Sustainability

SUSTAINABILITY

2009-2010 Sustainability Annual Report

The 2009-2010 Annual Report details municipal energy usage, energy spending and carbon footprint for the entire municipality as well as each department.  Click the link below to review the entire 2009-2010 report.

Annual Report Snapshot

• The City of Asheville has reduced its municipal carbon footprint 8.42% in 3 years.
• Last year alone the City has reduced its energy spending by 5.9% totaling $336,216.
• To date the City's carbon reductions equal the positive environmental benefit of planting 76,026 trees.

 2009-2010 Annual Report

Current Initiatives

The office of Sustainability is coordinating the City's efforts to further reduce its carbon footprint through the following initiatives:

•  City of Asheville is in the Phase II of a four year program to change all streetlights to LEDs.  2800 streetlights will be upgraded from November 2011- June 2012. The areas receiving new lighting in Phase II include Kenilworth, Oakley and all City of Asheville municipal lighting West of the French Broad River. When complete, this initiative will save $650,000 annually and reduce carbon emissions that are equal to planting 60,000 trees. The most innovative aspect of this program relates to how the savings are used. All dollars saved from this program will be kept and used to for the street light capital investment and to fund future energy efficiency efforts.

LED's Make Dollars and Sense Case Study
Frequently Asked Questions for Residents

•  Comprehensive Recycling Program launched April 2010 with a goal to recycle 40 tons (8 five ton elephants) in 70% of City facilities by April 2011. The Office of Sustainability plans to implement this program with the remaining 30% of facilities (i.e. parks and other special facilities) later this year.

•  Increased recycling capacity at the Civic Center and City of Asheville's special events (i.e. Bele Chere Festival) with more recycling bins including an interactive recycling station designed, constructed and installed in April 2011 in partnership with AB Tech's Sustainable Technology Program. Recycling bins are funded through grants received from Keep America Beautiful/Coca Cola and NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) Division of Pollution and Prevention and Environmental Assistance (DPPEA).

•  Green Team is a volunteer steering committee consisting of representatives from each of the City's departments focusing on organizational sustainability initiatives. Founded in February of 2010, the Green Team is focusing on developing comprehensive standard operating procedures, codes and administrative policies as identified in the Sustainability Management Plan. 

Accomplishments

Energy Retrofit projects – The City completed the following projects in 2010 to reduce energy usage and costs:

• City Hall Lighting: upgraded all lights in City Hall to energy efficient lights, many with occupancy/vacancy sensors, which will result in annual savings of approximately $15,000 in operating costs.
• Civic Center Banquet Room HVAC: completed engineering design for HVAC system renovations for the offices and banquet hall that is projected to save approximately $33,500 annually in operating costs.
• Fire Stations 6 & 8: installed solar thermal hot water systems to provide domestic hot water at each station and provides renewable energy to reduce annual energy consumption.
• Fire Station 8 Weatherization: installed new energy efficient thermal windows and building insulation as well as HVAC system adjustments and other weatherization measures that is projected to reduce energy consumption by 50% annually.
• Recycling outreach programs conducted with afterschool and summer programs at Community Centers where students created recycling posters specific to their center after learning about the benefits of recycling through hands-on interactive lessons. Click here to check out the video 21stCentury afterschool program students from Burton Street Community Center created to educate and engage other students to recycle.
• Conducted Sustainability Works Program, a Green Workshops Series, in summer and fall of 2010 that provided information on a variety of topics to assist City staff in becoming more sustainable in the workplace.  Over 200 staff participated in six workshops on such topics as Green Purchasing, Recycling, Green Event & Meeting Planning and Home Energy & Weatherization. 
• Home Energy Rating Systems (HERS) Program training completed by City building inspectors and maintenance staff to evaluate and improve building energy efficiency.  Diagnostic equipment and software was also purchased for inspectors and maintenance staff to conduct energy audits.
• Office of Sustainability received $804,700 funding through Energy Block grant to fund Sustainability Outreach Specialist and Retrofit Project Manager positions, energy retrofit projects and HERS training and equipment.

Making the Commitment

The City of Asheville believes it is our responsibility to our community, businesses and taxpayers to strive for organizational efficiency through energy reduction measures.  Because the threat of global warming needs local solutions, the City of Asheville formed a citizen group in January 2007 called the Sustainability Advisory Committee on Energy and the Environment and City Council passed two sustainability resolutions in April 2007.

Goal: Reduce the municipal carbon footprint by 80% by 2050
Plan: Achieve a 2% reduction each year through conservation, technology and behavior change

Goal: Reduce the negative impact on the environment from municipal buildings
Plan: All new municipal buildings will be LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

To meet these goals, the municipality created a Sustainability Management Plan (SMP) and the Office of Sustainability to focus on solid waste reduction, energy conservation, community outreach and stormwater management (see below for more SMP details and to download plan).  The City of Asheville has gone one step further by joining commitments with hundreds of cities around the country and world when the mayor signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, and became a member of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).

Sustainability Management Plan

In April 2007 City Council passed a resolution committing to reduce the municipal carbon footprint 80% by the year 2050 and requiring a strategic plan to lead this effort. The internal SMP brings together the organization’s carbon footprint reduction policy and the sustainability initiatives of various departments in a coordinated and comprehensive plan.  The outcome of this internal sustainability management plan is a consensus-based set of 23 sustainability goals, a comprehensive list of 107 prioritized action items, and an implementation plan for moving forward. 

The full plan and the executive summary of the plan can be reviewed online at the following links:

Sustainability Management Plan                   Executive Summary                

What does carbon footprint mean?

You may have been hearing the phrase carbon footprint and wondering what that means.  Carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide) that are emitted into the atmosphere each year by a person, a household, a building or an organization.  These greenhouse gases are produced through the burning of fossil fuels such as coal for electricity, natural gas for heating, gasoline or diesel for transportation, etc.  Just in the first year after establishing the carbon footprint reduction goal, the City organization reduced it's carbon footprint 2.5%, more than the requirement, which was due to staff's dedication and efforts.

Helpful Links and Resources

• City of Asheville's Sustainability History
• Energy Related Federal and State Tax Incentives 
• Progress Energy Carolinas Rebate Programs
• PSNC Rebate Programs
• Citizen Sustainability Advisory Committee 

The Office of Sustainability