About

In 2011, President Obama launched the Better Buildings Challenge through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), a national initiative to improve the efficiency of commercial, institutional, industrial, and multifamily buildings by 20 percent or more over ten years. The City of Milwaukee became a partner to the Better Buildings Challenge in 2012, pledging to reduce the energy use of the City’s building portfolio 20 percent by 2020. The City developed a Showcase Project with the Milwaukee Central Library and created a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program as an implementation model for other cities to replicate.

In 2015, the City of Milwaukee’s Environmental Collaboration Office received a $750,000 award from DOE to expand the Better Buildings Challenge – Milwaukee (BBC-MKE) program by developing and implementing a comprehensive energy efficiency program. The expanded program bundles a streamlined customer experience involving energy benchmarking, energy assessments, and determination of next steps with operations and maintenance support, workforce development, technology integration, marketing, and awards.

Over 3 years, the City and its partners are aiming to impact 200+ buildings, in particular Class B & C commercial buildings, small commercial buildings, and K-12 schools.

A Roadmap for Building Energy Efficiency

Milwaukee Better Buildings Challenge provides a complete roadmap and support services to help building owners realize big energy savings in their buildings.

City of Milwaukee Progress

(Municipal Buildings)