Aurora joins yearlong national sustainability program

The city of Aurora has recently been picked to join a yearlong program that brings together communities from around the country to improve sustainability.
As one of only 16 local governments to be chosen as part of the 2025 LEED for Cities Certification Cohort, Aurora will be supported by the U.S. Green Building Council in sustainability, resilience and quality of life efforts, according to a city news release announcing the partnership.
'The City of Aurora is honored to take part in the LEED for Cities cohort,' Mayor John Laesch said in the news release. 'This partnership will allow Aurora to develop a more sustainable planning process, while taking significant steps toward reducing climate change and promoting a more resilient and equitable city.'
LEED stands for 'Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design' and is typically used to certify green buildings. However, whole local governments or communities can be LEED certified, which is what Aurora will be working towards under the yearlong cohort program.
The city's participation in this program seems to align with Laesch's stated vision for the city, which includes a focus on fostering green-building jobs, but the city applied to be a part of the cohort before he was elected.
According to the news release, Aurora is planning to use the program to 'engage the public around data-driven goals and identify opportunities to strengthen local climate and sustainability efforts.'
Through the program, the city will be given resources to measure and improve sustainability performance through the LEED for Cities rating system, the news release said. But according to Randal Stephens, the city grant writer who helped secure the city's spot in the cohort, Aurora will also benefit from sharing resources and best practices with others in the program.
Throughout the yearlong process, she said, the cohort will meet twice a month and work through nine different areas of focus: integrative process, natural systems and ecology, transportation and land use, water efficiency, energy and greenhouse gas emissions, materials and resources, quality of life, innovation and regional priorities.
For example, in the natural systems and ecology category, Aurora will take a comprehensive look at the city's natural systems, identify invasive species, study soil composition and inventory typical pollution sources, according to Stephens. She said that, once the information is gathered, it can be used in future policy improvements or projects.
Beyond the environmental side of sustainability, Stephens said, the program will also take a look at things like vulnerable populations through the quality of life category to identify gaps in social infrastructure instead of focusing only on built environments.
LEED certification would show that Aurora took a holistic approach to evaluating its policies and practices, fostered collaboration between departments and developed a framework for continued improvement — plus, it would help the city in future grant applications, since it would show the city has the capacity, experience and ability to manage these sorts of complex programs, according to Stephens.
In the short-term, being in the cohort will give the city a free yearlong membership to resources through the LEED online portal, which is normally paid, plus will offer discounted training courses and individual certifications, she said.
According to the U.S. Green Building Council's own news release announcing the 2025 LEED for Cities Certification Cohort, nearby Cook County is also participating in the cohort program.
Other local governments in the 2025 cohort include Ashland, Massachusetts; Brighton, Colorado; Delray Beach, Florida; Farmers Branch, Texas; Harris County, Texas; King County, Washington; Lafayette, Indiana; Lincoln, Nebraska; Mercer Island, Washington; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Riverside, California; Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and West Lafayette, Indiana.
'City governments play a critical role in advancing public and environmental health, resilience and economic prosperity across their communities,' Peter Templeton, U.S. Green Building Council president and CEO, said in the organization's press release. 'We applaud this cohort for prioritizing these outcomes and committing to meaningful actions on sustainability and community well-being.'
Stephens said Aurora was invited to apply for the cohort around late last year. The idea was then discussed internally to make sure the city had the capacity to participate in the program since it covers a large range of topics and involves nearly every city department, she said, and an application was turned in around last December.
One of the main reasons the city applied was to work toward goals laid out in the 2019 Sustainability Plan, including expanding renewable energy and piloting zero waste initiatives, according to Stephens. She said that, as the city reviews its current policies and procedures through the cohort program, hopefully opportunities for improvement will be identified that contribute to that plan's goals.
The U.S. Green Building Council's website about the Local Government Leadership Program, which the LEED for Cities Certification Cohort is a part of, says cities in the cohort are expected to be LEED certified within 12 months of starting the program. A timeline in an info packet linked on the website shows that program graduation is planned for March 31, 2026.
First started in 2017, the Local Government Leadership Program has in total provided direct support to around 120 local governments across the country, which represents around 55 million people, according to the U.S. Green Building Council's news release. Beyond the certification cohort, the program also includes regional leadership summits and accelerators.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com

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