Pershing Park Plaza

ATLANTA—Green is still red hot—and Atlanta is greener than most. Institutional owners of office buildings continued striving for green building certifications in the 30 largest US markets during 2015.

Green certifications have gained momentum over the past decade. Today, 11.% of all office building surveyed in CBRE's study have green certifications. That represents 39.6% of all office space, according to the third annual Green Building Adoption Index study by CBRE Group, Inc. and Maastricht University. According to CBRE, both figures are slightly above last year's results.

“While the rate of growth in 'green' buildings has slowed modestly, our latest study underscores that in most major markets, sustainable office space has become the 'new normal,'” says David Pogue, CBRE's Global Director of Corporate Responsibility. Green office buildings in the US are defined as those that hold either an EPA ENERGY STAR label, USGBC LEED certification or both.