USGBC officials said Los Angeles has distinguished itself as a national leader in green building. Mayor Garcetti has been a green building proponent from his early days on the city council, where as president he authored the nation’s largest green building ordinance. Mayor Garcetti also authored legislation establishing the nation’s largest solar Feed-in Tariff program.

“Los Angeles is the ideal setting for Greenbuild 2016,” said Garcetti. “Sustainable building is a priority for our time, for our city, and for my administration — and our city is leading the way forward. Hosting this conference and expo in our diverse and cosmopolitan city is another step in the right direction, and will facilitate important connections, inspire leadership, and spur innovation, both locally and globally.”

Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO, and founding chair of USGBC, said Los Angeles is home to 268 LEED-certified commercial buildings, 1,431 LEED-certified residential units, and more municipal LEED-certified square footage than any other city.

“Los Angeles is the perfect place to convene the world’s leading green building conference and expo,” he said. “Our very active Los Angeles USGBC chapter, USGBC, and our partners at Hanley Wood are looking forward to hosting more than 30,000 passionate green building advocates here in 2016.”

Plans are well underway for Greenbuild 2014 in New Orleans.

“Every city, every region is special, but the common thread is the extraordinary work that occurs on the ground in every state and more than 150 countries around the world. That’s what Greenbuild celebrates better than any other event,” added Fedrizzi.

Greenbuild host cities are selected several years in advance and Greenbuild 2016 was originally planned for San Diego. Occasionally, however, updates are made to the schedule so that an optimal show experience can occur, said USGBC.