The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge is showing powerful results, and has released a Progress Update to show it. The Better Buildings Challenge is also kicking off three new Accelerator programs, focusing on low-income, CHP, and wastewater – learn more in the DOE press release, excerpted below (and available in full here).
Since 2011, both the number of Better Buildings Challenge partners and energy efficiency commitments have tripled, resulting in energy cost savings that now exceed the $1.3 billion mark and the avoidance of 10 million tons of harmful carbon emissions. There are now 310 Better Buildings Challenge partners who are set to achieve goals of at least 20 percent energy reduction within 10 years. Together they represent 34,000 buildings and facilities, 4.2 billion square feet, and $5.5 billion dollars in energy efficiency investment. Latest reporting shows partners are on track, decreasing energy use on average by over two percent each year.
Over 60 new partners have joined the Better Buildings Challenge this year, including UC Berkeley, Iron Mountain Data Centers, Nike, The Wendy’s Company, CenturyLink Global Data Center Operations and New York City Housing Authority. A full list of all new partners can be found in the 2016 Better Buildings Progress Update. Thirty-five partners have achieved their Challenge energy or water savings goals, all ahead of schedule.
…To complement Better Buildings Challenge partners who are working on broad, portfolio-wide strategies, organizations engaging in Better Buildings Accelerators are part of unique collaborative networks designed to advance specific innovative policies and approaches as a way to accelerate investment in energy efficiency. DOE is reporting that the Energy Data Accelerator is the first of 10 programs to successfully complete its mission, and is launching three new accelerator programs focused on creating sustainable paths for local communities to improve resiliency with combined heat and power, lower energy costs in low income communities, and upgrade wastewater infrastructure, all to create a more secure energy for residents and businesses:
- Local and national partners in the Better Buildings Clean Energy in Low Income Communities Accelerator will work to deploy clean energy in low income communities through expanded installation of energy efficiency and distributed renewables and lower utility bills for residents.
- Cities and utilities in the Better Buildings Combined Heat and Power for Resiliency Accelerator will work to support and expand the consideration of combined heat and power technologies for improved efficiency and enhanced resiliency
- State, regional, and local agencies partnering in the Better Buildings Wastewater Infrastructure Accelerator will improve the energy efficiency of their participating water resource recovery facilities by at least 30 percent and integrate at least one resource recovery measure.