Energy Department Celebrates Energy Efficiency Progress of Better Buildings Initiative Partners

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the progress made by more than 900 public and private-sector organizations that are driving energy efficiency in the U.S. economy through their participation in the Better Buildings Initiative. This includes 380 trillion Btus, or $3.1 billion in reported cumulative energy and cost savings from the set of market leaders that have stepped up to the Better Buildings Challenge. Moreover, partners across the Better Buildings Initiative are sharing their innovative approaches and successful strategies to accelerate the adoption of energy efficient technologies and practices. The 2018 Better Buildings Progress Report highlights this progress in the commercial, industrial, residential and public sectors to improve energy productivity.   

"Partners in the Better Buildings Initiative are achieving impressive energy savings worthy of celebration," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. "Partners are meeting their savings goals, testing the latest technologies, and sharing their results. Together, they are showcasing a new generation of energy saving solutions."

The Better Buildings Initiative has grown to encompass more than 900 organizations, which represents 30 of the country’s Fortune 100 companies, 12 of the top 25 U.S. employers, 12 percent of the U.S. manufacturing energy footprint, and 13 percent of total commercial building space, as well as 28 states and close to 100 cities and counties across the nation. Partners are driving the adoption of new energy efficient equipment through targeted technology campaigns, collaborating to overcome market barriers to energy efficiency through a series of focused Accelerators, increasing the flow of financing through specific clean energy investment commitments, improving manufacturing competitiveness and creating jobs through industrial energy efficiency, and leading by example through energy upgrades in local, state, and federal buildings.  

Through the Better Buildings Challenge, DOE works with more than 350 market leaders that represent more than 4.4 billion square feet of building space. Partners reduced their energy intensity by an average of two percent per year, keeping them on track to meet the program’s 10-year, 20% reduction goal. Additionally, through the Better Buildings Challenge, more than 40 Financial Allies have extended more than $12 billion in capital for efficiency projects.

This year, 16 Better Buildings Challenge partners and allies achieved their energy, water, or financing goals. Since the start of the program, more than 65 partners and Financial Allies have now met their original energy efficiency, water efficiency and financing goals, all of them ahead of schedule. Many of these goal achievers have publicly committed to new goals, demonstrating that continual energy efficiency improvement is possible even after sizable gains have already been made.

This year’s 16 energy, water and Financial Ally goal achievers are:

• Anthem (energy and water)
• Bank of America Merrill Lynch (finance)
• C. F. Martin & Co., Inc (energy)
• Citi (finance)
• Columbia Association (energy)
• EDF Renewable Energy (finance)
• General Motors (energy)
• Jersey City Housing Authority (energy)
• Legrand (energy)
• Metrus Energy (finance)
• North Carolina (energy)
• NYCEEC (finance)
• Pace Equity (finance)
• Shari’s Café & Pies (water)
• Sol Systems (finance)
• UW Health  (energy)

Partners in the Better Buildings Initiative are contributing to the more than 1,500 proven solutions now available online in the newly-redesigned Better Buildings Solution Center. When partners share their energy and water savings strategies and results, they demonstrate their collective leadership by making it easier for others to replicate their success.

Through Better Buildings, DOE aims to make commercial, public, industrial, and residential buildings 20% more energy efficient over the next decade. This means saving billions of dollars on energy bills, reducing emissions, and creating thousands of jobs. For more information, visit the Better Buildings Solution Center.