Sustainable City Network Magazine Vol. 28

FOR LEADERS IN GOVERNMENT, EDUCATION & HEALTHCARE.

SUSTAINABLE CITY NETWORK

VOLUME 28 July 2018

4

BEST OF

e City SustainaWbl ORK NET

MINNEAPOLIS

INVESTS IN ‘GREEN ZONES’

LEADERBOARD SERIES SPONSORED BY CRESCENT ELECTRIC SUPPLY CO.

9 COMMUNITIES FIND QUALITY DAYCARE IS NO CHILD’S PLAY

17 THE LINK BETWEEN ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CLEAN AIR

22 11TH ANNUAL GROWING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES CONFERENCE SLATED OCT. 2-3

www.sCityNetwork.com

GSCDubuque.com GSCDubuque.com

NN NUUAALL C CO ON NF E R E N C E 1111TTHH AAN OCCTTO OBBEERR 22--33 2 0 1 8 O

PRESENTED P R E S E N T E D && HOSTED H OS T E D BY: BY:

GrandRiver RiverCenter Center || Port Port of of Dubuque Dubuque || Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa Grand

two-day sustainability sustainability conference conference for AAtwo-day municipal and and business business professionals. professionals. municipal Ideas, plans plans and and best best practices. practices.

Ideas, SSPONSORED P O N S O R ED BBY: Y:

MEDIA M E D IA SSPONSOR P O N S OR :

www.sCityNetwork.com www.sCityNetwork.com

contents

4

cover story

MINNEAPOLIS Invests in ‘Green Zones’

VOLUME 28 July 2018

What Saves Lives, Money and Ecosystems?

12

Americans Want to Live in Healthy, Sustainable Communities

15

The Link Between Energy Efficiency and Clean Air

17

11th Annual Growing Sustainable Communities Conference Slated Oct. 2-3

22

9

Communities Find Quality Daycare is No Child’s Play

[1]

Sustainable City Network Magazine

The Best of Sustainable City Network is a quarterly magazine highlighting the most popular articles posted on sCityNetwork.com, an online trade publication that serves government, education and healthcare institutions in all 50 U.S. states and the provinces of Canada.

The magazine is available in print or as a digital download at www.sCityNetwork.com/bestof.

The opinions expressed in the magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sustainable City Network or WoodwardBizMedia.

SUBSCRIPTIONS Contact 563.588.4492; info@scitynetwork.com www.sCityNetwork.com

For Leaders in Government, Education & Healthcare

EDITORIAL INFORMATION Contact 563.588.3853; randy@scitynetwork.com ADVERTISING SALES Contact 563.588.3858, kruden@woodwardbizmedia.com

Sustainable City Network magazine is produced by WoodwardBizMedia, a division of Woodward Communications, Inc. GROUP PUBLISHER Karen Ruden PUBLISHER & EXECUTIVE EDITOR Randy Rodgers

Upcoming Online Courses

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Kathy Regan Michael Manning

Community Canopy: Private Property Tree Distributions Made Easy

BUSINESS MANAGER Kathy Goetzinger CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Sam Cohen Julianne Couch Sara Hayes, Cassandra Kubes Kevin Taylor Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies CREATIVE DESIGN Eric Faramus Cover Photo: Ingimage Unless otherwise noted, all images used throughout © 2018 Ingimage, all rights reserved.

Sustainable City Network 801 Bluff Street Dubuque, Iowa 52001 Visit Us On The Web sCityNetwork.com Printed on recycled paper

Free 1-Hour Webinar – July 19, 2018 In this webinar we will explore how a private property tree distribution via the Community Canopy program can assist with growing your community’s urban tree canopy and support your sustainability and resiliency efforts. Travis Menne with the city of Redding, Calif., and Kristen Bousquet from the Arbor Day Foundation will explore how to plan a private property tree program and how to reduce the time needed to implement a project. Learn more at http://sCityNetwork.com/ArborDay

Meet Sustainable Minneapolis

Free 1-Hour Webinar – July 26, 2018 Join us July 26 for a free 1-hour webinar featuring the sustainability initiatives of Minneapolis, Minn.

