City Energy Project
Orlando is one of 10 cities selected to participate in the City Energy Project, a national initiative to create healthier and more prosperous American cities by improving the energy efficiency of large buildings. In addition to Orlando, the other participating cities include Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles. Working in partnership, the Project and the City support innovative, practical solutions that cut energy waste, boost the local economy, reduce harmful pollution, and keep Orlando a leading city.
Read Press Release: “Mayor Dyer Announces Orlando Participating in 10-City Effort to Cut Climate Pollution from Buildings”
The City of Orlando is leading by example: As of summer 2015, the City of Orlando has made an $18M energy efficiency investment in public buildings, conducting audits and retrofits in more than 55 municipal buildings. At completion, this project will save the City up to $2.5 million per year in energy costs and the savings will help pay for the cost of the new police headquarters currently in construction.
The central program elements of Orlando’s City Energy Project include the Building Energy and Water Efficiency Strategy (BEWES), a locally tailored suite of policies focused on helping building owners and managers understand their building’s energy performance through benchmarking and identification of the technical and financial resources available to implement energy efficiency measures, and the recently-approved Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Financing, a set of financial tools designed to unlock clean energy investments for home and building owners, and
Participation in the City Energy Project will help Orlando’s commercial building owners and operators reduce energy consumption, save money, and reduce carbon pollution while expanding Orlando’s energy services economy, encouraging the growth of clean energy jobs, and keeping Orlando competitive.
This plan includes multiple complementary strategies and energy efficiency solutions that are unique, flexible, and support the following goals:
PROMOTE EFFICIENT BUILDING OPERATIONS: Strong building energy performance can be achieved through efficient operations and maintenance and the training of facilities personnel.
ENCOURAGE PRIVATE INVESTMENT: Common-sense solutions to financial and legal barriers to energy efficiency will increase private investment in building energy improvements.
SHOW CITY LEADERSHIP: Cities should lead by example and reduce taxpayer-funded energy consumption in municipal buildings, and encourage the private sector to match their actions.
PROMOTE TRANSPARENCY: Building energy performance information should be transparent and accessible to spur market demand and competition for energy-efficient buildings
See the impact of these policies and programs on Orlando or read more Orlando’s CEP.
A joint initiative of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Institute for Market Transformation, the City Energy Project is generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and The Kresge Foundation.
For more information about the City Energy Project, contact Orlando’s Director of Sustainability, Chris Castro: chris.castro@cityoforlando.net
