The green building industry is strong here in Massachusetts and with every passing month, buildings come on line that are more environmentally responsible than what was best-practice in the past. Many of these high-performing buildings have earned LEED certification for their leadership in energy and environmental design. The U.S. Green Building Council (which manages the certification process) is represented here by the Massachusetts Chapter. We have a strong tradition in this state of building science, engineering and architectural research and excellence, both academic and commercial. The USGBC is a community of green building practitioners who have embraced a process of continuous, democratic, and science-validated improvement of building science technology and design approaches.
LEED is just one way the green building profession has been able to evolve rapidly to meet the needs of our society for improved buildings and a more beneficial built environment. Thousands of USGBC member organizations and almost 200,000 professionals have collectively built a brand that has been the catalyst for fundamentally changing the way we think about designing, constructing and operating buildings in the United States and across the globe. The LEED rating system reflects the collective expertise and design intelligence of environmental advocates and building industry professionals who have helped to create it.
Thanks to their wisdom, LEED has set clear, measurable performance goals that challenge the marketplace to build better buildings. The environmental improvements across the board and boom of innovation in the industry are a return on investment that has benefited this country and beyond. And LEED has evolved, strengthened and improved over the years. LEED's performance standards have been raised and have become more difficult time and time again to challenge the industry to reach a little higher as the market has advanced. Many entities have recognized the benefits of LEED buildings, including the State of Massachusetts, the cities of Boston and Cambridge, and Acton, Arlington and Medford.
What we have built at USGBC demonstrates that a strong economy and a healthy environment can go hand-in-hand. The progress we have made is brought to us by environmental advocates and the building industry to include large and small companies, architecture and engineering firms, as well as developers, builders, home owners, contractors, manufacturers, students, teachers and others who have committed themselves to this effort. All of these entities are working together to create a rating system that guides design, construction and operations of buildings in a smart and efficient way so future buildings can save more energy, conserve water, reduce waste and improve the indoor environment. That is no small feat.
We are encouraged when members and non-members alike develop new tools, cutting edge environmental innovations and next-generation products and services that support everything we're trying to do. With these new products and tools come advancement in design and conservation as well as economic development. The LEED green building program has spurred explosive growth in energy-efficient buildings, which has supported almost eight million jobs across all 50 states and contributes $554 billion to the U.S. economy annually. We are proud of that economic progress.

The best part of LEED is that it is not - and never will be - a tool for mandatory regulation because it is a voluntary, market-based green building program with deep roots in the private sector. The benefit of this non-regulatory approach is that LEED is constantly and continuously being improved. It isn't a perfect system, and thankfully because of developments in innovation and technology, it has to be updated and will never be stagnant or complete.

Today, more than 9 billion square feet of building space is participating in LEED because the results are clear. LEED-certified buildings with lower operating costs and better indoor environmental quality are more attractive to a growing group of corporate, public and individual buyers. High-performing buildings are increasingly entering into tenants' decisions about leasing space and into buyers' decisions about purchasing properties and homes.

USGBC has come a long way, and we are proud the measures that were once thought of as impossible or hard to reach are now industry standard. We will never stop raising the bar.