ATLANTA—How green is Atlanta commercial real estate? Greener than most, according to the 2015 Green Building Adoption Index, a joint project of CBRE Group, Inc. and Maastricht University.

With 57.9% of its office space considered “green,” That puts Atlanta well above the national average of 38.7%. Atlanta ranked fourth of 30 markets. Last year, Atlanta ranked fifth on the list. Atlanta also leads the nation in the number of ENERGY STAR-labeled buildings at 24.6% and is third in the nation in the number of LEED-certified buildings at 8.7%. Minneapolis ranked first, San Francisco second, Chicago third, Houston fifth, with Denver Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Miami and Seattle rounding out the top 10.

“Our 2015 study confirmed that green building adoption has been primarily a big building, first-tier city phenomenon,” says David Pogue, CBRE's global director of corporate responsibility. “It would appear that many smaller buildings in the majority of large markets still have an opportunity to be 'best in class' among their peer set by achieving these certifications.”