You’ll hear from three members of the city’s sustainability staff, who will describe how the city plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 2006 levels by 2040. Minneapolis prides itself on enacting environmentally progressive policies that can provide examples for other municipalities that are striving towards the same goal. Learn more at http://sCityNetwork.com/Minneapolis

Post-Disaster Recovery: Planning Before and After

4-Hour Online Course – Aug. 21-22, 2018 Sustainable City Network will host this 4-hour online course for anyone responsible for initiatives related to resilience and disaster recovery planning. Instructed by planning guru James Schwab, this intensive course will explore how civic leaders can plan ahead for the aftermath of man-made or natural disasters to rebuild more resilient communities that are better prepared to face future emergencies. Attend live or via on-demand video.

Learn more at http://sCityNetwork.com/Post-Disaster

Sustainability in New York City

Free 1-Hour Webinar – Aug. 23, 2018 Join us Aug. 23 for a free 1-hour webinar featuring the sustainability programs of New York City.

Learn how the city plans to become the most sustainable big city in the world and a global leader in the fight against climate change, reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050. Learn more at http://sCityNetwork.com/NewYork

Community Adaptation and Resilience in an Era of Climate Change

4-Hour Online Course – Sept. 11-12, 2018 In this 4-hour online course, resiliency consultants Arlene Hopkins and Stephen C. Maack will explain how to effectively translate the science of climate change into policies, programs and project initiatives at the local level. Exploring a wide variety of localized climate change adaptation and resilience case studies from every region of the U.S., this course will describe how your community can plan and take pre-emptive actions now to mitigate future disaster risk and adapt toward a more resilient community. Attend live or via on-demand video. Learn more at http://sCityNetwork.com/ Resilience

[2]

from the editor Welcome to Sustainable City Network Magazine – the Best of sCityNetwork.com! This quarterly magazine is a compilation of the most popular articles on our web site and in our email newsletter, the InBox, which is delivered to more than 40,000 leaders in government, education and healthcare across the U.S. and Canada. Sustainable City Network produces advertiser-supported, non-partisan articles, webinars, trade shows and white papers that provide local institutions with quality, organized and timely information about sustainability projects, plans and best practices. This magazine is another way we fulfill our mission.

In this issue, we continue our Leaderboard series by showcasing the city of Minneapolis, Minn., and its plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 2006 levels by 2040.

Randy Rodgers Publisher & Executive Editor SUSTAINABLE CITY NETWORK www.sCityNetwork.com 801 Bluff Street Dubuque, IA 52001 563.588.3853 randy@scitynetwork.com

OUR MISSION “To make U.S. cities more sustainable through quality and well-organized information.”

In our cover story, you’ll hear from three members of the Minneapolis sustainability team, who describe the city’s effort to weave environmental justice into almost every sustainability program. Minneapolis Green Zones is a place-based policy initiative intended to reverse the unequal health, economic, employment, and education outcomes caused by historic and ongoing inequities in two designated areas of the city occupied primarily by low-income, indigenous people and communities of color. You can learn more about this program in a free 1-hour webinar featuring Minneapolis on Thursday, July 26. Register to attend live or download the recording later at https://sCityNetwork.com/Minneapolis.

In other top stories: We explore a problem facing millions of working parents around the world: finding affordable child care. This can be a nightmare for parents, but if the problem is systemic, it can have serious workforce and economic development consequences for communities struggling to grow. Experts say people who are unable to enter the workforce because they lack affordable, quality child care may miss opportunities to enter the job market. That, in turn, keeps skilled, available workers out of the hiring pool.

Learn what leading communities are doing to address this vital need.

Other articles in this issue focus on the importance of science-based environmental monitoring; a new poll that shows Americans want clean air and water more than ever; the link between energy efficiency and clean air; and new EPA software that can help planning agencies and water utilities better understand the flows of water into, within, and out of their cities. Oh, and be sure to check out our back pages for a program preview of the Growing Sustainable Communities Conference, coming Oct. 2 and 3.

The articles in this magazine have been selected by our readers. We’ve packaged them together in this convenient magazine format, available as a digital download or in print at sCityNetwork.com/Bestof.

We hope you find value inside.

