In partnership with the City of Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress, Southface, Midtown Alliance and Livable Buckhead, the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge (ABBC) is a public/private initiative to reduce energy and water consumption by at least 20 percent by 2020 across the Atlanta area. Led by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Resilience, the program supports the U.S. Department of Energy’s goals to create jobs and make buildings more energy efficient.
The challenge proves that aggressive sustainability goals can be made and achieved. Since the program’s inception in 2011, buildings participating in the program have saved 1,327.3 million gallons of water, 3.21 trillion British thermal units (BTU) of energy and over 25 million dollars. Money saved from efficient and sustainable practices frees up business capital which can be used for more productive purposes such as creating and sustaining jobs, increasing incomes, investing in new technology and adding to Atlanta’s gross regional product. Beyond the financial benefits of the program, there are improvements being made to our natural environment. Reducing demand for energy and water reduces electricity generation, which can help improve air quality and support health. ABBC initiatives have improved Atlanta’s air quality by 83 percent and has moved Atlanta from the ninth most polluted U.S. city in 2000 to the fifty-second in 2016.
Read more on the Saporta Report.
