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By Better Buildings Beat Team on
2021 Top 10
As your organization prepares for 2022, we are excited to share last year’s most-viewed partner solutions and toolkits on the Better Buildings Solution Center! Check out our most popular resources from 2021 and see what you may have missed.Jump to Toolkits PARTNER SOLUTIONS1. Showcase…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
On Wednesday, December 15, Better Buildings Challenge multifamily partner NHT Communities hosted Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge and DOE Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm at its Vintage Gardens community in West Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore Mayor Brandon…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
December Top 10
The top 10 most-viewed resources on the Better Buildings Solution Center from the past month features strategies for low carbon technologies, toolkits for wastewater energy management and energy project financing, an award-winning solution on the use of cloud-based monitoring systems, and more.…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
Congratulations to three Better Buildings Challenge multifamily partners who successfully competed for Passive House Design Challenge grants from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC): Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), Community Builders, Inc., and Beacon Communities. Passive…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
November Top 10
The top 10 most-viewed resources on the Better Buildings Solution Center from the past month feature two new solutions: the Low Carbon Technology Strategies Toolkit and a Showcase Project from Better Buildings partner Gundersen Health System. This list also contains toolkits on energy project…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
October Top 10 Solutions
The top 10 most-viewed resources on the Better Buildings Solution Center from the past month include resources from Better Buildings partners IHG Hotels & Resorts, New York City Housing Authority, and Citizen Energy. This list also includes toolkits on energy project financing, energy…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
Domestic water use infographic
Over the past 50 years, U.S. population has doubled while demand for water has tripled. As demand increases and climate impacts further diminish water resources, deliberate conservation is crucial to improve resilience while saving energy and lowering operational costs.U.S. EPA figure shows…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
Workers around a table
Implementing a robust energy efficiency plan across an organization requires buy-in from leadership – especially when it comes to funding. Balancing costs of upgrades to support energy efficiency with competing priorities for funding is most successful when presented with a clear and compelling…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
In a recent peer exchange, Better Buildings partners in the healthcare and higher education sectors discussed challenges and solutions related to energy efficiency and renewable energy procurement on a campus setting. The event brought together over a dozen participants from Better Buildings…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
Top 10
The top 10 most-viewed resources on the Better Buildings Solution Center from the past month include toolkits for wastewater energy management, energy management information systems, clean energy access in low-income communities, project financing, and more. Resources featured in this list…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
The U.S. Department of Energy has released a new, interactive tool that contains a comprehensive listing of microgrid installations across the United States. The Microgrid Installation Database on the Better Buildings Solution Center lists the nation’s 461 operational microgrids that provide a…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
Multifamily housing
Over the past year, the multifamily building sector has played a critical role in addressing the health challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. As most sectors saw a decrease in building operations, the multifamily sector faced the opposite: residents spending more time at home. Building…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
Kitchen
As the public and private sectors pursue organization-wide goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, commercial food service kitchens and restaurants face multiple challenges: identifying new opportunities to improve energy efficiency while adhering to changing local and state regulations…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
This blog originally appeared August 9, 2021, on DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy website.  The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is recognizing 14 organizations for their leadership in the Better Buildings Building Envelope Campaign (BEC). This campaign,…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
Top 10
The top 10 most-viewed resources on the Better Buildings Solution Center from the past month feature three successful waste reduction efforts. Resources highlight Better Buildings partners Sprint, Shorenstein Properties, New York City Housing Authority, and IHG Hotels & Resorts and Better…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
Resilience is the ability to resist being affected by or bounce back from an extreme or disastrous event, and it is increasingly important for all building owners. 87% of organizations polled in the 2019 EEI survey indicated that resilience is very or extremely important when considering future…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
Since 2013, all member organizations of Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) have joined the inaugural cohort of multifamily partners taking part in the Better Buildings Challenge to reduce their energy usage by 20% over ten years, while also committing to SAHF’s “Big Reach,” an…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
Secretary Granholm and Jonathan Rose Companies
On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm visited Grace West Manor, an affordable housing property in Newark, New Jersey, to recognize owner and Better Buildings Challenge partner Jonathan Rose Companies for its progress in making housing healthier, more affordable, and…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) was founded in 1881 and is Nebraska’s only publicly supported health sciences center. The campus sits on 165 acres in Omaha and enrolls nearly 4,000 students annually. UNMC joined the Better Buildings Challenge in 2016, committing 6.8 million square…
By Better Buildings Beat Team on
This year’s Better Buildings, Better Plants Summit featured two sessions with speakers from the Workforce Accelerator, an effort that supports organizations leading the way in growing a workforce well-equipped for the transition to a higher-performing building stock. Partner Meetup: Workforce…