Glenbard Waste Authority, Illinois Unison Solutions Inc., based in Dubuque, Iowa is proud to be part of the team at this municipal wastewater treatment plant site. The anaerobic digesters produce 200 scfm of biogas which is treated with the biogas conditioning equipment designed and built by Unison Solutions. After removing hydrogen sulfide, moisture and siloxanes, the gas is used to fuel two Nissen internal combustion engines. In addition to the electricity production, the heat from the system is used to supply hot water for the digestion process and to heat the facilities buildings. Learn more about it at www.unisonsolutions.com [3]

LEADERBOARD SERIES SPONSORED BY: CRESCENT ELECTRIC SUPPLY CO.

Minneapolis

Invests in ‘Green Zones’ City Brings Environmental Justice to Its Most Vulnerable Neighborhoods

BY RANDY RODGERS PUBLISHER & EXECUTIVE EDITOR

[4]

LEADERBOARD SERIES

BEST OF

SPONSORED BY: CRESCENT ELECTRIC SUPPLY CO.

“...Another main component of the work that we’re doing is community wealth building, demonstrating how environmental or sustainability-minded strategies can actually help foster more community wealth and stability” Actively fighting climate change since 1993, Minneapolis was one of the first cities in the world to adopt a framework for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Today, the city remains a leader in sustainability with an emphasis on bringing environmental justice to its most vulnerable neighborhoods.

KELLY MUELLMAN is a sustainability program coordinator for the city of Minneapolis.

LUKE HOLLENKAMP is a sustainability program coordinator for the city of Minneapolis.

TAMARA DOWNS SCHWEI is food policy coordinator for the city of Minneapolis.

The city’s goal to reduce communitywide greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent by 2015 was exceeded by two and a half percent. It’s now on pace to reduce emissions 30 percent below 2006 levels by 2025, though many more significant changes are needed (including decarbonization of building heating systems) to achieve its ultimate goal of reducing emissions 80 percent by 2050.

As a step toward reaching their next milestone, the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey passed a resolution in April vowing to move the city to 100 percent renewable electricity in municipal facilities and operations by 2022, and citywide by 2030.

Inspired by the Sierra Club’s Ready For 100 campaign and the national youth organization, iMatter, the resolution gives the city’s Division of Sustainability until the first quarter of 2019 to develop a blueprint for reaching the citywide goal. The decree resolves to oppose the rollback of climate policy at the federal level and reaffirms the city’s ongoing commitment to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Luke Hollenkamp, a sustainability program coordinator who focuses on the city’s buildings and energy programs, credited renewable energy for the “lion’s share” of the city’s success at reducing emissions so far. It’s expected that in coming years more electricity will be generated through solar and wind energy and more coal-fired power plants will be retired, Hollenkamp said.

“We’re certainly encouraging Xcel Energy (the city’s electric utility) to add more renewables to their grid. As an investor-owned utility, they make those decisions at the corporate level, but we’re doing everything we can to encourage it and show there’s an appetite for it in the community.” He said the city will also be making it easier for residents and businesses to install on-site renewable energy or invest in community solar projects. Some of that capacity will be dedicated to low-income consumers.

The city’s current emission reduction goals were established in 2013 after the sustainability staff spent more than a year working with partners in the public, private, and non-profit sectors to create the Minneapolis Climate Action Plan.

With input from an Environmental Justice Working Group, the Climate Action Plan included the creation of a Minneapolis Green Zones Initiative, identified as areas of the city that have historically been overburdened by environmental conditions such as air pollution, brownfield sites, blight and substandard housing, and face cumulative impacts of social, economic and political vulnerability.

Sustainability Program Coordinator Kelly Muellman said the placebased policy initiative is intended to reverse the inequitable health, economic, employment, and environmental outcomes in neighborhoods occupied primarily by low-income, indigenous people and communities of color in Minneapolis.

Muellman said the initiative is an example of the Sustainability Division’s evolution from being inwardly focused on municipal operations to becoming a more outwardly focused department making impacts on the community at large.

[5]

LEADERBOARD SERIES SPONSORED BY: CRESCENT ELECTRIC SUPPLY CO.

“Now we’re trying to focus on policy changes or programs that will foster more sustainable activity and actions in the community, whether that is improving access to urban agriculture and land, increasing the number of residents or businesses that do energy efficiency, or increasing the amount of solar capacity that we have installed in the city on private land,” she said.

Muellman said the Green Zone plan will also focus on job opportunities, particularly in the new green economy, as well as the quality and affordability of housing in the city’s two designated Green Zones.

