The US Green Building Council has released its top announcements for 2019. Always seeking the next revolutionary step in building a more sustainable world, 2019 was the year of LEED v4.1, according to the organization. The latest version of LEED officially opened registration for projects in new construction and residential, as well as cities and communities.

There were plenty of big announcements - from significant LEED milestones to a new emphasis on equity. USGBC's top announcements from the year are as follows:

1. Registration opens for LEED v4.1 new buildings and spaces (Jan. 22). Following the 2018 release of registration for LEED v4.1 for Operations and Maintenance, the new buildings announcement opened up registration for project teams under LEED v4.1 Building Design and Construction and Interior Design and Construction.

 
2. Top 10 States for LEED in 2018 announced (Feb. 4). The ever-popular annual ranking of Top 10 States highlights leaders in sustainable design, construction and operation of buildings in the U.S. by gross square footage of LEED-certified space, as well as by total projects certified. Keep an eye out for the 2019 rankings, to be announced early in the new year.

3. Guidance on LEED v4.1 credit substitutions released (Feb. 19). USGBC shared specific guidance on using LEED v4.1 credits on LEED v4 projects under LEED BD+C, ID+C and O+M.

4. LEED v4.1 launches for cities and communities (April 2). The LEED v4.1 approach launched for cities and communities, delivering a framework to support planning, design, operations and performance management phases of new, developing and existing cities and communities.

5. LEED v4.1 Residential launches (April 2). The updated rating system for residential rolled out a simplified and streamlined approach for certifying single family and multifamily homes. In addition, the new LEED in Motion: Residential report shared data on the rapid growth of LEED homes, and the annual LEED Homes Awards announcement was even more popular than usual with its competitive reader poll for Project of the Year.

6. First Living Standard U.S. public research report released (April 8). The first report from the new Living Standard campaign shared eye-opening data on how the general public views sustainability and green building, with takeaways for us all on how we can better leverage storytelling and personal messaging to advance our cause.

7. President Barack Obama announced as keynote speaker for Greenbuild (Aug. 14). Plenty of excitement followed the announcement of Former President Barack Obama as a keynote speaker at Greenbuild Atlanta, and attendees packed the hall to hear him speak with USGBC president and CEO Mahesh Ramanujam in November.

8. LEED reaches a milestone of over 100,000 commercial projects (Nov. 7). An infographic timeline and a slideshow shared the inspiring stats and project photos from USGBC's journey to more than 100,000 certified and registered LEED projects worldwide.

9. USGBC Equity initiative announced (Nov. 19).The new initiative will bring attention to the broad spectrum of work that USGBC and its community members are doing to advance social equity and will help elevate our activities moving forward.

10. LEED Positive vision announced (Nov. 20). At Greenbuild 2019, USGBC announced our vision of a LEED rating system that allows buildings to become a vehicle for environmental restoration through net positive energy targets, among other goals.