Johnson County, Kansas announced today that it has achieved LEED Gold certification. Johnson County is part of a growing group to be certified using the LEED for Cities rating system.

Johnson County is just the 25th local government in the world to achieve this latest version of community certification. LEED or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design was created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and is the world’s most widely used green building rating system.

“We are proud of the work we are doing here in Johnson County and proud of our accomplishment of LEED Gold certification,” said Ed Eilert, chairman of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners. “Johnson County is committed to setting the standard for our community and everyone who calls Johnson County home.”

Johnson County achieved LEED certification for implementing practical and measurable strategies and solutions aimed at improving sustainability and the standard of living for residents.

LEED is designed to help buildings, communities and cities achieve high performance in key area of human and environmental health.

The Final Review Report highlights Johnson County’s exemplary performance in these areas:

• Integrative Process                                                        
• Natural Systems and Ecology                                                                                      
• Transportation and Land Use
• Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Water Efficiency
• Materials and Resources
• Quality of Life
• Innovation and Regional Priorities

“The work of communities such as Johnson County, Kansas is a driving force in ensuring a more sustainable future for all,” said Peter Templeton, president and CEO, USGBC. “Counties that achieve LEED certification are lowering carbon emissions, creating a healthier environment and striving to improve the quality of life for their residents. Johnson County, Kansas is setting a standard for what it means to be a high performer and their efforts and achievements should be an example for all.”

LEED enables Johnson County to measure and track outcomes and are evaluated against key metrics that include energy, water, waste, transportation, education, health, safety, prosperity and equitability.

As a LEED-Certified County, we are committed to:

• Submitting greenhouse gas emissions based on energy consumption and other sources, enabling us to track and report progress towards our county’s emissions targets and climate action goals. In addition, we’ll be positioned to communicate our county’s sustainability performance and goals in a consistent format that is used around the world.
• Improving our sustainability performance over time by adopting policies that help reduce energy, water, waste, pollution and CO2 at the county scale, and in turn improve air and water quality for residents.

The USGBC plans to celebrate in person with Johnson County this fall to recognize LEED efforts at the Johnson County Courthouse.

Results of the final review report are available online.