US Cities Go To Boot Camp

120 representatives from some of the largest cities in the nation are attending a boot camp in Massachusetts.  The purpose of this boot camp is not to trim the waistlines of these bureaucrats or prepare them for entering a war zone.  This boot camp is all about the green, specifically on how to optimize a city's ability to get funds related to the federal government's stimulus spending and green retrofitting.

"Green Boot Camp: Recovery through Retrofitting” will be held May 31-June 2 at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and the nearby Charles Hotel in Cambridge. The program will begin at 6 p.m. on May 31 and conclude at 5 p.m. on June 2.  The event is being sponsored by Living Cities.  Living Cities is a philanthropic collaborative of 21 of the world’s largest foundations and financial institutions.  The host of the event is the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School.

The focus for this event is on large scale retrogrades of existing structures.  Large-scale efforts in U.S. cities to increase building energy efficiency through retrofitting hold huge potential in reducing energy and climate pollution. According to Living Cities’ recently released Green Cities Report , buildings consume more than 70% of the electricity and account for 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.  The current agenda highlights four areas that will be covered.

1) developing sustainable funding streams and financing mechanisms;

2) building effective green workforce development systems;

3) using a combination of policy instruments, marketing strategies and community action campaigns to increase participation;

4) weaving these components into an integrated and sustainable building energy retrofit system.

Well, good luck to these representatives and best of luck in obtaining federal stimulus dollars.