by Brianna Crandall — November 23, 2016 — Facilities managers in 20 cities across the United States, and potentially many others, should be noticing soon the impact of a new initiative directed by their mayors. Mayors from 10 U.S. cities announced last week that they are joining the City Energy Project, a united effort to address their largest source of energy use and climate pollution: buildings.
By the year 2030, the 20 participating cities have the power to achieve significant collective impact by taking action at the local level, with the potential to save more than $1.5 billion annually in energy bills and reduce carbon pollution by more than 9.6 million metric tons, equivalent to taking 2 million cars off the road for a year, according to the project organizers.
If U.S. buildings were considered a nation, they would reportedly rank third in global energy consumption, using more primary energy than all major energy-consuming nations except the United States and China. Furthermore, buildings are the single largest user of energy and source of carbon pollution in the USA, with much of the energy consumed wasted by inefficient systems and operations, say the organizers.
A joint project of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), the City Energy Project is working to create healthier, more prosperous American cities by making buildings more energy efficient, boosting local economies, and reducing harmful climate pollution.
The cities that joined the project last week are: Des Moines, IA; Fort Collins, CO; Miami-Dade County, FL; New Orleans, LA; Pittsburgh, PA; Providence, RI; Reno, NV; San Jose, CA; St. Louis, MO; and St. Paul, MN. The cities are considered to be leading the way for communities across the country to make similar progress.
Shelley Poticha, director of the Urban Solutions program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), stated:
Mayors have the power to make real progress in combating climate change just by looking to their skylines. The City Energy Project works with mayors who are in tune with the needs of local businesses and residents to develop plans that reduce climate pollution and wasted energy in buildings. By joining today, these mayors are demonstrating that local leadership and local improvements can have a significant global impact in this urgent fight.
Funded by a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and The Kresge Foundation, the project launched in January 2014 with 10 pioneering cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City. In December 2015, the project’s funders announced an additional $10.5 million investment to expand the project’s reach in the USA to the new cities that just joined.
Projected economic and environmental benefits
Cliff Majersik, executive director of IMT, added:
Improving the energy efficiency of buildings not only helps residents, owners, tenants, businesses, cities, and utilities save money, it also increases property value, creates jobs, reduces harmful pollution, and creates healthier spaces. By implementing proven building energy efficiency interventions, mayors can make significant progress in reducing emissions in collaboration with local leaders. We’re proud to expand the work of the City Energy Project to help these leading cities make themselves healthier, more competitive, more economically vibrant, and more attractive to employees and employers alike.
To date, each of the first 10 City Energy Project cities have launched innovative building-focused policies and programs that drive investments in energy efficiency, with a number of these efforts also addressing water efficiency. Six City Energy Project cities have enacted energy efficiency policies covering almost 12,000 buildings with more than 2.3 billion square feet of space, driving greater market awareness of how buildings are using energy and increasing investment in efficiency.
More than 1,600 buildings representing over 270 million square feet of space have participated in City Energy Project-supported challenge programs encouraging energy efficiency improvements. And many of the pioneering 10 cities are exploring new financing models that will make over $1 billion available to finance energy efficiency improvements.
How it works
Through the City Energy Project, participating cities develop locally tailored plans comprising multiple integrated strategies to significantly reduce building energy use, recognizing that a suite of initiatives can make more progress in each city than one program or policy could alone.
In addition to providing energy expertise and guidance on climate pollution initiative planning, design, and implementation, the City Energy Project offers a platform for peer-to-peer sharing of lessons learned and best practices.
The Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN), a network that serves an “active and engaged” group of over 150 sustainability directors and “believes strongly” in the power of peer-to-peer learning and information exchange, will be working with the City Energy Project to disseminate its best practices and models and broaden its market-transforming impact beyond the 20 official participants.
For more information, see the City Energy Project Web site.
