Under the Obama Administration’s Better Buildings Challenge, private sector CEOs, university presidents and state and local leaders commit to taking aggressive steps to reduce the energy used in their facilities and sharing data and best practices with others around the country.

Efforts by state, city and school district partners to save taxpayers money, create jobs

WASHINGTON– The Obama Administration recently announced that 36 new states, cities and school districts, including the cities ofClevelandandToledo, have joined President Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge.

The commitments by these new partners total nearly 300 million square feet in job-creating building energy upgrades, equivalent to more than 130 Empire State Buildings.

Launched last year, the Better Buildings Challenge is helping to leverage almost $4 billion in private and public investment to reduce energy use in buildings across the country by at least 20 percent by 2020 and support new jobs across the country.

The Better Buildings Challenge supports the Obama Administration’s blueprint for an economy built to last, reducing energy costs in buildings – which consume more than 40 percent of all the energy used by theU.S.economy – while boosting American competitiveness in the global clean energy race.

“Making our public buildings and schools more energy efficient is one of the easiest ways to save taxpayer dollars,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Our new partners inOhiojoining the Better Buildings Challenge today are paving the way to long-term benefits in their communities.  These projects will reduce energy costs for local governments, support jobs across a range of industries, and help build an American economy that lasts.”

In theUnited States, we spend approximately $200 billion each year to operate the buildings where we work, shop and study, including schools, public facilities, community centers, office buildings and malls. The new Better Buildings partners are expected to invest about $300 million to upgrade their building space.

“This is an unbelievable win-win situation,” said Toledo Mayor Mike Bell. “The City gains through a much more energy efficient operation while providing taxpayers major financial savings in the long run.”

As a Better Buildings Challenge Partner, the City ofClevelandhas committed to reducing energy use by 20 percent by 2020 across its 4.5 million square foot building portfolio.

Through the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 initiative, the city is developing and implementing policies and practices within its own operations to embrace a culture of sustainability. 

Through the Better Buildings Challenge, the City of Toledo and the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority are committed to saving 20 percent of energy usage by 2015 over 7.5 million square feet of public and private buildings.

With the help of Better Buildings Northwest Ohio and the Toledo Ohio Advanced Energy Improvement Corporation, over 100 public and commercial buildings are targeted to receive energy efficiency improvements and alternative energy integration.

The announcement was made at the Energy Department’s Better Buildings Summit for State and Local Communities inDenver,Colorado.  TheSummitbrings together over 300 city, state and district government leaders to discuss best practices in portfolio-wide energy management, successful public-private collaboration, policy development, and financing opportunities to speed the deployment of energy-saving building upgrades. 

Under the Obama Administration’s Better Buildings Challenge, private sector CEOs, university presidents and state and local leaders commit to taking aggressive steps to reduce the energy used in their facilities and sharing data and best practices with others around the country. 

With the addition of recent partners and allies, more than 100 organizations have now joined the Better Buildings Challenge.  Together, these organizations account for approximately 2 billion square feet of building space and have committed almost $2 billion to support energy efficiency improvements nationwide.