San Francisco Grabs Title of ‘Greenest’ City

San Francisco grabbed the mantle of ‘greenest’ major city in the US and Canada Green City Index, with New York, Seattle, Denver and Boston rounding out the top five U.S. cities. The study, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and commissioned by Siemens assesses and compares 27 major U.S. and Canadian cities on environmental performance and policies across nine categories – CO2 emissions, energy, land use, buildings, transport, water, waste, air quality and environmental governance.

Cities that performed best in the rankings are the ones that have comprehensive sustainability plans that encompass every aspect of creating a greener future including transportation, land use, energy use, carbon dioxide emissions, and water.

The nine categories are based on 31 individual indicators – 16 of which are quantitative (e.g. consumption of water and electricity per capita, recycling rate, and use of public transportation) and 15 qualitative (e.g. CO2 reduction targets, efficiency standards and incentives for buildings, and environmental governance).