City of Atlanta | 9
by Atlanta being designated as one among
only eight U.S. cities to participate in the
Beta-phase of the ICLEI USA STAR Com-
munities Index program, an initiative striv-
ing to create standardization models for mu-
nicipalities working toward sustainability.
Much has transpired in the two years since
these benchmarking exercises took place,
demonstrating not only Atlanta’s rising to
the challenge, but the City’s stewardship of
objectives that result in greater quality of life
for residents as well as enhanced operational
quality for businesses.
REDUCING ENERGY, WASTE,
AND WATER CONSUMPTION
An important catalyst in this City’s path to
excellence has been a program known as the
AtlantaBetterBuildingsChallenge (ABBC).
In response to Atlanta’s leadership and stew-
ardship of grant objectives affiliated with the
American Reinvestment and Recovery Act,
PresidentObama’s administrationalongwith
the U.S. Department of Energy chose Atlan-
ta as one of three pilot cities for the launch of
the national Better Buildings Challenge. The
goal of the challenge is to have commercial
buildings 20 percent more energy efficient
by 2020. That endeavor prompted numer-
