CitiesGoGreen - December 2008 - (Page 6)

In Motion Berkeley Approves Solar Loans for Homeowners The Berkeley City Council has unanimously approved a pilot program to loan money to homeowners for rooftop solar power systems. The council created a special property tax district which residents can opt to join. In return, loans of up to $22,000 for solar systems will be guaranteed by the city and repaid as part of the homeowners’ property tax bills. The loans stay with the property, with future owners taking over the unpaid portion of the loan and benefiting from the property’s solar power. “I think this is probably the most important contribution Berkeley can make toward taking on global warming,” said Mayor Tom Bates in a New York Times interview, indicating that nearly two dozen other cities have expressed an interest in following Berkeley’s lead. The city is seeking to raise approximately $1.5 million to fund the pilot program for about 50 homes. If the program proves successful, it is likely to expand to include hundreds more. Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates Best Bike Cities Bicycling.com names the most improved bicycle cities. They include Louisville, KY with its second visionary bike summit scheduled for February 2009, New York City with plans to add 200 miles of bike lanes in 2009, and Washington D.C., with SmartBike, the first automated publicuse bike system in the US. Minneapolis, MN and San Jose, CA are runners-up. Expected to make the list in the future are Boston, Los Angeles, Columbus, OH, Fargo-Moorehead, ND, and Salt Lake City. What is exciting is that the changes are occurring at a base level of infrastructure, and the plans appear well thought out and genuine. The article calls Seattle, Portland, OR, Boulder, CO, Chicago and San Francisco ‘still the greatest,’ but competition is closing the gap. Photo courtesy Bike Louisville Program Wiggling Plastic Generates Power A former steel town in Pennsylvania is “going for sustainability” and wants to be the first city to generate part of its electricity from plastic strips wiggling at the bottom of a local river, according to Discovery News. The City of Vandergrift, PA, in collaboration with the engineering department of the University of Pennsylvania, plans to attach a grid of piezoelectric polymer strips to the bottom of the Kiskiminetas River in the first freshwater hydroelectric project of its kind. The plastic grid, projected to be about 30 yards wide and a mile long, will generate electricity through undulations caused by the river’s current and will not disturb the ecological balance of the river, according to university researchers. Combined with energy conservation measures, the rippling grid could generate up to 40% of the electricity used by Vandergrift’s city center. 6 Free: Track Your Building’s Efficiency The EPA’s Portfolio Manager helps building managers compare and improve their resource efficiency. A wide range of building categories, such as courthouses, hospitals, schools and wastewater treatment plants, can sign up and track their water and energy consumption. The online tool shows and shares individual buildings’ successes, and compares them nationally and regionally. Cumulative investment evaluation “eases decision making,” and helps save money, according to the EPA, who formally recognizes high performance with an Energy Star label. December 2008 ©Caseywest-flickr.com http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/december-2008/in-motion/berkeley-approves-solar-loans-for-homeowners http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/us/18solar.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/december-2008/in-motion/best-bike-cities http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-2-18-17083-1,00.html http://www.louisvilleky.gov/BikeLouisville/ http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/facilities/af_bike_paths.html http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/facilities/af_bike_paths.html http://ddot.dc.gov/ddot/lib/ddot/information/bicycle/smartbike_q_and_a_fact_sheet_may08.pdf http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/december-2008/in-motion/wiggling-plastic-generates-power http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/december-2008/in-motion/free-track-your-buildings-efficiency http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_portfoliomanager#manage http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/december-2008/in-motion/wiggling-plastic-generates-power http://www.environmentalleader.com/2007/10/02/epa-tool-estimates-greenhouse-gas-emissions-of-commercial-buildings/ http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=business.bus_bldgs http://citiesgogreen.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CitiesGoGreen - December 2008

Citites Go Green Contents In Motion We’re Taking Steps 10,000 Rain Gardens in Kansas City Chicago Center for Green Technology Connecticut’s ‘One Thing’ Green Infrastructure for Stormwater Management Philadelphia The Economics of What Matters New Context: New Possibility

CitiesGoGreen - December 2008

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