- tolerant plant. Although one of the advantages of a green roof is that it provides habitat for birds in industrial/ urban areas, in this case, sedum species were selected that don’t attract birds – because birds at airports can be hazardous for all concerned.

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Kohl’s Department Stores announced that all their new stores will be LEED Gold certified.

They plan to have 300 LEED certifications by the end of 2012 and over 500 by 2015.

Since 2008, all new stores have been certified LEED-Silver. Its new prototype which will be used for all new stores starting in 2012 has earned LEED-Gold pre-certification.

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