Wells Fargo has passed the $2 billion mark in lending for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certified buildings. Maybe not too surprising, the bank was one of the first to be LEED pre-certified for New Construction.

The company said that “of the buildings financed by Wells Fargo, 28 percent are LEED-rated, 37 percent are LEED-silver, 21 percent are LEED-gold and 9 percent are LEED-platinum, the highest rating available.”

Since May 2007, Wells Fargo has doubled its commitment for LEED building. By doing so, the number of LEED buildings it has financed has increased by 125-percent. The bank has also expanded its green building efforts from 11 states to 19, and it now supports buildings with the following: cold storage facilities, data center and community center, in addition to office, mixed-use, industrial, retail, schools, and multifamily.

The U.S. Green Building Council President, CEO and Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi said, “We applaud Wells Fargo’s leadership efforts. Buildings are responsible for 39 percent of CO2 emissions in the U.S., which directly impacts global climate change – however LEED buildings consume half the energy of conventional buildings.”

Wells is a member of the EPA’s Climate Leaders program, it is also a leader on the EPA’s list of green power purchaser. The company has also adopted the Carbon Principles guidelines for banks to evaluate and address climate change risks in the financing of electric power projects and companies.

Source: environmentalleader.com