As partners in the Better Buildings Challenge, a number of local governments, including 12 with ICMA member managers, have made commitments to become 20% more energy efficient by 2020. These local governments have also committed to announce an initial showcase project and initiate it within nine months and share energy consumption data, which is used as a metric to measure progress toward the goal of 20% more efficiency by 2020. ICMA member manager local governments participating to date are scattered across the United States:

Local governments are reducing energy consumption in their own buildings and working with local businesses to identify opportunities for action. Managed by the Department of Energy (DOE), the program supports local government partners and allies in financial and utility firms by connecting them to each other. The allies have made financial commitments in private sector capital to support energy efficiency upgrades, and they provide assistance to local governments in achieving their goals.

The benefits of increasing energy efficiency are far reaching: upgrading and retrofitting buildings creates jobs and reduces our dependence on foreign oil by reducing consumption. Descriptions of the local government programs and information on how to become a participant can be found on the DOE Better Buildings website.

The Better Buildings Challenge is part of the Better Buildings Initiative, which is aimed at improving the energy efficiency of commercial, industrial, and residential buildings throughout t he United States. The Better Buildings Challenge is designed to complement the Better Buildings Neighborhood program, which is focused on residential buildings at the state and local level. Forty state and local programs were selected in a competitive process to participate in the neighborhood program.