"I am exited about the challenges ahead. The solutions will most assuredly not be easy ones, but they will be ones that continue to make Albuquerque the best place for us and future generations."

- Mayor Martin Chávez

In June 2006, Mayor Chávez, together with mayors from Chicago, Seattle, and Miami, submitted Resolution No. 50, which urged the U.S. Conference of Mayors to adopt the 2030 Challenge.

This has great significance for the quality of life in Albuquerque and beyond for generations to come.

What's the Challenge?

By the year 2030, our buildings will be so efficient they will not be net emitters of even carbon dioxide, the most basic “pollutant” from our heating, air conditioning and power.

Visit the 2030 Challenge website >>

The resolution calls for an immediate 50-percent reduction in fossil fuel energy consumption in new and renovated buildings, and it seeks to eliminate fossil fuels from new construction by the year 2030. In other words, within 25 years, cities that manage to meet the 2030 Challenge will not use oil, natural gas, or coal in the heating, cooling, lighting, or construction of new buildings.

Goals of 2030 Initiative

1. First, all newly constructed City buildings should be designed to consume a maximum of one half of the average fossil fuel usage for that building category as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy.
2. Second, all renovated buildings should achieve the same 50-percent fossil fuel usage rate as new buildings.
3. Finally, all other municipal construction should employ green building practices to the greatest extent achievable.

How To Get There

To meet the goals of the 2030 Challenge, we'll have to:

• Invest greater resources in transportation options
• Promote energy efficient building in both the public and private sector and at all levels of government
• Encourage automakers to increase production of energy-efficient vehicles and persuade consumers to purchase them
• Provide additional incentives for investment in renewable and alternative energy
• Encourage additional mixed-use development
• Promote energy conservation on all levels.

Buildings account for approximately 48% of all greenhouse emissions world-wide compared to emissions for transportation at 27%, and for industry at 25%. In the next twenty years the anticipated increase of energy consumption in the U.S. is projected to increase by 37%, while greenhouse gas emissions are projected to increase by 36%. The 2030 Challenge seeks to help reverse this trend by setting a goal of carbon neutrality by the year 2030. This will be done incrementally by reducing fossil fuel usage in buildings by 60% in 2010, 70% in 2015, 80% in 2020, 90% in 2025 and 100% in 2030.

Learn More

• Read an interview with Ed Mazria, the New Mexico-based creator of the 2030 Challenge.