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Successful strategies for saving energy and water : The Better Buildings partnership continues to spur collaboration and innovation
Corporate Real Estate Journal,
7
(1),
75-82
(2017)
Abstract
In 2015, the US Department of Energy (DOE) published a paper entitled ‘What leading organisations are doing today to drive greater efficiency, and why it matters for tomorrow’ in this journal.1 Since that time, Better Buildings has grown considerably, both in the scaling of its partnerships, adding a number of corporate and other partners, and with its activities, designed to help partners overcome persistent barriers to energy and water efficiency. Through this work, DOE and its partners have generated hundreds of proven energy and water efficiency solutions.2 Sharing these solutions is the primary goal of this public–private partnership and each solution is easily searchable by topic, building type, sector, technology, location and barrier. Ideas are also shared in-person, through an annual event held in Washington DC called the Better Buildings Summit. In May 2017, more than 1,000 industry leaders and national experts came together at the latest summit to learn ‘what’s possible and new’ in world-class energy saving strategies, and to discover ‘what’s next’ in highimpact technologies.
Keywords: energy; efficiency; building; energy savings; strategy; proven; solution; barrier; results
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Maria T. Vargas serves as a senior programme adviser at the US Department of Energy. She is also the director of DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge. The goal of this broad initiative is to work with leaders in the public and private sectors to make American buildings at least 20 per cent more efficient in the next decade. Prior to her work at DOE, she was the brand manager for the ENERGY STAR® programme for almost 20 years while at the US Environmental Protection Agency. She has been involved in policy work on the issues of ozone depletion, global climate change and related environmental and energy issues since 1985. She received a Bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, PA) in political science and economics and a Master’s degree from the University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon) in public affairs and urban and regional planning.