“Another main component of the work that we’re doing is community wealth building, demonstrating how environmental or sustainabilityminded strategies can actually help foster more community wealth and stability,” Muellman said. As examples, she said the community is exploring using community land trusts as an alternative path to ownership and worker-owned cooperatives to provide employment, wealth and stability for more people within a neighborhood.

“It’s really trying to figure out a different model for how we do work and change systems, because we know the current process for how plans and policies are developed are not inclusive and therefore they are perpetuating some of the same challenges that these communities have historically had. We can’t assume we can use the same process we’ve always used and see different outcomes,” she said.

Muellman said the project framework has been created and the next steps will involve setting up different working groups to focus on specific objectives established by community leaders within each of the Green Zones, working with city staff from various departments.

A key effort within these zones and throughout the city is improving access to healthy and local food, especially for those in need.

Homegrown Minneapolis is a city-community partnership initiative aiming to improve the community’s ability to grow, process, distribute

and eat healthier, sustainable, locally grown foods. The initiative has increased access to farmers markets, urban gardens and local retail food outlets across the city. It is guided by the Minneapolis Food Council, established in 2012 to “increase access to quality food, address hunger and food insecurity, connect sectors of the food system, influence policy and decision making, and ensure an environmentally sustainable and socially just food system,” according to its mission statement.

Food Policy Coordinator Tamara Downs Schwei said the city also developed an urban agriculture policy plan. “This generated a vast array of zoning code and text amendments that were drafted and adopted, making it legal and easier to grow and sell food in the city for the first time in several decades and making it much easier to operate and access a farmers market,” she said.

As a result: • Nearly 30 farmers markets with more than 800 vendors are currently in operation within the city. The Farmers Markets of Minneapolis collaborative was formed in early 2017 to support the city’s farmers markets through strategic and informed innovation, advocacy, education, and cohesive partnerships. Early projects have included the gathering and assessment of citywide market metrics, collaborative market branding, promoting food access and providing technical assistance to local markets. “Last year we had an estimated 1.2 million visitors citywide and more than $12 million in vendor sales,” said Downs Schwei. She said the markets support more than 5,000 jobs in the community.

• About 70 city-owned vacant lots, many located in the Green Zones, are made available for community gardens as part of the city’s urban garden lease program. The city also provides free and reduced price compost to help low-income gardeners while reducing carbon emissions and diverting organic waste from the landfill. Overall, there are more than 300 community gardens in Minneapolis.

• The city has created a number of financial and technical support programs to encourage and assist local food businesses. The Homegrown Small Business Fund, for example, provides financing and technical assistance to Minneapolis-based businesses that process, grow and manufacture local food products. The fund provides eligible applicants loans up to $10,000 at 2 percent interest for a five-year term.

Photo: City of Minneapolis

• Local foods programs are supported by numerous city policies and programs including guidance on keeping chickens, supporting pollinators, operating food trucks and carts, using approved carryout containers and helping the city reach its recycling goals. Downs Schwei said the city has issued about 100 backyard bee-keeping permits and more than 300 backyard chicken coop permits.

■■

More Bikers; Safer Rides

Since 2007, the use of bicycles in Minneapolis has increased 49 percent while the rate of motorist-bicyclist crashes has declined 52 percent, according to city reports.

[6]

• In 2008, the city became the first in the nation to pass a staple food ordinance that was expanded in 2014 to require certain types

LEADERBOARD SERIES

BEST OF

Photo: City of Minneapolis

SPONSORED BY: CRESCENT ELECTRIC SUPPLY CO.

■■

Sustainable Transportation

In 2016, Minneapolis adopted a complete streets policy that aims to reduce vehicle miles traveled within the city, de-emphasizing cars and establishing guidelines for providing a road and trail system that encourages walking, biking and the use of public transit.

of grocers to provide a minimum set of healthy staple food items to ensure that all Minneapolis citizens have reasonable access to fruits and vegetables, whole grains, eggs, low-fat dairy and other healthy nutritious foods.

Armed with this new data, the CEP’s 2017-2018 Work Plan has established new and effective community engagement strategies to drive participation in energy efficiency and renewable energy programs targeting each of five residential and commercial building categories.

