A delegation of government and private sector officials from Baltimore is at Harvard today and tomorrow for a Green Boot Camp, and the group is hoping to come home with some training and maybe even some money to retrofit some city buildings to make them energy efficient.

More than 120 people from around the country went to the event, sponsored by the philanthropic collaborative called Living Cities, to show off their leading-edge programs and hear about everyone else’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through large-scale retrofitting programs. They also hope to create jobs along the way.

All the retrofitting is designed to save energy and money, and the attendees would like to do more of it. Buildings in the United States consume 72 percent of the electricity and 55 percent of the natural gas while accounting for 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change estimates that buildings could avoid nearly 30 percent of those emissions by 2020. A $1 million investment in energy efficiency create 21.5 jobs in installation, maintenance and manufacturing.

The hurdles to retrofitting include costs, work force capacity and know-how, Living Cities says.

By attending the boot camp, the groups expect to get technical assistance and lay the foundation for funding for their urban green programs from Living Cities and its member foundations.

Baltimore has already taken some steps, said Ken Strong, director of energy efficient homes for the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development and Ted Atwood, energy advisor for the city. They said the city is:

•investing $31 million in energy and water conservation, resulting in approximately $5.5 million in savings per year

•replacing all the traffic lights with LED lighting, reducing energy consumption by 80 percent

•capturing the digester gas from the Back River waste water treatment plan to produce over 3 megawatts of power and the steam needs for the facility

•developing approximately $25 million in energy efficiency programs at municipal building such as fire stations, park facilities, libraries and the zoo

•expanding renewable energy applications through the utilization of waste, wood, fats, oils and greases

•looking at solar power generation at brown field sites, municipal buildings and commercial buildings

Baltimore has a host of other efforts underway and has completed a greenhouse gas inventory for city operations and the larger Baltimore community, said Beth Strommem, manager of Baltimore’s Office of Sustainability, in an e-mail from the event.

Douglas W. Nelson, president and chief executive of the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation, also said in an e-mail:

"The Living Cities Green Boot Camps are an important way for public and private partners to coordinate efforts and share what works. The ideas and approaches that will come out of the boot camps can create a more positive economic future for the families and children who are struggling to get by in Baltimore’s low-income neighborhoods."