Yesterday wrapped up a large-scale seminar at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government where top officials from 17 U.S. cities received training from experts on retrofitting cities’ buildings to be more energy efficient and how to create green jobs. Living Cities, a philanthropic organization comprised of 21 of the world’s largest foundations and financial institutions, sponsored the event as part of an initiative to address the significant energy consumption and pollution created by buildings. A recent report by Living Cities shows that buildings account for more than 70 percent of the electricity and 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the country.
Green Boot Camp: Recovery Through Retrofitting was held May 31 to June 2 in collaboration with the Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation and the Institute for Sustainable Communities. In addition to city and state officials, key figures of the Obama Administration, including Ron Sims, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development participated.
The Green Boot Camp was formed to assist city-based public sector teams improve, expand and accelerate retrofitting of buildings and learn about the design and implementation of such energy efficiency programs. Sessions focused on funding, developing a workforce, promoting participation and collaboration. Senior officials from the U.S. departments of energy, housing and urban development, and labor spoke about federal stimulus funding. Auden Schendler, sustainability director for the Aspen Ski Company, spoke about the necessity of a massive building retrofit campaign for rescuing the planet.
Series Planned
The Harvard event is just one of a series of camps focused on the green economy that Living Cities plans for at least 25 cities and states this year. Living Cities believes that the emerging green economy serves as an important opportunity to reduce energy and transportation costs in neglected neighborhoods and create access to valuable jobs for low-income people.
The cities that participated in the training and peer-learning event were Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Newark, N.J., New York, Philadelphia, P.A., Baltimore, Md., Saint Paul, Minn., San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., Flagstaff, Ariz., Louisville, Ky., and Babylon, N.Y.
Ben Hecht, Living Cities’ President and CEO described the Boot Camp as “a distinctly large-scale step toward activating a truly integrative approach that simultaneously engages cities, states, philanthropy, the private sector and the federal government on a focused agenda.” Hecht added that “the substantive difference is also important in that we are explicit about ensuring a truly inclusive green economy that generates real jobs for low-income people. If you don’t intentionally build in the systems for responsible spending, smart policy, and comprehensive workforce development you won’t get it.”
Living Cities was founded in 1991 and has invested more than $600 million in cities nationwide. Members make up the senior management level on the Living Cities Board of Directors and provide numerous expert staff to carry out the agenda of improving the lives of low-income people and the urban areas in which they live.
Members of Living Cities include AARP Foundation, AXA Community Investment Program, Bank of America, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase & Company, Deutsche Bank, Ford Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, MetLife, Inc., Prudential Financial, The Rockefeller Foundation and Surdna Foundation. The Cleveland Foundation and The Skillman Foundation are affiliate members.
