West Palm Beach, FL

Background

The City of West Palm Beach and its Office of Sustainability work diligently with City administration, community groups, and business leaders to develop policies and programs that support energy efficiency, resource conservation, and the growth of a green economy. The City recently adopted “Rethink Paradise: West Palm Beach, Sustainability Action Plan”, which targets greenhouse gas emission reductions, energy/water conservation, and community empowerment (www.wpb.org/sustainability).

Through its partnership with the Better Buildings Challenge, the City of West Palm Beach will build on existing initiatives to achieve its portfolio-wide energy intensity reduction goal of 20% by 2020. West Palm Beach is currently implementing a municipal operations energy services performance contract aimed at reducing energy consumption by 14% while saving over $10,000,000 during the contract term. In addition, the City has partnered with neighboring cities to establish a commercial PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing program that will help businesses defray the up-front costs of energy efficiency upgrades. Participants of the PACE program will be encouraged to join the City as community participants in West Palm Beach’s Better Buildings Challenge.