Sacramento: The Up and Coming Green City

Buoyed by a directive from the Governator himself that all state office building achieve at least a silver LEED rating, California’s capital city has quietly built itself a mini-empire of green buildings.

Sacramento’s 4.3 million square feet of LEED-certified office space places it only behind Chicago’s 5.2 million square feet, and well ahead of fellow California [...]

Buoyed by a directive from the Governator himself that all state office building achieve at least a silver LEED rating, California’s capital city has quietly built itself a mini-empire of green buildings.

Sacramento’s 4.3 million square feet of LEED-certified office space places it only behind Chicago’s 5.2 million square feet, and well ahead of fellow California cities San Francisco and Los Angeles. At the head of Sacramento’s green building charge is the headquarters for the California EPA. The first LEED platinum office building in the United States, features indoor bike parking, waterless urinals and worm composting for lunch scraps. In addition to the large presence of LEED-certified state buildings, Sacramento is also requiring minimum silver LEED certification on city buildings. Said one Sacramento City Councilman, “Our goal is to become the most sustainable city in America.”