The City of Arvada has been part of the Department of Energy (DOE) Better Buildings Challenge since 2013. The goal is to reduce energy use by 20 percent within City facilities by the end of 2020. This deadline has been extended to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We use the Energy Star Portfolio Manager program to track our energy usage at 17 facilities within the City.
In 2018, the Better Building Challenge reported our annual energy savings to be an 8 percent reduction from our baseline year of 2010. The City recently received our energy performance data for 2019. Our energy savings grew to 17 percent, just 3 percent from reaching our 20 percent goal.
About the Better Building Challenge
In the U.S., it costs $200 billion a year to power the buildings where we work, shop, and go to school and another $200 billion for industrial energy use. On average 20-30% of this energy is wasted. By reducing the waste of energy in buildings we can save energy and money, create good jobs, and avoid significant emissions of CO2. That’s why DOE challenged leading CEOs and executives of U.S. companies, manufacturers, universities, school districts, multifamily organizations, and state and local governments to take the Better Buildings Challenge. Hundreds of organizations have taken the Better Buildings Challenge to reduce energy use throughout their portfolios by at least 20% over 10 years. Partners will agree to share their annual progress and their solutions that provide replicable models for others to follow.
Today, more than 370 organizations are partnering with DOE. Challenge partners have collectively reported 610 trillion Btus in energy savings since 2012, which is enough energy to power nearly 7 million U.S. homes for one year and represents nearly $5 billion in cost savings to date. Partners are sharing energy data for more than 40,000 properties across the country, saving on average more than 2% each year; Financial Allies have extended more than $23 billion in energy efficiency financing. These organizations come from 9 key market sectors: commercial, data centers, financial services, higher education, industrial, K-12 schools, local government, multifamily housing, and state government. Learn more about the Better Building Challenge on the Department of Energy site.