On Oct. 7, Johnson County Government celebrated a recent milestone in building sustainability.

Earlier this year, the county achieved LEED Gold certification in the LEED for Cities and Communities rating system. LEED, created by the U.S. Green Building Council, is the world’s most widely used green building rating system.

Members of the U.S. Green Building Council, county staff and elected officials gathered for a short program and tour of the newly completed Johnson County Courthouse. The Courthouse is one of the next buildings on track to achieve LEED certification. Johnson County currently has 11 LEED-certified buildings, including two platinum, four gold and five silver certifications.

Johnson County is part of a growing group to be certified using the LEED for Cities rating system. It is only the 25th local government in the world to achieve this latest version of community certification.

The LEED certification demonstrates the county’s commitment to sustainability by benchmarking water consumption, energy use, quality of life, waste, prosperity, transportation and other improvements.