Orange County Selected as a Grantee for the 2020 LEED for Cities and Communities Grant Program

Orange County, Fla. (February 25, 2020) – Orange County Government has been selected as a Grantee for the 2020 LEED for Cities and Communities Grant Program by the U.S. Green Building Council and the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. The program helps local governments committed to accelerating progress on climate change, resilience and social equity planning, measure and track performance using LEED.

Orange County was chosen among 20 other communities in the United States that will become “sister” cities through the process of collecting consistent data, setting goals and creating programs that enhance sustainability and human health. The County will have the opportunity to share best practices and benchmark progress against other world-class communities.

“As a growing community, ‘Green’ initiatives are vital for us in maintaining a high quality of life,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings. “This grant will enable us to unify our smart growth, sustainability and resilience initiatives around an internationally recognized certification and reporting platform.”

Orange County will utilize the LEED for Communities framework to help drive prioritization of new programs that enhance quality of life for residents. At the end of 2020, the County will be eligible to receive an internationally recognized certification to showcase its commitments and progress at the GREENBUILD International Conference and Expo on Nov. 4-7, 2020 in San Diego, CA.

“With this grant, we’ll be able to accelerate our smart growth and sustainability initiatives,” added Jeff Benavides, Orange County’s Chief Sustainability and Resilience Officer.

For more information on Orange County Government’s Sustainability efforts, visit www.ocfl.net/OurHomeForLife.

Since 2018, Bank of America has provided $1.25 million in grant funding to the LEED for Cities and Communities program, supporting a total of 41 cities and counties to date. The company’s 2019 grant helped 15 cities and its 2018 grant supported six cities and communities. The 20 cities and counties selected for the 2020 program represent more than 10 million Americans in urban and rural communities around the country and include:

• Abington Township, Pa.
• Charlotte, N.C.
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Costa Mesa, Calif.
• Fayetteville, Ark.
• Johnson County, Kan.
• Kane County, Ill.
• Louisville, Ky.
• Miami Beach, Fla.
• Miami-Dade County, Fla.
• Middleton, Wis.
• Nashua, N.H.
• Newark, N.J.
• Northampton, Mass.
• Orange County, Fla.
• Orange County, N.C.
• Palm Beach County, Fla.
• Santa Monica, Calif.
• Sarasota, Fla.
• Tampa, Fla.