News & Announcements
Today the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled the Better Buildings Challenge SWAP, which involved Hilton Worldwide and Whole Foods Market swapping energy management teams at their facilities in San Francisco.
As part of the SWAP, each team identified innovative ways to save energy in Hilton San Francisco Union Square, a 1.8 million sq. foot hotel and Whole Foods Ocean Avenue, a 25,600 sq. foot grocery store. A reality-style web series, including behind-the-scenes footage, featuring both teams is now available.
Making businesses and homes more energy efficient is a win for jobs and economic growth, operating costs and bottom lines, and the President’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change. That is why, today, as part of the President’s Better Buildings Program, the Administration is announcing:
- 18 utilities, serving more than 2.6 million commercial customers, will provide access to energy data building owners by 2017, the first step to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings;
- 30 cities and states and 21 organizations from across the country are committing to take new actions to make it easier to identify ways to cut energy waste by making energy data available to building owners,
- 24 cities, states, and businesses are committing to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings 20 percent by 2020; and
- Seven cities and states from across the country are committing to install more efficient outdoor lighting.
The actions announced today build on commitments made by 285 organizations representing nearly 4 billion square feet since the Administration launched the President’s Better Buildings program in 2011. The program’s mission is to partner with the Energy Department to improve energy efficiency 20 percent by 2020, and share successful strategies that maximize efficiency deployment over the next decade. These new commitments from cities, school districts, and businesses like Nike and Wendy’s will help cut waste in our buildings, saving energy and money and reducing pollution.
The Department of Energy today recognized Volvo Group North America for its leadership in energy efficiency at the New River Valley assembly plant near Roanoke, Va. As a Better Buildings, Better Plants partner, the Volvo Group has already achieved 16 percent savings across its U.S. plants and continues working toward its goal of becoming 25 percent more energy efficient within ten years.
The Energy Department’s Better Buildings Challenge program recognized Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. for its leadership in energy efficiency and 38 percent energy savings at its flagship restaurant in Atlanta. As one of the first food service partners to join the Department’s Better Buildings Challenge, Arby’s has committed to 20 percent energy savings over 10 years, across 2.7 million square feet of building space, at company-owned restaurants. Within four years, Arby’s is more than halfway to meeting its goal.
As part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to cut energy waste in the nation’s buildings, the U.S. Department of Energy recognized Placer County for its leadership in improving energy efficiency across its 5-million-square-foot portfolio of county-owned buildings and schools by 20 percent in 10 years. Through the department’s Better Buildings Challenge, the county’s showcase project, the Granlibakken conference center and resort, is expecting a 43 percent reduction in energy use and savings of up to $44,000 each year.
President Obama announced a Better Buildings Initiative to rehire construction workers to make buildings more energy-efficient; private companies were challenged to join as well. In June, at Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America, Obama announced a commitment to upgrade 300 million square feet of space, from military housing to college campuses. Some of these projects were breaking ground recently, putting people to work. Later this year, more commitments that will create jobs, while saving billions for businesses on energy bills and cutting down on our pollution, will be announced. It's all a good example of what CGI is all about: Everybody working together -- government, business, the non-for-profit sector -- to create opportunities today, while ensuring those opportunities for the future.
President Obama announced nearly $4 billion in combined federal and private sector energy upgrades to buildings over the next 2 years. These investments will save billions in energy costs, promote energy independence, and, according to independent estimates, create tens of thousands of jobs in the hard-hit construction sector. The $4 billion investment announced today includes a $2 billion commitment, made through the issuance of a Presidential Memorandum, to energy upgrades of federal buildings using long term energy savings to pay for up-front costs, at no cost to taxpayers. In addition, 60 CEOs, mayors, university presidents, and labor leaders today committed to invest nearly $2 billion of private capital into energy efficiency projects; and to upgrade energy performance by a minimum of 20% by 2020 in 1.6 billion square feet of office, industrial, municipal, hospital, university, community college and school buildings.
President Obama is proposing new efforts to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings across the country. The “Better Buildings Initiative,” outlined today at Penn State University, will achieve a 20 percent improvement over the next decade, saving companies and business owners tens of billions of dollars a year. The plan will spur innovation by reforming tax and other incentives to retrofit, creating a new competitive grant program for states and localities that streamline their regulations to attract retrofit investment, and challenging the private sector to invest in building upgrades through a new “Better Buildings Challenge.”
Secretary Chu announced the first 14 partners to join the Better Buildings Challenge while at the Clinton Global Initiative America Conference in Chicago. These companies, cities and financial institutions have committed making their facilities more efficient – a move with the added benefit of saving them money on their utility bills each month. The Better Buildings Initiative aims to save companies about $40 billion a year. A recent report also found the initiative could create 114,000 clean energy jobs! In total, these Better Buildings partners will make more than 300 million square feet of building space more efficient.
Among the partners announced today:
- Portfolio Partners: Lend Lease, a fully integrated property solutions provider, committed to a 20 percent energy-reduction by 2020 through the Military Housing Privatization Initiative portfolio. Representing about 40,000 homes, offices and community centers, it will improve 65.3 million square feet.
