Hey Denver, We're the Third-Most Sustainable Metro Area

That's the news from Site Selection, a magazine with the corporatey mission of providing "corporate real estate strategy and area economic development."

The Denver-Aurora area ranked third behind San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (1) and and Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton metro areas as best locations for businesses that implement green initiatives.

So what exactly, is "sustainability," according to this survey?

Site Selection's inaugural Sustainability Rankings, based on eight criteria (see below) that include such factors as LEED-certified buildings, EPA brownfield funding and leveraged funding since 1995, renewable energy generation, green incentives and new private-sector facility projects in "greentech" fields such as solar and wind power and electric vehicles, as tracked by the Conway Data New Plant Database.

So there you have it, heads of corporations looking to brand your business as environmentally friendly in a new location, Denver -- far away from California's state budget woes -- is where you should be.