Minneapolis has also been a leader in building energy efficiency. In 2013 the city adopted its landmark 2040 Energy Vision, a blueprint for making the city’s energy system reliable, affordable, local and clean, while contributing to a more socially just community. This vision spawned numerous strategic action plans and led to the founding of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP), a first-of-its-kind partnership between the city of Minneapolis and its local electric and gas utilities. The CEP is led by a joint city/utility board that reviews and approves work plans focused on helping the city achieve its climate and energy goals.

The results have shown steady progress. Despite an increase in square footage of commercial properties between 2014 and 2016, weathernormalized energy use intensity (EUI) decreased by 1.7 percent and water consumption decreased 5.9 percent, according to the latest report. The benchmarking allows for competitions, recognition of top achievers and sharing of best practices among participants.

Photo: City of Minneapolis

Among the city’s early initiatives was the Commercial Benchmarking Ordinance, which requires owners of all non-industrial commercial buildings 50,000 square feet and larger to report their annual energy and water benchmarking results to the city. Along with the reporting requirements, the policy provides transparency by reporting results to the public, and assistance to help building owners identify and implement energy and water conservations techniques.

Hollenkamp said the work plan includes 23 separate actions that are currently being implemented.

■■ Growing Network

In 2011, Minneapolis had 138 miles of bikeways. Today there are 249 miles, with another 153 miles planned.

[7]

LEADERBOARD SERIES

Photo: City of Minneapolis

SPONSORED BY: CRESCENT ELECTRIC SUPPLY CO.

■■ Rooftop Solar

Minneapolis is making it easier for residents and businesses to install on-site renewable energy or invest in community solar projects.

“As a community, we’re spending more money to expand and accelerate the climate work we’ve already been doing as well as creating new energy programs,” Hollenkamp said. He said some of the city’s new programs are being funded by incremental increases in a utility franchise fee, which is collected from rate payers by the utilities and then transferred to the city.

For example, Hollenkamp said, the city recently began using these funds to partially subsidize home energy audits. The audits are conducted free of charge to residents in the Green Zones and other low-income residents throughout the city.

The 3.4-mile Nicollet-Central Modern Streetcar will be the first modern streetcar in Minneapolis. The $200 million project was approved in 2013, but construction has yet to be scheduled. The line is expected to carry more than 9,000 daily riders. Two additional streetcar lines are in the early planning stages.

To help make Minneapolis more walkable and reap a variety of environmental benefits, Muellman said the city provides funding for tree planting on private property. The City Trees program was launched in 2006 and in the past five years more than 13,000 trees have been planted.

Access Minneapolis is the city’s transportation action plan, which is really the compilation of separate master plans for downtown and citywide transportation and specific plans for streetcars, pedestrians and bicycles. In 2016, the city adopted a complete streets policy that aims to reduce vehicle miles traveled within the city, de-emphasizing cars and establishing guidelines for providing a road and trail system that encourages walking, biking and the use of public transit.

Minneapolis also has a strategy for shrinking its waste stream by encouraging reuse and increasing recycling of both organic and inorganic materials. In 2017, the Zero Waste Plan was adopted and will help the city reach its goal to recycle or compost 50 percent of its overall waste stream by 2020, 80 percent by 2030, and achieve a zero-percent growth rate in the total waste stream from 2010 levels..n

Since 2007, the use of bicycles in the city has increased 49 percent while the rate of motorist-bicyclist crashes has declined 52 percent, according to city reports. When the bicycle plan was first drafted in 2011, the city had 138 miles of bikeways. Today there are 249 miles, with another 153 miles planned.

Sustainable City Network will host a free 1-hour webinar on Thursday, July 26, featuring the sustainability initiatives of the city of Minneapolis. Register or download the recorded webcast at https://sCityNetwork.com/Minneapolis

[8]

BEST OF

sCityNetwork.com

Communities Find Quality Daycare is No Child’s Play Experts Link Affordable Child Care to Economic Growth

BY JULIANNE COUCH For all of these disparate reasons, economic development, philanthropic and community organizations are including access to child care as a top need to sustain viable communities.

JASON NEISES is community development coordinator at the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, Iowa.

NICOLAS HOCKENBERRY is assistant director of the Jackson County (Iowa) Economic Alliance.

