Mayor Kasim Reed announced that the City of Atlanta continues to lead the country with 111 million square feet of building space committed to reducing energy and water usage through the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge. UPS is the latest partner to join the challenge and has committed to reducing energy and water usage in more than one million square feet of commercial building space.

The Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge has a goal to reduce energy and water consumption by at least 20 percent in participating buildings across Atlanta by the year 2020. To date, the City of Atlanta has already achieved its 20 percent water reduction goal, and has reduced its energy consumption portfolio by 17 percent.

“For the third consecutive year, I am proud to announce that the City of Atlanta has the most building space committed to energy and water efficiency, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge, than any other city in the nation,” said Mayor Reed. “We are excited that UPS is furthering its commitment to sustainability by joining the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge, and we look forward to working with the company to build a cleaner, better future for our great city.”

UPS has committed the following properties to the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge:

55 Glenlake Parkway, NE 30328 – 631,195 square feet;

35 Glenlake Parkway, NE 30328 – 143,849 square feet;

2427 Moreland Avenue, SE 30315 – 93,597 square feet; and

270 Marvin Miller Drive, 30336 – 348,670 square feet.

“With our world headquarters office being in Atlanta, and, given our continued focus on environmental sustainability, it made perfect sense for UPS to join the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge program,” said Tamara Barker, Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President of Environmental Affairs for UPS. “UPS looks forward to working with this group as we do our part to reduce energy and water consumption in our four Atlanta buildings.”

UPS currently operates one of the largest alternative fuel and advanced technology fleets in the U.S, which includes more than 8,100 all-electric, hybrid electric, hydraulic hybrid, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, propane and light-weight fuel-saving composite body vehicles. In addition to its use of alternative vehicles, UPS uses millions of gallons of lower carbon footprint renewable diesel and renewable natural gas in its fleet each year. Last month, UPS announced an $18 million investment to incorporate solar panels on some of its buildings.

In conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy, the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge is locally led by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Office of Resilience, and is managed by a group of core partners including Central Atlanta Progress, Midtown Alliance, Livable Buckhead and Southface.