Connecticut Gets Middle of the Pack Ranking for Green Attributes

Site Selection Magazine has come out with their second annual Site Selection Sustainability Rankings, which look at what states have strong green attributes for business. The criteria the magazine uses to determine the rankings are attributes such as green industry projects, the number of projects certified by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), financial incentives offered to support green projects, per capita renewable energy generation, funding for brownfields redevelopment and use of alternative-fuel vehicles.

So where did Connecticut end up in this ranking? We are smack-dab in the middle at number 26. According to Site Selection, among some of the criteria, CT ranked 44th in alternative fuel vehicles in use; 6th in brownfield funding; 8th in energy efficiency; 40th in renewable energy generation; 24th in LEED projects; and 25th in green incentives.

The top ten states are not a big surprise. They are 1. California 2. Washington 3. Oregon 4.Minnesota 5. Colorado 6. New York 7. Vermont 8. Texas 9. Massachusetts and 10. New Mexico.

An article on Site Selector’s web site points out that “Top-ranking areas for sustainability don’t just pass restrictive laws or put token solar panels on every edifice. They nurture an ecosystem of business, institutions, government and individual citizens all striving to place a proper value on their locality’s limited resources, and sometimes to make or save money in the process.”

To read the full article and more about the Site Selection Sustainability Rankings, visit http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2011/jul/green-guide-rankings.cfm