ANDY SOKOLOVICH is the existing industry manager with the Clinton (Iowa) Regional Development Corporation.

Finding a job, a safe place to live, and reliable transportation would seem to take care of life’s big-picture necessities for most people… unless you’re a parent with young children.

That’s when quality child care often leaps to the top of the list.

Sure, some working parents might have an easy option with a stay-athome spouse or other family members willing to watch the children, at low or no cost. Others might have an employer that provides onsite child care, or a nearby daycare facility that is affordable and doesn’t have a long wait list. If all the stars align, some can create a patchwork of inexpensive or unpaid home care, along with before- and after-school programs that mesh with the workday.

But for many working parents, finding affordable child care can be a nightmare, and if the problem is systemic, it can have serious workforce and economic development consequences for communities struggling to grow.

Experts say people who are unable to enter the workforce because they lack affordable, quality child care may miss opportunities to enter the job market. That, in turn, keeps skilled, available workers out of the hiring pool.

On the flip side of the coin, there are those seeking jobs in an organized child care center or caring for a small number of children in their home. Some may be entrepreneurial, aiming to start their own organized child care center serving dozens of families. These scenarios can also lead to hurdles, as wages for most day care workers are very low, and regulations for child care providers around training and other factors are so rigorous they may shut out entrepreneurs.

For example, in 2016, the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, Iowa (CFGD), conducted a needs assessment focused in part on child care services in MICHELLE MANNELL is executive director their area. They found that when child care of Spectrum Station providers invested in living wages, facilities Early Learning Center and professional development for workers, in downtown Kansas it drove up the costs of their services, City, Mo. making it unaffordable for the families who need them the most. Indeed, nearly half of parents who took the child care survey reported that child care responsibilities had caused them to turn down a job or work fewer hours.

Jason Neises, community development coordinator of the CFGD, said that stories from the region his organization serves feature “fragility” as a common factor. “Long waits at licensed centers create uncertainty,” Neises said. That uncertainty is compounded because many in-home day care providers are considering retirement. That could mean that a parent with reliable daycare today might not have it next month, or next year.” Neises also notes that child care providers have challenges finding qualified employees. “In every community we’ve heard concerns from providers about employee turnover, low wages, no benefits, and challenges to providing professional development.”

In Jackson County, Iowa, just south of Dubuque and part of the area studied, child care is one of the first barriers families encounter when planning a move to the area. Nicolas Hockenberry of the Jackson County Economic Alliance said almost all providers in this rural county are at or near capacity, and parents struggle to find adequate in-home providers without having a personal connection. This shortage can be a major deterrent for families with young kids, or people who want to start a family.

“Families with young children may question whether it is feasible to stay in the area if they can’t find child care. The alternative is for a parent to stay at home or find a family to help, which can strain a household’s income without social support, of which most new [9]

Photo: Monkey Business Images

Sustainable City Network Magazine

■■ The Best Foundation for Human Capital

A well-educated workforce is required to support a strong economy, and experts say investing in early learning and development is the best foundation for human capital. Low-income children who have access to high quality child care are less likely to be retained in grade, referred to special education, or go to jail later in life, while being more likely to graduate high school and attend college.

residents have little. In extreme cases, the family may decide to move out of the county if they cannot find the care they need,” Hockenberry said.

Andy Sokolovich is the existing industry manager with the Clinton Regional Development Corporation, about 70 miles south of Dubuque.

The findings from the Dubuque area research did not surprise him, professionally or personally. As a single father living in a community where he doesn’t have family, Sokolovich was able to overcome challenges to finding child care. Even though most of the providers he called had waiting lists, two had openings. However, he knows that shift workers in Clinton’s manufacturing sector, if they have child-care needs, have a nearly impossible time taking late or overnight shifts unless they have family members able to help out.

“They have limited hours. If you work second shift or third shift it is hard, in this predominantly manufacturing area,” Sokolovich said.

Sokolovich’s observations are borne out by national research. The Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board (CED) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, business-led public policy organization.

Its 2015 report Child Care in State Economies was published to aid policymakers and business leaders in better understanding the child [ 10 ]

care industry’s role in the economy. The analysis focuses on organized child care providers who typically offer care on a paid basis. It examines the child care industry’s effect on parents’ participation in the labor force, and provides extensive details regarding the industry’s economic impact, including: usage rates, the role of public funding, revenues, and business structure.

