IMT served in a leadership role in the City Energy Project, a $20 million, multi-year initiative that provided human and financial resources to major U.S. cities to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, and is a partner in the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge, a $70 million program funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies that supports bold climate action in 20+ U.S. cities. Policies that IMT has helped design or implement now touch more than 10 billion square feet of commercial and multifamily space across the United States.
Project participants
The City Energy Project cities were: Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Denver; Des Moines, Iowa; Fort Collins, Colo.; Houston; Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles; Miami-Dade County, Fla.; New Orleans; Orlando; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Providence, R.I; Reno, Nev.; Salt Lake City; San Jose, Calif,; St. Louis; and St. Paul, Minn.
A joint initiative of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Institute for Market Transformation, the City Energy Project was generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and The Kresge Foundation.

How it worked
The Project worked collaboratively with each city to develop a tailored set of policies and programs to improve the energy performance of its building stock. The Project focused on large public and private-sector buildings, which together account for a disproportionate share of urban energy use and carbon pollution.
Key strategies of the City Energy Project were:
- Provide information about building energy use that will help owners and managers cut waste
- Align financial incentives for energy efficiency
- Ensure that building systems function optimally
- Encourage leadership from universities, hospitals, and other major stakeholders.