As a final installment to our interviews with Established Green Building Council (GBC) CEOs from around the globe, we asked them to share with us a statistic or a fact that showed off just how much impact they have made in their countries in 2017. We’re amazed at what our GBCs have achieved…

1. 1 billion – Canada GBC helped its market reach a lofty goal – an incredible 1 billion square feet of LEED registered space. In addition, Canada GBC released a comprehensive study on the economic benefits of retrofitting across Canada, and launched one of the world’s first zero carbon building standards. Thomas Mueller, CEO, tells us, “There is a new landscape emerging across Canada and around the world, as industry and government begin to set standards to realise carbon emission reductions from new and existing buildings.”

2. 20,000 – New Zealand GBC said that 20,000 new homes will be green building certified as a verification of their quality. Andrew Eagles, Chief Executive, tells us that, “This is a game changer. As these homes are built out over the following years more and more New Zealanders will experience and hear about these warmer, more comfortable homes.”

3. Good news for building owners in Brazil as a 2017 study of over 2,000 commercial buildings in São Paulo confirmed that LEED certification can increase rental rates by between 4% and 8%. Felipe Faria, CEO of GBC Brasil, tells us that they are “proving that green buildings are helping investors and developers maximise gains and mitigate risks, and compounded with the environmental benefits, they are fast becoming a smart investment and the best option.”

4. 1000% – In Hong Kong, the new version of the BEAM Plus Existing Buildings assessment tool received 10 times more registrations in 2017 than the previous version, an increase of 1000%. Ir Cary Chan, Executive Director of Hong Kong GBC, says, “this is a testament to HKGBC’s comprehensive effort in pushing the transformation of existing buildings through certification and market force.”

5. Belem Sálomon, Executive Director of Guatemala GBC, shared that, in 2017, their communications platforms engaged more than 8,000 people, and their education platforms reached almost 5,000 attendees.

6. 4.72 billion – India GBC registered 500 new green building projects in 2017, taking the total of registered projects to 4,800. Sundaresan Raghupathy, Executive Director, told us that with these additions, they have now reached 4.72 billion square feet of green building footprint across the country.

7. Ala’a Abdulla, Executive Director of Jordan GBC, explained how they reached 1,000 professionals in Jordan through awareness sessions, training courses, events and conferences in more than five Governorates in the Kingdom in 2017.

8. 30% – Dr. Christine Lemaitre, CEO of DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council), explained how they have “achieved record numbers in the certification of sustainable buildings and districts, with growth of 30% from 2016 to 2017.”

9. Yvonne Soh, Executive Director of Singapore GBC, reported that her GBC delivered 22 diverse industry events that reached more than 1,500 people in 2017, “building greater awareness, capability and expertise in green building.”

10. 92,000 – According to the USGBC, as of December 2017, there were more than 92,000 commercial projects participating in LEED (registered and certified), totaling more than 1.8 billion square meters. Mahesh Ramanujam, CEO, had the simple message that “LEED works.”

11. Despite some challenges in the Colombian construction sector, Colombia GBC bucked the trend. CEO, Cristina Gamboa, tells us, “2017 was a great year for us as we grew at an annual rate of 12%.”  They also moved to a new office that is in the process of LEED certification.

12. 350 – The end of 2017 saw GBC South Africa reach the 350th green building certification. While also celebrating their landmark 10th anniversary in October, with over 850 members and growing, Dorah Modise, CEO, says, “The positivity of those already active in this space encourages us to soldier on for the green building movement.”

2017 marked many milestones for our GBCs and these statistics give just a brief look into the amazing impact they are having in their communities and countries, and on advancing the green building movement worldwide.

You can read about more of the collective achievements of our Green Building Councils in the WorldGBC Annual Report 2016-2017.

Read our previous interviews with our CEOs, A view from the top: CEOs share chief green building ambitions for 2018, and We interviewed 17 CEOs committed to green building on the biggest innovations of 2017.