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City of Coral Gables | LEED Gold | Photo: © City of Coral Gables

City of Coral Gables

LEED for Cities and Communities helps local leaders create and operationalize responsible, sustainable and specific plans for natural systems, energy, water, waste, transportation and many other factors that contribute to quality of life—revolutionizing the way cities and communities are planned, developed and operated to improve their overall sustainability and quality of life.

The LEED framework encompasses social, economic and environmental performance indicators and strategies with a clear, data-driven means of benchmarking and communicating progress.

Cities
Cities are places with a governing body, and include cities, towns, counties and other local government jurisdictions.

Certification is typically initiated by the governing body.

Communities
Communities are places, such as regions, districts, business improvement districts (BIDs), economic development zones, neighborhoods, campuses, universities and military installations; either in planning and designing phase, existing developments or redevelopments.

Certification is typically initiated by private sector planners or developers, corporates, quasi-government authorities, universities or non-governmental organizations.

Track sustainability objectives

LEED for Cities and Communities helps projects credibly track progress toward overall sustainability objectives and allows for comparison with others around the world. LEED for Cities and Communities helps local leaders and private sector to:

Benchmark performance against national and global standards

Projects track and report tangible progress towards local, state and national targets, such as GHG emissions, and support goals set by leadership, such as climate action or environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals. LEED for Cities and Communities helps local leaders to measure and then communicate sustainability performance and strategies in a consistent format and also compare progress against similar communities.

Demonstrate a commitment to sustainability, resilience and social equity

LEED for Cities and Communities helps local leaders to demonstrate a commitment to the environment, human health and economic prosperity. LEED for Cities and Communities benchmarks current performance and helps to educate residents, visitors and business owners that enable continuous improvement and make a community more livable and sustainable.

Develop a culture of data-driven decision making, transparency and leadership

Local leaders use LEED for Cities and Communities certification to commit to data-driven decision making and continuous improvement, establish a central data hub for citywide or communitywide progress and demonstrate responsible stewardship of resources.

Improve the standard of living and quality of life in cities and communities

The LEED for Cities and Communities rating system provides standards and outcomes-oriented strategies to improve sustainability and equity performance over time. The best practices help to reduce energy, water, waste, vehicle miles travelled, pollution and CO2 at the community scale, and in turn improve air and water quality.

Who's using LEED for Cities and Communities

More than 300 cities and communities across the globe are using LEED for Cities and Communities to communicate continuously improving performance.

View the list of certified cities and communities outside the U.S.
  • Bairro Camino, Brazil
  • Beijing Daxing International Airport Eco, China
  • Cidade dos Lagos, Brazil
  • Citylane Wuhan, China
  • Culture Town in Kuliang, China
  • Haidian Xibeiwang, China
  • Dubai, UAE
  • Huilong Residential Community, China
  • King Salman Energy Park-SPARK, Saudi Arabia
  • Love City, China
  • Luoyang CP International Plaza, China
  • San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico
  • Sapporo, Japan
  • Savona, Italy
  • Surat, India
  • Universal Beijing Resort, China
  • Viva Park Porto Belo, Brazil
  • Vivero Parque Residencial, Columbia
  • Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia
View the list of certified cities and communities in the U.S.
  • Abington Township, PA
  • Albany, NY
  • Albuquerque, NM
  • Alexandria, VA
  • Ann Arbor, MI
  • Annapolis, MD
  • Arlington County, VA
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Atlantic Beach, FL
  • Austin, TX
  • Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Beaverton, OR
  • Bellevue, WA
  • Billings, MT
  • Birmingham, AL
  • Bloomington, IN
  • Blue Island, IL
  • Boise, ID
  • Broward County, FL
  • Burlington, VT
  • Cambridge, MA
  • Cedar Rapids, IA
  • Chandler, AZ
  • Charles City, IA
  • Charlotte, NC
  • Chicago, IL
  • Cincinnati, OH
  • City of Santa Monica, CA
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Columbia, MO
  • Columbia, SC
  • Columbus, OH
  • Coral Gables, FL
  • Corinth, TX
  • Costa Mesa, CA
  • Davenport, IA
  • Denton, TX
  • Denver, CO
  • Des Moines, IA
  • Devens, MA
  • Dubuque, IA
  • Durango, CO
  • Durham, NC
  • El Cerrito, CA
  • Evanston, IL
  • Fayetteville, AR
  • Fort Collins, CO
  • Franklin, TN
  • Frederick County, MD
  • Frederick, MD
  • Golden Triangle Business Improvement District, DC
  • Goleta, CA
  • Greensboro, NC
  • Henderson, NV
  • Hillsborough County, FL
  • Atlanta International Airport, GA
  • Hoboken, NJ
  • Houston, TX
  • Howard County, MD
  • Indianapolis, IN
  • Iowa City, IA
  • Johnson County, KS
  • Kansas City, MO
  • King County, WA
  • Lancaster, PA
  • Las Cruces, NM
  • Las Vegas, NV
  • Lawrence, KS
  • Lee County, FL
  • Louisville/Jefferson County, KY
  • Memphis/Shelby County, TN
  • Miami, FL
  • Miami Beach, FL
  • Miami Dade County, FL
  • Monroe County, FL
  • Montgomery County, MD
  • New Bedford, MA
  • Northampton, MA
  • Orange County, FL
  • Orange County, NC
  • Orange County, NY
  • Orlando, FL
  • Ottumwa, IA
  • Palm Bay, FL
  • Palm Beach County, FL
  • Park Forest, IL
  • Peoria, AZ
  • Peter Cooper Village, NY
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Pinecrest, FL
  • Pinellas County, FL
  • Plano, TX
  • Portland, OR
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Rancho Cucamonga, CA
  • Reading, PA
  • Reno, NV
  • Reston Town Center, Reston, VA
  • Riverside, CA
  • Rochester, MN
  • Rosemount, MN
  • Royal Oak, MI
  • San Antonio, TX
  • San Diego County, CA
  • San Jose, CA
  • Santa Fe, NM
  • Sarasota, FL
  • Seattle, WA
  • Shaker Heights, OH
  • St. Louis, MO
  • St. Petersburg, FL
  • Steamboat Springs, CO
  • Stuyvesant Town, NY
  • Tacoma, WA
  • Tallahassee, FL
  • Tampa, FL
  • The New York Olympic Region, NY
  • Tucson, AZ
  • Washington, DC
  • West Hollywood, CA
  • West Palm Beach, FL
  • Wichita, KS
  • Winston-Salem, NC
  • Woodbridge Township, NJ

Get started

The rating system serves cities and communities of all shapes and sizes and at all phases of their evolution. Participants can be public or privately managed, new or rapidly developing places, mature or fully built-out places, neighborhoods or districts, counties or even regions.

Existing Cities and Communities

Plan and Design Phase Cities and Communities

 

View the Guide to LEED Certification: Cities and Communities

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