IES Blog

Summary of the US mayor’s Clean Energy Solutions for America’s Cities report

Posted : July 26, 2011 by John G, Category: Sustainability

The United States Conference of Mayors recent Clean Energy Solutions for America’s Cities report is a summary of survey results. The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are more than 1,200 such cities in the country today, each represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the Mayor.

I’ll admit, I was a bit worried to dive into the report, with visions of a glum outlook and details that reflect why this cities are not sustainable.

But I’d say things are looking pretty good!

If you want to read the entire report, you can download it here.

But the key findings sum things up quite well.

• Despite challenging economic conditions, three in four cities (75%) expect their deployment of clean energy technologies to increase over the next five years.

• Cities identify financial constraints as the most significant challenge to improving energy efficiency and conservation, and developing new renewable energy supplies.

• LED and other efficient lighting (76%), low-energy building technologies (68%), and solar systems to generate electricity (46%) are the top three choices among mayors as the most promising technologies for reducing energy use and carbon emissions.

• Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) are shown to have multiple benefits for cities, from helping to cope with higher gas prices to deploying new energy technologies and efficiency measures, now and in the future.

• Mayors point to the economic benefits of clean energy solutions as key drivers of their energy strategies.

• For one in three cities, adapting to climate change is already an element of their capital planning and/or capital improvement programs.

• One-quarter of all cities have already set targets for the use of renewable energy.

What do you think? Are our major cities on a path to a sustainable future? How can we ensure we get there? I certainly think implementing “smart” solutions within commercial buildings is a fool-proof way to ensure energy hogs such as lights and HVAC systems are kept in check, without the need for extra manpower (and extra expenses) to keep tabs during peak demand times throughout the day. But that’s just a small piece of the puzzle. There’s so much more we can do in the world of sustainable design, and we are just scratching the surface

My hope is to view this report 5, 10 years from now and see an even greater move towards sustainability.

Tags:Building, Clean Energy Solutions, climate, HVAC, Renewables, Sustainability