Taking the LEED? Analyzing spatial variations in market penetration rates of eco-labeled properties

This paper investigates the impact of policies to promote the adoption of LEED-certified buildings across CBSA in the United States. Drawing upon a unique database that combines data from a large number of sources and using a number of regression procedures, the determinants of the proportion LEED-certified space for more than 170 CBSA in the US is modeled. LEED-certified space still accounts for a relatively small proportion of commercial stock in all markets. The average proportion is less than 1%. There is no conclusive evidence of a positive impact of policy intervention on the levels of LEED-certified space. However, after accounting for bias introduced by non-random assignment of policies, we find preliminary evidence of a positive impact of city-level green building incentives. There is a significant positive association between market size and indicators of economic vitality on proportions of LEED-certified space.