Green-building partnership expanded

The Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) have agreed to expand their cooperative efforts to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitting from newly constructed buildings around the world.

According to the U.N. Environment Program , homes, schools, and other buildings account for 38% of carbon dioxide emissions globally. Improving building efficiency in the United States could save the American economy more than $160 billion by 2030. To that end, the mission of the CCI-U.S. GBC partnership is to rethink and redefine new building developments, to increase energy efficiency, and cut pollution.

“Retrofitting buildings represents an immediate and measurable opportunity to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve our economy,” said former President Bill Clinton. “They are a priority for my Climate Initiative, which is encouraging retrofit projects around the world.”

According to U.S. GBC CEO/president Rich Fedrizzi, CCI has helped bring the urgent need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through improved building efficiency to national and global attention. Efforts have touched on efficiency of both new and existing buildings. To date, CCI’s Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program reportedly has helped participating organizations and companies initiate more than 250 retrofit projects, covering more than 500 million sq ft of real estate, in more than 30 cities around the world. The retrofits include structures in the municipal, private, commercial, education, and housing sectors, and have resulted in energy improvements ranging from 30% to 60%.

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