- Financial Allies: Citi agreed to continue offering financial solutions for property energy efficiency projects totaling at least $250 million over the next 18 months. Existing and planned structures target both public and private sector clients and range in size with a minimum $50 million for each transaction.
- Community Partners: The City of Los Angeles set a minimum goal of 20 percent savings by 2020 through the LA Commercial Building Performance Partnership. The partnership will provide energy audits and creative financing solutions to support commercial property owners in energy upgrades. They expect 22 million square feet of commercial building space to be audited through the program.
The bottom line is simple. Like the Secretary says, saving energy saves money. It’s the right thing to do for our economy, our security and our environment.
Job creation through energy efficiency is one of the key priorities of the Jobs Council. That's why the Council is focusing on taking critical steps on the Better Buildings Initiative, a program that can create jobs in both the short term and the long term. Building retrofitting through BBI can put construction workers and contractors to work now, and it can create manufacturing jobs in the near future as the production of energy-efficient products at US manufacturing facilities increases. Last month we were excited to announce the first round of partners committing to the Better Buildings Challenge, a key part of the Better Buildings Initiative. It was fitting that today’s meeting was in Los Angeles which was one of the first three municipal partners, along with Atlanta and Seattle, to join the Challenge and commit to enroll buildings, facilities and financing. The Better Buildings Initiative is just one idea of many on which the Jobs Council is working to catalyze actions by the private and public sectors to create jobs and strengthen US competitiveness.
More than 60 Better Buildings Challenge Partners and Allies met with Senior Administration and Department of Energy officials in Washington D.C. to discuss progress of the Better Buildings Initiative and share the broad array of implementation models and solutions offered by Better Buildings Challenge Partners in the program’s first year. Round table sessions also provided a forum for discussion and learning among business leaders on a wide range of cross market activities.
At the event, the Department of Energy released the 2012 Better Buildings Progress Report, which provides an update of the key strategies the Administration is using to overcome the barriers to energy efficiency, highlights the success of leading organizations in the Better Buildings Challenge, and shares the future plans for Better Buildings—providing a framework for meeting the goal of 20 percent savings by 2020.
These organizations are committing to reduce energy in more than 200 million square feet of commercial space combined.
The Department of Energy is touring Nissan’s Better Buildings Challenge showcase facility in Smyrna, TN to recognize the cost savings possible for manufacturing facilities that adopt energy efficiency measures and upgrades. Nissan’s Smyrna paint plant opened on Jan. 22, 2013 and is projected to cut energy use by almost a third compared to its predecessor.
The Department of Energy is recognizing its Better Buildings Challenge Partners and Allies for the first year's progress, which shows they are on track to meet President Obama's goal to reduce by 20% the energy intensity in the commercial and industrial sectors by 2020. The recently released Progress Update – Spring 2013 summarizes the significant energy efficiency gains being made by the market leaders who have taken the Better Buildings Challenge.
The Department of Energy, working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), will partner with leading private and affordable buildings owners and public housing agencies to cut energy waste.
Accomplishments across the Better Plants Program are summarized in the Department of Energy's Better Plants Progress Update - Fall 2013. Additionally, 13 companies have stepped up to the Better Plants Challenge, which is the industrial component of the Better Buildings Challenge.
The Department of Energy is recognizing the city of Milwaukee, Wis. for its leadership in energy efficiency. As part of the Better Buildings Challenge, Milwaukee has retrofitted the Milwaukee Central Library, including surveying and repairing dozens of steam traps in the basement to help cut energy waste and replacing old lighting with new, energy-efficient bulbs throughout the building. As a result of these upgrades, the Milwaukee Central Library is on track to save about $47,000 in energy costs per year.
Through the Better Plants Challenge, Alcoa has demonstrated leadership by setting an ambitious goal to reduce the energy intensity of 29 of its plants by 25 percent by 2020 and sharing strategies and best practices to help other U.S. companies improve their energy efficiency. U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Danielson joined officials from Alcoa to tour the company’s Cleveland facility and its recent energy efficiency improvements. In addition, Alcoa and steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal are co-hosting an energy efficiency training program at their Cleveland plants this week for staff at both companies. Sponsored by the Department of Energy, this hands-on technical training will further help plant staff identify new opportunities that reduce energy use and save money.
The U.S. Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development today expanded the Better Buildings Challenge to multifamily housing and launched the Better Buildings Accelerators to support state- and local government-led efforts to cut energy waste and eliminate market and technical barriers to greater building efficiency. Fifty multifamily housing leaders from across the United States have committed through the Better Buildings Challenge to cut their energy use by 20 percent in ten years. The Department of Energy also introduced three new Better Buildings Accelerators to bring together state and local governments, utilities, and manufacturers to develop cost-effective, creative solutions for building energy efficiency.
The U.S. Department of Energy is recognizing the city of Los Angeles for its leadership in the Better Buildings Challenge. Los Angeles has pledged to reduce the energy intensity for 30 million square feet of city-owned and private buildings by 20 percent by 2020. One of the city’s biggest energy-efficiency wins is the historic Central Library, an icon in downtown Los Angeles since 1926. Through the Challenge, Los Angeles has retrofitted the library, including replacing an aging roof with a cool roof, updating the HVAC system and replacing old lighting with new energy-efficient bulbs.