The Rebuild Bergen County Energy Conservation Initiative began in March 1997 (Phase I). The action plan for Rebuild Bergen began with the County of Bergen participating to include all County owned facilities. Once those projects were audited and installed a County-wide initiative (Phase II) was implemented that included offering energy audits to all municipalities, school districts and water/wastewater plants in an effort to identify other projects within the County.

Currently under Phase III the Rebuild Bergen County, through its Energy Conservation Initiative, offers all municipalities, school districts, water/wastewater treatment plants and commercial/industrial businesses in the county free energy-use audits through its partner Metro Energy. Quentin Wiest, Deputy Director, and Edward Hynes, Executive Director, Bergen County Improvement Authority (BCIA) direct the initiative for Bergen County. The BCIA retained Metro Energy Solutions as the energy services company to implement the program. As a result of the initiative, energy-efficiency improvements have been made to two county buildings, two county special services facilities, a sewerage treatment plant, and projects for the City of Hackensack, the Borough of Glen Rock, Borough of Moonachie, Hackensack Board of Education, Englewood Cliffs Board of Education and Englewood Board of Education. The Bergen County Improvement Authority provided financing for the projects, with labor and material costs publicly bid so that local contractors had the opportunity to perform the improvements. The total energy savings of the projects is over $1.2 million per year.

This is a win-win-win for all those that participate in the program stated Dominick Aiello, President and CEO, of Metro Energy Solutions. This is truly a community-based program where everyone can benefit. All participants can make improvements to the infrastructure of their buildings while lowering their energy and operating costs. In the public sector the lowering of facility costs helps reduce local taxes at the municipality, schools and county levels. In the private sector it helps attract businesses to Bergen County while retaining the businesses that are currently there now.