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May 9, 2014 – Allegheny College was recognized on May 8 by the Energy Department for its achievements in the Better Buildings Challenge and for reducing energy intensity by 7 percent across its entire building portfolio. The announcement was made at the first National Better Buildings Summit. Better Buildings Challenge partners are demonstrating progress to achieve 20 percent energy savings in 10 years, with annual energy savings of 2.5 percent or $300 million.

“By committing to cut energy use by 20 percent, Better Buildings Challenge partners are demonstrating how businesses and organizations are reducing our nation’s energy bill, creating American jobs, and protecting the environment,” said David Danielson, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. “With commitments representing more than 3 billion square feet of floor space, these partners are leading the way to a cleaner energy economy.”

Allegheny College was among only seven colleges and universities nationwide to join the Better Buildings Challenge when it was first announced by President Barack Obama in 2011.

Allegheny’s Carr Hall was modeled to be 23 percent more efficient due to renovations as a showcase project associated with the Better Building Challenge. Energy savings were achieved through building envelope improvements, heat recovery techniques and energy-efficient lighting. Carr Hall, which houses the Richard J. Cook Center for Environmental Science, also achieved LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.


The renovation of Carr Hall was just one component of Allegheny College’s greater efforts to pursue building efficiency and institutional sustainability across campus. Continuing efforts, including building envelope improvements, lighting and boiler retrofits, are funded through a commitment of $500,000 each year from now until 2020 for energy efficiency projects.

At the National Summit held on May 8, the Energy Department announced that in 2013 Better Buildings Challenge partners successfully reduced the energy use of their buildings and industrial facilities by more than 2.5 percent. These energy savings are the equivalent of about $100 million a year.

Since 2011, partners have committed more than 3 billion square feet and 600 manufacturing plants and facilities to energy efficiency upgrades, and have shared energy performance results for more than 9,000 facilities. Of these facilities, more than 2,100 have been improved by 20 percent or more, and more than 4,500 by at least 10 percent since their baseline year.

Through participation, partners have saved 36 trillion Btus and $300 million since the Better Buildings Challenge began.

In the past year, more than 190 organizations have participated in the Challenge, from local governments, school districts and colleges and universities to commercial real estate, healthcare and manufacturing companies. Partners have created and shared more than 110 solutions including showcase projects and implementation models to help the marketplace move more quickly to adopt energy efficiency measures. Allegheny’s implementation model focuses on how student-faculty research can promote sustainability, tackle efficiency issues on campus to determine solutions and track their benefits both quantitatively and qualitatively.

In addition, the Challenge includes a network of financial and utility allies to assist partners in overcoming financial and data access barriers across the marketplace.

For a detailed progress report on the Better Buildings Challenge and to find out more about the Challenge participants and their energy efficiency projects, visit: www.energy.gov/betterbuildingschallenge.

Photo: Lobby of the Richard J. Cook Center for Environmental Science at Carr Hall