Overland Park has officially earned LEED Gold certification, becoming the first city in Kansas to achieve this recognition of sustainability leadership.
LEED for Cities and Communities is designed to measure a city’s performance in key areas of social, economic and environmental sustainability and provide a framework for managing community-wide sustainability efforts.
Overland Park achieved LEED Gold certification through high performance in the categories related to quality of life, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, transportation and innovation. Key areas of focus include:
- Integrating sustainability across all City operations
- Promoting the development of complete neighborhoods to reduce vehicle miles traveled, promote multimodal transit and support natural systems
- Fostering a welcoming community and organization by platforming diverse groups of people and ideas
- Developing an approach to the community’s climate readiness.
“I’m proud to announce that Overland Park is the first city in Kansas to achieve LEED Gold certification. This recognition celebrates Overland Park’s commitment to safe, healthy and sustainable neighborhoods,” said Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog. “Now we have even more tools available to continuously improve our work to provide a high quality of life.”
The City will now coordinate with the U.S. Green Building Council to identify additional improvements needed for future recertification.
About LEED for Cities and Communities
LEED for Cities and Communities helps local leaders measure and manage progress in community conditions, in pursuit of a more sustainable, resilient and equitable future.
Through the certification program, cities and communities create and operationalize responsible, sustainable and specific plans for natural systems, energy, water, waste, transportation and many other factors that contribute to quality of life.
Overland Park joins a global network of more than 150 LEED-certified cities and communities.