By Quincy Midthun, Mayors Innovation Project
Buildings are the largest source of carbon emissions and one of the greatest opportunities cities have to reduce their carbon footprints. The benefits of energy efficiency improvements and decarbonization extend beyond just bringing down carbon emissions; they can save residents and taxpayers money on energy bills and support healthier, safer environments.
At the Mayors Innovation Project’s Summer 2026 Meeting, Mayor Talisha Searcy (Takoma Park, MD); Mayor Kerry Thomson (Bloomington, IN); Madison, WI Sustainability and Resilience Manager Dr. Jessica Price; and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Amy Turner led a discussion on strategies to decarbonize and make existing municipal, commercial, and residential buildings more energy efficient, reducing energy costs for families and businesses and helping to meet local climate goals. Below is a brief summary of the session, including key takeaways.
Understand where your buildings are starting from and what levers are possible and realistic.
Several panelists emphasized that one of the first things cities can do to begin their building decarbonization strategy is to understand their building stock. Dr. Price shared that Madison is using publicly available data such as property records from the Assessor’s Office, building inspection permits, and data from the US Energy Information Administration to characterize the energy use and carbon emissions of buildings community-wide, and to identify strategic approaches for decarbonization. Starting with an analysis of municipal building energy usage and carbon emissions can make an impact for cities where a complete building stock analysis is too large a lift.
Many cities are preempted by their state governments in what they can require building owners to do. Further, Mayor Thomson pointed out that decarbonization strategies that work in some cities are simply not accessible or affordable for other cities. “Climate action…needs to be something that is locally appropriate. You can’t take a cookie cutter from somewhere else,” stressed Thomson. Amy Turner reiterated this point, encouraging cities to “think about what makes sense for your community given your legal, regulatory, political, and geographical constraints… and what is equitable for your community.”
In Madison, for example, state preemption prohibits the City from requiring buildings to reduce their energy usage through building performance standards. Instead, the city requires energy benchmarking and tune-ups for commercial buildings through its Building Energy Savings Program (BESP). Benchmarking requirements like Madison’s BESP, although arguably not as aggressive as building performance standards policies allowed in other cities, have been shown to reduce energy use by 8-10% over time as building owners become more aware of their energy usage, and take action to improve efficiency. A building tune up checks the settings, sensors, controls, and physical condition of the building’s systems, like HVAC and lighting, and makes minor adjustments and fixes as needed to bring them up to a good state of performance. Through these adjustments and fixes, tune-ups deliver an average energy savings of 12%.
Start with energy efficiency.
All panelists emphasized that weatherization upgrades which provide tangible cost savings and comfort are the most important for positively impacting residents and getting uptake on programs. “You need to be doing the math for every improvement to make sure you’re providing [both] climate savings and cost savings,” said Dr. Price. Nearly all of the city programs highlighted in the panel—Takoma Park’s Green Homes and Businesses Grant Program and Multifamily Building Improvement Grant; Bloomington’s Green Home Improvement Program and Solar, Energy Efficiency, and Lighting (SEEL) Program; Madison’s BESP and Efficiency Navigator Program—emphasized and/or provide funding for energy efficiency improvements that target things like windows, insulation, ventilation, sealing, and lighting.
Tailor your local programs to target your most vulnerable residents, and if they’re not reaching them, adapt the program.
The panel stressed that building decarbonization programs are a significant opportunity for cities to address the needs of their most vulnerable residents. The upfront cost of energy efficiency improvements is expensive, and for many residents, impossible without assistance. For example, Madison’s Efficiency Navigator Program provides funding and technical assistance for energy efficiency upgrades for naturally occurring affordable rental housing. To be eligible for the program, building owners must keep rent affordable for at least five years.
Mayor Searcy explained that Takoma Park had to adapt its initial eligibility requirements for their building decarbonization programs because they were not reaching their intended audience. Takoma Park’s Green Homes and Businesses Grant Program now uses a tiered approach based on area median income and household size to determine eligibility and the size of the grant available. Last year the program awarded $220,000 in grant funding, including 14 projects to low and moderate income applicants.
Amplify the financial incentives and opportunities offered by your county, state, non-profits, and corporations.
Each panelist highlighted the importance of regional partnerships in allowing cities to implement or expand their building decarbonization strategy. It can be challenging to know and keep track of what incentives are available to businesses and residents. “Taking stock of [the opportunities] available through your county, state, and utility… and collating all of that together for residents [is something that all local governments can do],” said Mayor Searcy.
Finally, municipalities can partner with each other to share resources and expand programs. Recently, Madison’s Efficiency Navigator expanded to serve surrounding cities Fitchburg and Middleton. In Bloomington, the City is part of Project 46, an alliance of local governments in southern Indiana, which allows them to share ideas and pursue funding opportunities with surrounding local governments. Building decarbonization has no one-size-fits-all solution, making collaboration key. To reach their climate goals, cities need to invest in partnerships and tailored strategies that reflect the realities of their individual communities.
To access the briefing book and slide presentations from this panel, please visit our Summer 2026 Meeting webpage.