The West Coast -- and California in particular -- is on the cutting edge of urban sustainability, according to a promising new study from commercial real estate blog COMMERCIAL café.
Based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Carbon Disclosure Project, COMMERCIAL café has developed a list of the 40 most sustainably powered cities in the United States and five California locales have made the list.
COMMERCIAL café’s project compared and scored U.S. cities with a population of at least 100,000. The website looked at factors such as carbon emissions and coal usage; nuclear, solar, geothermal, wind, and hydro power; walkability; and availability of electric vehicle charging stations and bike lanes.
The nation’s most sustainably powered city was San Francisco, followed by Seattle, Washington. Rounding out the top five was Oakland; Portland, Oregon; and Boston, Massachusetts. Hayward, Los Angeles, and San Diego also made the list.
Here are some further highlights provided by COMMERCIAL café:
• Los Angeles and San Diego landed 13th and 14th on the list, with total green scores amounting to 71.2 and 70.8 points.
• L.A. scored highest for the total number of EV charging stations, while San Diego received perfect scores for the solar energy, nuclear and coal consumption indicators.
• Not only is San Francisco powered by mostly green energy but it’s also the nation’s greenest city scoring 88.5 points.
• San Francisco also boasts the most LEED-certified buildings in the nation after Washington, D.C., 186, and is expecting another 21 to reach completion in coming years.
• Oakland nabbed 3rd place on the list based on its green score, 84.99, receiving almost max points for its solar energy usage and coal reduction.
• 10th place was snatched by the city of Hayward boasting 73.4 green points for its noteworthy progress with solar and hydro energy, and for significantly reducing its carbon footprint and coal consumption.
Read the entire study here.
Data is compiled and reported by COMMERCIAL Café. Report does not reflect statistics on all U.S. or California cities.