In April 2019, USGBC released the LEED v4.1 for Cities and Communities rating system, convened the first-ever governance committee for cities and communities, and initiated the first formal cohort of the LEED for Cities Local Government Leadership Program.

Since then, we’ve supported more than 100 local governments through the leadership program, stood up the first governance body for LEED for Cities and Communities at USGBC and released a new and improved rating system built by and for local governments.

The new rating system

The LEED v4.1 for Cities and Communities: Existing Cities rating system advances critical content areas such as incorporating carbon neutrality targets; rethinking the approach to location efficiency and mobility; advancing biodiversity, public health and equity; and ensuring all categories are accessible and relevant to cities and counties.

A one-pager illustrates the rating system’s new framework of prerequisites and credits. Watch our YouTube playlist for category-by-category updates.

Program expansion

These rating system advancements come at a time when momentum to scale LEED for Cities and Communities is growing. This year, USGBC is expanding its LEED for Cities Local Government Leadership Program to include:

Regional leadership summits intended to deepen engagement with local governments on a range of green building and sustainable development topics, including building decarbonization, climate action plans, LEED for Cities and Communities, sustainability education and green building policy.
LEED for Cities Accelerators to assist local governments new to LEED for Cities and Communities with collecting data, benchmarking sustainability performance and navigating the certification program.

USGBC has selected four regions of the country—Dallas, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; Orlando, Florida; and Seattle, Washington—to roll out the first wave of leadership summits and follow-on accelerators. We chose these places because not only there are early adopters of LEED for Cities and Communities nearby that can be tapped as mentors and experts, but these regions also have high potential for market transformation and development.

These initiatives will complement the annual, national cohort program that is focused on providing direct support to a group of cities and counties invested in the LEED for Cities and Communities certification process. In 2024, 12 cities representing nearly 5 million residents were selected and commenced the process on April 1.

We hosted the first leadership summit on April 4 in Dallas in the same location as the South Central Climate Resilience Forum. The half-day summit brought together cities, towns and counties from across Texas, including McKinney, Farmers Branch, El Paso, Houston and Harris County, Dallas and Dallas County, San Antonio, Austin, and Travis County. Our partner, USGBC Texas, involved members of its chapters and board, which engaged additional private sector and nonprofit organizations in the event.

Participant response

Reactions from this first convening were positive. Local leaders appreciated receiving in-person updates from USGBC staff on LEED v5, learning about new Inflation Reduction Act resources and taking a look under the hood of the new LEED for Cities and Communities rating system.

Participants pointed out the value of hearing from Texas city and county staff members who volunteer on USGBC committees or have led the LEED for Cities and Communities certification process for their jurisdiction. USGBC staff, in turn, were also able to collect feedback on how to better serve the Texas local government community moving forward.

Upcoming events

Looking ahead, USGBC will head to Phoenix, Orlando and then Seattle for the next round of leadership summits in May, June and July, respectively. All local government attendees will be eligible to participate in the LEED for Cities Accelerators to follow.

If you’re interested in attending a future event or learning more about our work, visit our leadership program page.

The leadership summits are open to all. The upcoming summits are:

May 9: Phoenix (register online)
June 27: Winter Park, Florida—in the Orlando area (register online)
July 11: Issaquah, Washington—in the Seattle area (register online)

Getting started

USGBC has served as a green building and sustainable development resource to local governments since our inception. We support elected and appointed officials, staff, and community advocates on a range of issues and programs tied to improving the lives of people and the health of our planet.

If you haven’t yet become a member, consider signing up today. In addition to regular member benefits, local government members and registered/certified LEED for Cities and Communities project teams have access to quarterly engagement calls and other community building activities throughout the year.

You can also review all of our LEED for Cities and Communities rating systems, tools and resources. Reach out to us by email or complete our "contact us" form for assistance.

Learn more about LEED for Cities and Communities

LEED for Cities expands engagement opportunities for local governments