Dive Brief:

• Nearly 350 public and private sector organizations have joined to save a combined 240 trillion BTUs and an estimated $1.9 billion in energy and cost savings, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's 2017 Better Buildings Progress Report. The goal of the Obama-era Better Buildings Initiative is to make U.S. buildings 20% more energy efficient by 2020.
• Organizations that have signed on to the initiative account for more than 4.4 billion square feet of building space and have dedicated $7 billion in funding, according to For Construction Pros. 
• Partners within the initiative have reported results across nearly 38,000 properties and, on average, are on pace to meet the Better Buildings goal after improving energy performance by more than 2% each year. Since the program's launch, 40 organizations have met their energy goals, six have achieved their water goals and 12 have met their financing benchmarks.

Dive Insight:

The Better Buildings Initiative Progress Report comes as more individuals and organizations within the public and private sectors are searching for ways to improve energy efficiency. Earlier this month, U.S. mayors launched the new Mayors for 100% Clean Energy initiative that aims to push other cities and municipalities to shift to sustainable energy sources.

Individual cities are throwing their support behind clean energy promises. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel revealed plans to transition 900 city-owned buildings to 100% renewable energy sources by 2025 and, while Chicago is the largest city to make such a pledge, Atlanta is not far behind. The city now holds the title of the largest southeastern city to commit to reaching completely renewable energy by 2035, though it's municipal buildings must reach that goal a decade earlier.

Other cities, such as San Diego and Miami, Beach, FL, join a list of 26 U.S. cities that have committed to clean energy, while others are working to develop plans that would shift their municipalities to renewable sources.

Apart from public initiatives to push renewable energy to the mainstream, contractors and engineers are making moves to incorporate more sustainable products and systems in their work as demand for clean energy picks up. In 2016 alone, renewable power source installation achieved a record 138.5 gigawatts of capacity added globally — and that number only stands to increase with mounting demand.

With demand for sustainability cutting across market segments, energy-related projects and employment in the field are set to continue expanding. In January, the DOE reported that projects within the energy sector produced more than 2 million construction jobs in 2016 — nearly one-third of the industry's workforce — and approximately three-quarters of those positions came from the energy-efficiency segment.