India Ranks Third Among Top 10 Countries for LEED Green Building

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced that India ranks third on USGBC’s annual ranking of the Top 10 Countries for LEED; the world’s most widely used and recognized green building rating system. The Top 10 list highlights countries outside of the U.S. that are making significant strides in sustainable building design, construction and transformation, illustrating the ever-growing international demand for LEED green buildings. The announcement comes at a time of increased international focus on climate change mitigation in the lead up to the United Nations’ COP21 climate negotiations this December.

India’s dominant position in the green building movement is significant due to the country’s aggressive plans to expand access to electricity, its explosive economic growth projections and its unprecedented and rapid urbanization. USGBC’s announcement also comes at a time of increased environmental awareness in India as conversations across the subcontinent focus on alleviating the highly toxic levels of air and water pollution that are pervasive in some of India’s largest population centers. LEED is poised to feature prominently as a strong eco-friendly solution for Indian business leaders and policymakers, and can be a powerful tool in efforts such as the 100 Smart Cities initiative due to the rating system’s emphasis on social equity and inclusivity, environmental health, innovative design and transportation efficiency—all areas which the government has deemed to be essential to ensuring that India’s new Smart Cities are successful.

“Given India’s regional and global significance, it is very encouraging to see the country successfully positioning itself as an international leader in the green building and sustainability movements at the same time that its prominence as a global leader in technology and the information economy is growing,” said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. “The international community cannot solve major challenges such as climate change and water scarcity without India’s full and enthusiastic participation.”

The 10 countries that made the list for 2015 are geographically and culturally diverse, representing seven of the world’s 20 largest single-nation economies by gross domestic product (GDP) (China, Germany, Brazil, India, Canada, South Korea and Turkey), as well as six of the top 11 emitters of greenhouse gases (China, India, Germany, South Korea,

A sample of notable projects that certified in India in 2014 include:

• Hyderabad: K. Raheja Corp. Mindspace building No 6, LEED Platinum
• Mumbai: K.Raheja Corp. Mindspace building no 4, LEED Gold 
• Chennai: Ascendas IT Park, LEED Platinum
• Bangalore: Thomson Reuters Bangalore Campus, LEED Gold
• Gurgaon: Ericsson Tower, LEED Gold
• Mumbai: Nirlon Knowledge Park, Building 6, LEED Gold