The United States Green Building Council released its 2014 rankings for the top 10 states per capita for LEED, the world’s most widely used and recognized green building rating system.

Illinois finished in first place with 174 certified projects representing 42,457,254 sq. ft. of real estate or 3.31 sq. ft. per resident in 2014. The list is based on 2010 U.S. Census data and includes commercial and institutional green building.

“Illinois has so many committed business and community leaders, policy makers and green building professionals who are using LEED to transform their built environment, producing many innovative spaces that will improve the health of our shared planet, as well as the health of the people who use those buildings every day,” said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair of the USGBC.

Some notable Illinois LEED projects include:

• NBC Tower in Chicago, certified LEED Gold;

• Advanced Protein Characterization Facility at Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, certified LEED Gold;

• 540 West Madison in Chicago, recertified as LEED Platinum;

• Ridgewood High School in Norridge, Ill., certified LEED Silver;

• The FBI Regional Office in Chicago, LEED Platinum.

Colorado was second with per-capita square footage of 3.15, Maryland finished third with 2.70, Virginia was fourth with 2.33 and Massachusetts was fifth with 2.20. The rest of the top 10 features Hawaii (1.95), California (1.87), Georgia (1.83), Minnesota (1.79), followed by Arizona and New York tied for 10th at 1.74.

Washington D.C. boasts a 29.44 per capita square footage and 102 certified projects, but does not qualify for this list.