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Carrollton earns LEED for Cities Gold certification; city highlights sustainability gains
Summary
City staff told the Carrollton City Council that the city earned LEED for Cities gold certification after a year-long, cross-department effort; officials said the designation validates existing sustainability work and creates a framework for future improvements.
Carrollton officials said the city has achieved LEED for Cities gold certification after a year-long application and technical review process that compiled citywide data and supporting documentation.
The certification, awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) through its LEED for Cities program, covers Carrollton’s full 37 square miles and recognizes the city’s performance on metrics including resilience planning, transportation performance and greenhouse gas emissions. "We achieved 68 points, which is a very solid gold certification," Environmental Services Director Corey Heiple said during a council work session presentation.
City staff told council the effort used a cross-department team of about 20 people who produced a 230‑page application and roughly 1,000 pages of supporting documentation. Jonathan Crocs, executive director for USGBC Texas, presented the plaque and described the designation as a roadmap the city can use to track and improve sustainability outcomes going forward.
The staff presentation said some of Carrollton’s highest‑scoring areas included emergency management and resilience planning, transit-oriented development work, and energy and greenhouse gas performance. Heiple said water performance scored lower because the LEED scoring uses the most recent five years of data and strong summer heat and a drought year were part of that period, which penalized the city’s water score despite local efforts.
Council members and staff noted the award reflects multi‑year progress rather than a single accomplishment. Transportation engineer Novella Lando and Heiple received outstanding performance awards tied to the LEED effort; council also said staff will post a case study on the USGBC site and make elements of the application available on the city website for public review.
City staff said the LEED certification will not change existing local policy by itself but will help prioritize future investments and allow Carrollton to compare results with other certified cities. Heiple called the designation a starting point for further work toward higher scores and potential platinum certification.
Heiple and other staff urged council and the public to view the certification as validation of existing programs and as a tool for identifying targeted improvements going forward.
