Suncoast Credit Union is one of the 18 new partners from throughout the country to join the Better Buildings Challenge, which is a commitment to reduce its portfolio-wide energy use by at least 20 percent in the next 10 years.

“It is vital that local businesses take the lead in energy conservation because policymakers at the state level lag behind and continue to promote costly energy consumption,” said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL). 

“In fact, local businesses and community leaders came together last week at a conference sponsored by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council to discuss local solutions to our energy challenges.  At the conference, I urged participants to harness local public and private leadership and not wait for the State of Florida, which supports an outdated utility structure,” added U.S. Rep. Castor, who was the morning keynote speaker for the two-day summit (May 28-29) held in St. Petersburg.  “Joining the Better Buildings Challenge is an example of such leadership and I applaud Suncoast Credit Union for being forward-thinking and understanding that it’s too costly not to address this issue now.”

Launched by President Barack Obama in 2011, the Better Buildings Challenge now has 250 partners representing 3.5 billion square feet. Suncoast Credit Union is one of two Florida partners to join the Better Buildings Challenge this year and has committed 430,000 square feet. 

“Broadening and diversifying our energy sources will help Suncoast Credit Union operate more efficiently and we believe it makes good business sense as well. We hope this might inspire other local businesses who might be interested in looking to improve their energy savings too,” said Tom Dorety, President and CEO of Suncoast Credit Union, which operates 58 full-service branches and serves more than 641,000 members in 17 Florida counties. 

Across the country, Better Buildings Challenge partners have shared energy data for more than 32,000 properties and are reporting savings of 20 percent or more at 4,500 properties, and 10 percent or more at 12,000 properties. This means partners are on track to meet energy savings goals, saving on average 2 percent each year or $840 million since the program launched in 2011.

View U.S. Department of Energy announcement for new 2015 Better Building Challenge partners    

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