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Decatur has long valued its natural, agricultural and historic heritage. From Lake Decatur to the revitalization of downtown and historic neighborhoods there is a proud tradition of stewardship in Decatur. The City of Decatur took an innovative step by using a portion of the Energy Efficiency Community Development Block Program (EECBG) to take a strategic view of the opportunities to explore energy efficiency from a whole-systems approach.

Teska and Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) facilitated an inclusive process to develop a set of interrelated strategies from a public education effort to promoting infill development to energy audits and promotion of alternative transportation. A signature recommendation of the plan is to foster a market for the use of perennial grasses as a source of alternative energy, building on the local agribusiness industry sector which includes ADM and Tate and Lyle that have long brought jobs, innovative technology, and new markets to Decatur.

One of the key recommendations of the Plan was to choose an established Decatur neighborhood to conduct an urban demonstration project to apply various sustainability techniques. Teska worked with the Old Kings Orchard neighborhood to implement the strategies of the Plan into their built-up urban neighborhood. Applied strategies in the OKO neighborhood will show cumulative improvements over time including capital cost reductions, property value increases, energy savings per household, reductions in flooding incidents, water quality improvements, recycling rate improvements, and waste reduction.