Billings has obtained certification through a green building rating system that factors in categories like emissions, transportation and water efficiency, the first city in Montana to do so.
Billings earned a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification through the U.S. Green Building Council, one of the country’s most prominent green standard programs for buildings, businesses and communities.
Billings is in coal country, located by the Powder River Basin and several refineries, but the city’s Energy & Conservation Commission Chair Glenn Foy said it ranked at the gold level of certification.
“We thought that it would be a really good case study for other areas in the country that sustainability was achievable even in that context.”
Billings is one of roughly two dozen communities to reach gold with 61 of 110 points. Overall, 300 communities have been LEED-certified.
According to a Billings spokesperson, the city saves more than $800,000 annually through projects like LED lighting, solar power, water-conserving irrigation systems and methane capture at the city landfill.
