The SF Unified School District includes 100 public and 20 charter schools. The district's implementation of its strict Energy Code combined with the efforts of its Sustainability Office, has achieved a 22% energy reduction, 29% water reduction and waste diversion rate of 67% since 2008.  SFUSD has embarked on a multi-decade effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040.  All new district buildings are being designed and built to be Zero Energy-ready, achieving an EUI below 20 kBtu/sq.ft. per year. Design measures will include exterior building insulation, high performance windows, LED lighting, heat pump space and water heating, and features to facilitate the future addition of rooftop solar.

While half of the facilities in the district's portfolio are made up of older, two to three-story, uninsulated concrete buildings, newer schools tend to be one-two story wood construction. Schools from the first half of the 20^th century are steam-heated while more recently-built schools contain air-based heating. In existing buildings, gas-fired boilers are being replaced with heat pump-based systems that operate on hydroelectric power provided by the SF Public Utilities Commision and, increasingly, solar panels on SFUSD buildings. The district's goal is to achieve a 50% reduction in natural gas usage (from 2008) and eliminate the fuel entirely a decade later.  The Better Buildings Challenge helps SFUSD to track progress towards its overall EUI and natural gas targets and learn from strategies employed by other organizations with ambitious climate agendas.