PARIS—The U.S. Green Building Council plans to commit to scaling green buildings to more than five billion square feet (478 million square meters) over the next five years through the LEED and EDGE green building rating systems. The council's commitment was made Thursday at Buildings Day, an official event at the United Nations climate negotiations conference known as COP21.

"As we gather around the imperatives to address climate change at COP21, we know that buildings must continue be a key focus area for countries to reach carbon emissions reduction goals," said Roger Platt, president, USGBC. "By encouraging the use of green building rating systems like LEED and EDGE in both the public and private sectors, countries can log immediate and measurable reductions of these emissions as their building stock uses less energy and water, creates less waste, saves money and creates a healthier environment for everyone."

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the world's most widely used green building rating system. LEED projects can be found in more than 150 countries and territories throughout the world, with more than 1.85 million square feet of space being certified everyday. Designed for emerging economies, EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) is a green building certification system for new residential and commercial buildings that enables design teams and project owners in developing countries to assess the most cost effective ways to incorporate energy and water saving options into their buildings.