The City of Carrollton announced its recent Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 6, earning national recognition for Carrollton’s accomplishments in creating a sustainable community and high quality of life for residents.

Participation in LEED for Cities & Communities enables Carrollton to measure and track outcomes that are evaluated against key metrics such as energy, water, waste, transportation, education, health, safety, prosperity, and equitability. A LEED Gold certification reinforces the City’s sustainability achievements and Council goals, providing a baseline for long-term planning. Carrollton joins other LEED certified cities in the Dallas-Forth Worth Metroplex such as Corinth, Denton, and Plano as well as more than 130 individual certified local governments.

In May 2024, Carrollton was selected to join a diverse national cohort of 12 other cities to pursue LEED certification. Over the next year, City staff from across departments collaborated to organize data outlining sustainable practices. Carrollton achieved LEED Gold certification for implementing practical and measurable strategies and solutions aimed at improving the standard of living for residents and the management of resources such as water, air, energy, and more.

“LEED Gold certification represents Carrollton’s commitment to sustainability,” Mayor Steve Babick said. “The City continues to find new ways of saving time, money, and energy while achieving goals such as attracting new economic activity, improving air and water quality, and enhancing quality of life, thus ensuring the City’s vision to be the community that families and businesses want to call home.”

When pursuing LEED certification, cities can earn credits in nine distinct categories measuring sustainability efforts. These categories include integrative process, natural systems and ecology, transportation and land use, water efficiency, energy and greenhouse gas emissions, materials and resources, quality of life, innovation, and regional priority. Carrollton is one of only 46 cities in the U.S. to achieve Gold level status, earning eight more points than needed to reach this second-highest LEED designation.

“I am very proud of the City for this achievement and what it means for the residents and businesses that call Carrollton home,” Environmental Services Director Cory Heiple said. “The City’s LEED Gold status is built on a foundation of decades of strategic decisions to certify as one of the most economic, environmental, and socially sustainable cities on the global stage.”

The City’s most significant strategies contributing to certification include a focus on transportation and land use, specifically, demonstrating a commitment to mixed-use, transit-oriented development, multimodal accessibility, and clean transportation. Carrollton also achieved recognition in areas such as the conservation of natural resources, smart water systems, resilience planning, and innovation. As for the future, the process of achieving certification highlighted areas to focus investments and improvements, and staff and Council are confident forthcoming sustainability efforts from the City can reach Platinum level in the next five years.  

“A sustainable city balances social, economic, and environmental concerns in its decision-making and planning. A LEED city takes those plans forward as solutions that improve the overall quality of life for residents,” President and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council Peter Templeton said. “The City of Carrollton’s LEED Gold certification is a symbol of their leadership on sustainability.”

Carrollton is part of a growing number of cities to be certified using the LEED for Cities & Communities rating system. LEED was created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and is the world’s most widely used green building rating system. Expanding on the LEED for buildings rating system, LEED for Cities & Communities helps local leaders measure and manage progress in community conditions, in pursuit of a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable future.

To learn more about Carrollton’s sustainability initiatives, visit cityofcarrollton.com/envservices.