July 9, 2010

A little friendly competition never hurt anybody. In fact, in the City of Chicago, a competition among the offices of the Central Business District has resulted in a whole lot of environmentally friendly changes in the way Chicago does business. Dubbed the Chicago Green Office Challenge, it was a race to see which offices and buildings could green their operations the most. More than 100 tenants and 39 property managers participated and made efforts to reduce waste, decrease water and energy use, and engage their colleagues. The Challenge was co-developed by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA and the City of Chicago.  

Mayor Richard Daley (at left) recognized these leaders for their outstanding achievements in an awards ceremony. After one year, the big-time results from Green Office Challenge participants prove that this innovative program is a smash success—and worthy of replication in other cities and counties. Here’s what you get when you mix competition, recognition and environmental friendliness:

• a reduction of more than 72 million kilowatt-hours of electricity – equivalent to the energy used by 45,000 homes or using 125,000 barrels of oil
• keeping more than 54,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – equal to removing more than 10,000 cars off Chicago streets
• a reduction of more than 5 percent in water usage diversion of more than 1,200 tons of materials from landfills

ICLEI provided the participants with necessary guidance and tracking methods for waste, water and energy use, and trained all participants.

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Source: ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, Local Action Blog