The American Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that Turkey is the 8th country among the top 10 countries receiving the LEED certificate, which is Turkey’s widespread and recognized green building certification system in the world.The top ten countries list the countries where the international demand for LEED certified green buildings continues to grow, with significant developments in sustainable building design, construction and operation in the world outside the United States.
Mahesh Ramanujam, President and Chief Executive Officer of USGBC, said, “Countries such as Turkey, which is in the position of an international leader, are leading the way in moving the sustainability movement from buildings to settlements and cities and transforming the market. Turkey has focused on a holistic view of LEED and green buildings, giving priority to environmental and human health issues, helping us to approach one step closer to the goal of green building in this generation. ”
This year, Turkey’s gross floor area grew from ninth place to eighth place with 4.78 million square meters of LEED certified building space. There are 772 projects in Turkey with LEED certified total area of 22.38 million square meters.
The Environment Friendly Green Buildings Association ( ÇEDBİK ) thanks the investors who have been awarded certificates for building projects and who pay close attention to environmental and human health and their responsibilities to future generations. He is pleased that the World Green Building Council (WGBC), a member of ÇEDBİK, has given a series of promises for World Building Day, held during the COP21 Paris meetings, and is moving forward with certain steps towards the goal of 15 million square meters of new green building in Turkey over the next five years. ÇEDBİK continues to educate the professionals in the sector and the professionals of tomorrow in order to spread the knowledge of green building information.
According to market research, which is also contributed by USGBC, according to market development in Turkey, global green building demands are doubling every three years. According to this research conducted in 70 countries, such as Turkey, economies will grow from two to six times their current level, leading the green transformation. The growing green building has transformed the request market into a trillion-dollar industry, and in parallel with this development, the green building materials market is expected to reach $ 234 billion by 2019.
LEED Certified Buildings save money on operating using less energy and water resources, reduce carbon emissions and create healthier living spaces for residents, employees, businesses and the community. The method of analysis used is sorted through the commercial areas where the LEED Certificates are received by the end of December 2016. The complete list of countries receiving the top 10 rankings in the world:
| Ranking | Name of country | Certified Gross Area m² * | Certified Total Number of Projects |
| one | China | 34.62 | 931 |
| 2nd | Canada | 34.39 | 2,586 |
| 3 | India | 15.90 | 64 |
| 4 | Brazil | 7:43 | 380 |
| 5 | South Korea | 5.95 | 97 |
| 6 | Taiwan | 5.66 | 99 |
| 7 | Germany | 5:03 | 215 |
| 8 | Turkey | 4.78 | 191 |
| 9 | Swedish | 3.88 | 210 |
| 10 | United Arab Emirates | 3.64 | 180 |
| ** | USA | 336.84 | 27.699 |
* Gross million square meters. According to December 2016 data.
** USA is the world’s largest market for LEED, but it is not included in this list as the main country where the LEED program is developed.
Currently, more than 82 projects in LEED (Energy and Environmental Design Leadership) program are housed in a 1.4 billion sq m area and 112 thousand LEED Homes certified buildings globally. More than 162 countries in the world received a LEED Certificate each day with an area of 170 square meters. Since buildings have an estimated 30 percent share of global carbon emissions, green buildings provide one of the most economical and effective solutions to the environmental, social and economic benefits they bring to climate change.
In the past year, the USGBC has worked with the other 25 National Green Building Councils around the world to ensure that the use of LEED is widespread over the next five years and that the building construction industry is willing to embrace it to limit global warming. USGBC is also working on the reduction of carbon footprint in both buildings and building sector and the determination of leaders in Net-Zero Buildings in order to achieve success of the Paris Treaty signed by Turkey.