Program on the Environment

In the oversaturated market of green building and community standards, why does the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) “LEED for cities” stand out? LEED for cities (LFC) tackles eight categories of performance to promote sustainable development at the city scale that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The aim of this study is to determine the drawbacks and difficulties of the LFC process and how they can adjust to become more widespread across the United States. For my internship, I worked with the King County Climate Executive Office to better understand the LFC process and completed seven application credits across LEED credit categories by gathering relevant policy and county data. Additionally, I interviewed other city and county leaders on their process with the LFC application to determine commonalities in struggles for completion. Issues are found in the process due to time constraints, funding, unclear data sources, lack of understanding in benefits, and issues in collecting data across city jurisdictions when counties apply. These results can help USGBC understand common issues when it comes to applying and will push them to supply better benefits that equate to the amount of work completed by applicants. In order to support the growth of human-centered sustainable urban environments, communities, cities, and counties must invest in planning strategies that focus on better citizen livelihood and green futures.