Over 14 million rentals in 123 U.S. Metro areas were researched, and, according to RENTCafé, Washington, D.C. ranks as the fourth city in the nation with the most green-certified apartments on the market. There are approximately 7,000 green rentals on the market in the city.
The District’s eco-friendly status shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. D.C. has been leading the way on LEED-certified buildings with over 18.9 million square feet of LEED-certified space as of 2011. By the end of 2013, the District could boast a per-capita 32.45 square feet of certified space, as reported by DCInno.
Topping RENTCafé’s list for cities with the most green-certified apartments was Chicago with a whopping 13,800 units. In second and third place was Seattle with 11,200 units and Portland, Oregon with 8,000 units.
Since 2008, about 15 percent of the nation’s rentals in the multi-family sector are sustainable. In 2008, only two percent of large-scale multi-family buildings were green. RENTCafé further reported:
Our research shows that 44,800 new LEED-certified green units opened in 2015 in large-scale developments across the nation, 13 times more than there were in 2008. In 2016, about 30,000 were open or under construction as of mid-year, and we project a total of approximately 59,000 green-certified apartments to be completed by the end of this year, four times as many as five years ago.
For more data on green-living in the nation, head to RENTCafé’s report here.