West Palm Beach Celebrates Energy Efficiency Milestone in DOE's Better Buildings Challenge

The City of West Palm Beach recently earned recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy for its advancements in energy efficiency, meeting a significant milestone set by the federal Better Buildings Challenge. West Palm Beach Mayor Keith A. James relayed his congratulations to the Office of Sustainability, stating, “Congratulations to our Office of Sustainability for helping the City reach these ambitious goals and being named a 2024 Better Buildings Challenge Goal Achiever.” The city garnered praise for surpassing its objective by achieving a 16% reduction in energy consumption—which included significant upgrades to municipal buildings and infrastructure, as detailed by the City of West Palm Beach announcement.

These strides began with the city's early adoption of LED streetlight retrofits in 2014, netting them their first victory in reducing energy intensity by 20%. The city's dedicated efforts, particularly with improvements made to the wastewater treatment facility, have pushed them past their most recent energy-saving benchmarks.

As the DOE's inaugural partner in Florida for the Better Buildings Challenge, West Palm Beach proudly leads the pack in early goal achievement. The city, maintaining a close partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy since 2012, now sets its sights on a new, more formidable target: a 25% reduction in energy use across its municipal buildings by 2030, as mentioned on the city's website.

The Better Buildings Challenge is a cornerstone of the DOE's Better Buildings Initiative, which works alongside a spectrum of organizations in the public and private sectors to bolster energy efficiency across various building types. With more than 900 organizations involved, the initiative encourages the sharing of verified strategies for saving energy, cost, and with the added benefit of reducing emissions for an overall healthier economy.