The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) revealed new Better Building Initiatives to help organizations save energy while reducing costs and emissions. One of these new initiatives is the Better Buildings Commercial Building Heat Pump Accelerator, through which manufacturers will produce higher efficiency and life cycle cost-effective heat pump rooftop units and commercial organizations will evaluate and adopt next-generation heat pump technology.
The Accelerator was developed with commercial end users like Amazon, IKEA, and Target, and already includes manufacturers AAON, Carrier Global Corp., Lennox International, Rheem Manufacturing Co., Trane Technologies, and York International Corp. The Accelerator aims to bring more efficient, affordable next-generation heat pump rooftop units to market as soon as 2027—which will slash both emissions and energy costs in half compared to natural gas-fueled heat pumps. If deployed at scale, they could save American businesses and commercial entities $5 billion on utility bills every year.
DOE’s Public And Private Sector Partnership For Accelerating Climate Solutions
The Better Buildings Summit is an annual leadership conference that convenes more than 800 attendees for three days of partner-led meetings, peer exchange, and recognition. DOE also announced the following at the Summit:
- Recognizing Leadership: More than 40 organizations received Better Project, Better Practice and Climate Finance Innovator awards for their industry-leading accomplishments in decarbonization, energy and water efficiency, or waste reduction. Around 65 organizations were recognized as recipients of the tenth annual Green Lease Leaders awards for their leadership in leveraging green leases for the advancement of sustainability or net zero goals.
- New Working Groups on Decarbonization: DOE launched three new working groups for Better Climate Challenge partners focusing on central plant decarbonization, shifting to low-impact refrigerants, and financial strategies for industrial decarbonization.
Sharing Successful Pathways: DOE’s Better Buildings Solution Center has been updated to improve navigation, functionality, and design, focusing on a new, powerful search platform to more effectively filter 3,000+ efficiency and decarbonization solutions. - DOE Lighting Prize American Made Challenge: The third and final phase of the challenge offers $10 million in prizes for up to four winners for producing and installing next-generation lighting products for commercial buildings.
Through the Better Buildings Initiative, DOE partners with public and private sector organizations to make commercial, public, industrial, and residential buildings more efficient, thereby saving energy and money while reducing emissions and strengthening the economy.
