United States Green Building Council

Rumor has it that the US Green Building Council (USGBC) is about to unclog its big backlog of LEED registration certificates. So reports the Huffington Post.

Good news for green developers because that backlog is crazy.

Take New York City. By the end of 2007 -- after four years in the program -- the USGBC had LEED-certified 15 buildings. Meanwhile, the number of projects waiting for approval had swelled to 294.

That’s a ratio of one certification for every 20 registrations -- just five percent. Pretty poor. Especially when you compare it with the UK’s equivalent green building program BREEAM, which boasts a ratio of one in five.

The reported fix?

Remember this news: That among the 13 largest homebuilders in America, none are building green?

Well, if this new report from Frost & Sullivan (reg req'd) is to be believed, then they'd be wise to change course because the movement toward green construction is "inevitable."

And it's also hugely profitable -- even as the whole housing market is stuck in a slump.