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City of Atlanta | 11 ous upgrades, particularly in more efficient lighting retrofits, but when they reached the point of completing upgrades at the Bois- feuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center, Atlanta became the first city in the country to com- plete this flagship project. The City also re- cently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the ABBC; an expansion of the initiative that not only seeks to reduce energy and wa- ter consumption much as twenty percent in commercial buildings by the year 2020. At- lanta’s original goal was to have two million square feet of building space committed for this goal, but thus far, commitments have been achieved which equate to more than 50 million square feet, comprised by more than 74 properties and eight City facilities. Atlanta has since been ranked in the top five of American cities with the most Energy Star certified building. “This ranking underscores the commitment of property owners, elected officials, civic leaders, and our community to make Atlanta a top-tier sustainable city. The commercial buildings that make-up our sky- line play a critical role in helping to reduce our carbon footprint, while delivering both economic and environmental benefits to our city,” says Mayor KasimReed. “We are proud to join other leading cities with this distinc- tion.” Beyond the improvements made to City facilities, the Office of Sustainability is in- vesting in the community as well. In the fall of 2011, the office introduced a residen- tial energy efficiency rebate program call SHINE, the Sustainable Home Initiative in the New Economy. SHINE provided rebates for upgrading lighting, HVAC systems, add- ing insulation, and weather-stripping to over 300 Atlanta homeowners. Through a unique partnership with Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL), the City seed-funded a program that provides free energy audits to faith houses. In addition to a six-fold increase in recy- cling rates within City offices and facilities, Quarles says her office worked closely with the Department of Public Works to expand the city-wide recycling program known as “Cartlanta.” This initiative allows every sin- gly-family household in the city to contrib- ute to landfill diversion by providing a free 96 gallon recycling carts at their home; 65,000 carts were delivered as a part of Cartlanta. “I am pleased with the increase in our recycling rates and that City of Atlanta residents are