The electricity sector was the second largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, accounting for 25% of the national total. Emissions have decreased since 1990 due to a shift to lower- and non-emitting sources of electricity generation and an increase in end-use energy efficiency, however, significant opportunity still exists to reduce emissions across the utility sector. Many utilities in the U.S. have made voluntary corporate commitments to cut their carbon emissions, and technology advancements and changing customer preferences are further driving the utility industry’s transition to a carbon-free energy system.
To date, Better Buildings, Better Plants partners have saved more than 3.6 quadrillion Btu, saving more than $22 billion and 224 million metric tons of CO2.
Dedicated to bringing you the latest actionable insights on today's energy efficiency landscape, the Better Buildings Webinar Series is a chance to explore the topics and trends that affect your organization with industry experts and your peers.
DOE is challenging organizations to set ambitious, portfolio-wide GHG emission reduction goals -- 50% within the next 10 years -- through the Better Climate Challenge.
Featured Solutions
A cross-functional effort leveraged energy and water efficiency improvements including lighting retrofits, green plumbing and toilet retrofits, fan system upgrades, and the installation of an energy efficient chiller, all of which brought 37% in energy savings and over $1.7 million savings in energy cost.
The Los Angeles Aqueduct Filtration Plant (LAAFP) was completed in 1986 and has a treatment capacity of up to 600 million gallons of water per day. In the mid-2000s, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) began a comprehensive modernization of the LAAFP with a long-range program to upgrade and replace aging equipment.
The Energy Data Accelerator Toolkit is a collection of resources enabling other utilities and communities to learn and benefit from the work of the Accelerator, specifically on how to gain data needed for benchmarking.
The partnership between the municipal electric and water utility with a regional investor-owned gas utility allowed both participants to efficiently deploy multiple “tri-resource” incentive programs to residential and commercial customers in their joint territory, including statewide incentive programs.
Other Resources
Fact Sheet
This fact sheet highlights the energy resilience and reliability benefits that CHP systems can offer to critical infrastructure facilities, provides information on current and potential CHP installations at critical facilities, and reviews details on the economic impacts of grid outages to industrial and commercial operations.
Guidance
This resource highlights examples of utility services and incentives that Better Buildings partners have leveraged to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. Using this guide, organizations can work with their utility provider to better understand if these or other energy efficiency programs are available to them.
Presentation
Get plugged in on EV charging and fleet electrification with this diverse panel representing manufacturers, cities, and adopters who will shared insights from their experiences transitioning their fleets and how it aligns with carbon reduction goals.
Webinar
This 2020 Summit session enlisted some of the top experts in critical facilities like data centers, laboratories, hospitals, wastewater treatment plants, and correctional facilities, who provided a high-level overview of their fields and answered attendee questions.
This 2021 Summit session featured innovations in energy planning for resilience at critical facilities, including wastewater treatment plants, correctional facilities, data centers, and labs.