CitiesGoGreen -September 2008 - (Page 17) launched in January of 2007. A primary goal of this campaign is to reduce county Recognizing that such an ambitious goal required the support of elected government greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent from the 2000 level by leaders and government employees alike, the county decided to use its 2012. annual work plan as a way to direct strategies and ensure that energy Recognizing that such an ambitious goal required the support of elected lead- efficiency is considered in all departments. ers and government employees alike, the county decided to use its annual work plan as a way to direct strategies and ensure that energy effi- that climate change has a new urgency and energy costs are ciency is considered in all departments. The plan now provides rising, Morrill is confident that people will begin paying attenthe county with a clear strategy for reaching its established tion and be receptive to alternative choices. The county is implegoals by 2012, consciously involves all sectors of local govern- menting a program to encourage responsible energy use in the ment, and influences the standards and criteria applied to each private sector, including awards recognizing local businesses for executed project. Reviewed annually, the work plan is designed their sustainable practices. Later in the year Arlington intends to to address multi-year sustainability issues that require more create a broader plan that will include specific energy targets for long-term implementation and assessment. the community as a whole. Although the Fresh AIRE initiative originally focused more Proving its commitment to the Fresh AIRE program, the counon governmental activities and energy use, it has now been ty has created a dedicated stream of revenue from a tax on resiexpanded to consider residential and business consumption as dential energy use. The new tax is capped at $3 per account, per well. Calculations show that the local government is responsi- month, and many households pay nothing if their energy conble for only 4 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the county, sumption is low. The tax generates around $1.5 million per year, whereas the private sector is responsible for 96 percent. Now which has been used to expand the Fresh AIRE team. also concentrating on redoing motors, improving building controls and replacing several of our old boilers. We are also working on an employee energy education campaign. We want to raise awareness about how employees can help keep a lid on energy costs for the county, and do the same for themselves at home as well. What do you think is the most important part of your job? Guiding the county to use less energy. It is just good business practice not to waste energy. It’s good for the environment, it helps taxpayers, and it’s good for the county not just because it saves money, but because energy-efficient buildings tend to be well-operated buildings. It comes down to achieving numbers. My fundamental role is to achieve a steady reduction in energy consumption, and this can be done through employee education and improvements in our equipment and operations. Are there any tools that you use to help facilitate your job? One of our tasks is to collect information on monthly energy consumption from our various departments, because we need to know how much we are using in our buildings. The Energy Star Program has a database called Portfolio Manager, which allows you to track energy consumption over time, and also benchmarks your energy consumption against similar buildings nationwide. It’s free if you participate in the Energy Star Program. From a climate standpoint, ICLEI has a GHG-emissions software tool that members have access to, and we use it to create baseline emissions for county operations and the community as a whole. We are striving to create more ‘before’ and ‘after’ examples through our own buildings, so the public can see that we are dedicated to sound management ourselves. Where do you see the greatest potential pay-offs in the future? Mostly in improving efficiency in existing buildings and improving efficiency with new vehicles. We currently have put sample LED lights up around the county. We are waiting for LED lights to become more suitable and less costly for general illumination, and we also hope to see solar become more of a bargain. Solar electricity is already cost effective in states like California and Hawaii, where the cost of energy is high and there are state incentives, so commercial breakthroughs for solar electricity would also be very valuable. September 2008 © dwight9592 - Fotolia .com 17 http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/Communications/PressReleases/63348.aspx http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_portfoliomanager http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_portfoliomanager
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