As part of the Administration’s effort to cut energy waste in the nation’s buildings, the Energy Department will acknowledge the city of Fort Worth today for its leadership in advancing energy efficiency. Through the Better Buildings Challenge, Fort Worth has achieved eight percent energy savings across 19 million square feet of public and private sector buildings since 2009. The city is on-track to meet a ten year goal to improve energy use by 20 percent by 2020.

“Better Buildings Challenge partners are improving their communities by cutting energy waste and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Dr. David Danielson, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “Through their leadership and ingenuity, these partners are moving American businesses and communities forward, saving money by saving energy while also demonstrating environmental responsibility.”

Fort Worth launched its own citywide Better Buildings Challenge, which encourages city businesses and communities to save energy in their buildings. Building a network of partners and allies including local energy and water utilities, the Fort Worth Better Buildings Challenge effectively provides a local education and outreach program promoting energy conservation and efficiency as well as technical support for partners to measure and track their energy use. Municipal facilities in the program alone will have achieved energy and water savings, totaling $65 million dollars over the next ten years.

Today, Energy Department and city officials will tour the Village Creek Water Reclamation Facility, which treats Fort Worth’s wastewater for 23 surrounding communities. The city invested $35 million in energy-saving upgrades, reducing electricity consumption by 39 percent and cutting electricity bills by $2.5 million each year. The plant’s anaerobic digester captures and recycles methane gas to generate 75 percent of the facility’s needed electricity onsite; HVAC improvements and lighting retrofits also contribute to the plant’s energy savings. The city is planning additional improvements, with the goal of making the Village Creek Water Reclamation Facility a zero energy facility.

“We are proud to be recognized as a leader in our efforts to increase energy efficiency, “said Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price. “As one of the cities in the Better Buildings Challenge, we continually look to extend our efforts to prudently manage our utilities and partner with local businesses and property owners to better understand opportunities to achieve strategic goals of the city.”

As a cornerstone of the President’s Climate Action Plan, the Better Buildings Challenge is aimed at achieving the goal of doubling American energy productivity by 2030 while motivating corporate and public sector leaders across the country to save energy through commitments and investments. More than 250 organizations are partnering with the Energy Department to achieve 20 percent portfolio-wide energy savings and share successful strategies that maximize efficiency over the next decade. Across the country, Better Buildings Challenge partners are deploying energy efficiency projects at more than 9,000 facilities, with more than 2,100 buildings improving efficiency by least 20 percent, and another 4,500 by at least 10 percent, compared with their baseline years.

Anh Tuan