By Donovan Wilson | Special for The Arizona Republic
More Phoenix-area businesses are ramping up their environmental-responsibility efforts to operate in office spaces with better air quality and more efficient energy-management systems under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design initiative.
Phoenix has more than 60 commercial facilities that have met LEED standards for certification, according to the latest data from the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit organization and developer of the building-rating system. In 2007, only 11 commercial spaces met LEED standards for certification in the city.
Among the 23 U.S. cities with populations between 600,000 and 1.6 million, Phoenix ranks ninth in the number of LEED certifications behind San Francisco, Denver, San Diego, Boston, Dallas, Charlotte, Austin and Philadelphia.
“We believe Arizona businesses should be leaders in sustainability,” said Todd Sanders, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. “Many of our members have made sustainability a priority, not because it’s trendy, but because it’s the right thing to do, and it’s good for their businesses. We believe as more companies see the value in it, LEED certification will eventually become standard business practice.”