The CED argues that a well-educated workforce is required to support a strong economy, and that investing in early learning and development is the best foundation for human capital. They state that such investments have both immediate and long-term benefits to the individual child and society at large. For example, low-income children who have access to high quality child care are less likely to be retained in grade, less likely to be referred to special education, less likely to go to jail, more likely to graduate high school, and more likely to attend college – all leading to higher earnings. Research shows that a child’s earliest experiences affect brain development, that brain development is cumulative, and that the architecture of the brain can impede later language, cognitive, social, and emotional capacity.

Nationwide, according to this research, there are more than 61 million children under age 15, who may require paid child care services. These

BEST OF

sCityNetwork.com

needs far exceed capacity for the approximately 750,000 child care establishments.

The CED presented data from all 50 states. Its research on Iowa reveals that the average annual cost of center-based infant care is $9,185. That means low-income families can be priced out of the licensed market and that middle-class families struggle with the cost – particularly for families with more than one young child.

Echoing Hockenberry’s observation in Jackson County, Iowa, the CED noted the ability to attract and retain a qualified workforce that reliably comes to work and shows up focused on the job, is critical.

However, the workforce reliability of parents with young children is affected by the child care settings they are able to arrange. The cost of care is often related to the quality of care and the quality of care is related to a child’s healthy development. Investing in quality child care today so that children start school ready to learn preempts a lifetime of remediation at a far higher cost.

In neighboring Missouri, CED calculates there are more than 1.1 million children under age 15 who may require paid child care services. The average annual cost of care for an infant is $8,736 in a child care center and $5,644 in a family child care home. The average annual cost of care for a 4-year-old is $6,074 in a child care center and $4,894 in a family child care home.

One organized child care provider in Kansas City operates a combination early learning and day care at locations around the five-county metropolitan area. Called Spectrum Station, it offers a complete program of early childhood development for infants through school age children, and has facilities on both sides of the Kansas/ Missouri state line, which bisects the metro area. The Downtown Center is housed on two lower floors of a renovated 31-story building known as Commerce Tower, in the heart of Kansas City, Mo. Above them are 29 stories of mixed-use residential and commercial space, described as a “vertical neighborhood.”

Center Director Michelle Mannell said this location addresses the needs of many in the area to find suitable paid childcare in neighborhoods where they live and work.

The Downtown Center has been open about a year. They are licensed for 220 children and currently have 125. Now that they are established, Mannell suspects that number will rise soon. She noted that many younger adults enjoy occupying rehabbed downtown condominiums, living in areas where there is a vibrant cultural scene.

These people often hold professional jobs and work downtown, so this day care center is an easy option. However, most of the parents who work downtown and use the center live on the Kansas side of the metro area, many miles away. Mannell explained that Kansas has more complex licensing laws than Missouri. That means there are fewer organized day care options in Kansas, and longer wait lists, compared to Missouri.

Mannell admitted that as a “suburban girl” she had some questions about running a child care center in an urban environment. “I was pleasantly surprised,” she said. “The neighborhood was very welcoming, making a comfortable space for us downtown.” There is a street car stop right outside the front door of Commerce Tower and that’s the transportation they use to take the children on group outings. “This keeps the kiddos off city buses, and the drivers know the children and watch out for their safety,” Mannell said.

Finding employees in this downtown location has been a bit different than in some of Spectrum Station’s suburban locations. Mannell said downtown tends to be a place where job seekers go door to door filling out applications. However, she cannot simply make “convenience” hires. Instead, there is a multi-step process of application, interview, observation, staff interaction and training to see how well the person can manage the program and connect with the kids. “We have to have what is best for our families,” Mannell said.

The center’s operating hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., not accommodating shift workers. She said in her many years of working in this field she has noticed that people who work later shifts tend to not want to leave their children in a program. “They are much more comfortable having their kids overnight with family members or friends.”

Currently, the Downtown Center has 34 employees and four managers, two per floor. “We pay at the higher end of the scale,” she said. “We have to be competitive with the salary for degree teachers. Our owners have been gracious with a competitive pay scale.”

At the same time, the Downtown Center has expenses it has to meet to stay in the area. “I think it goes without saying that our rates are higher than most of your smaller child care centers, but we’re pretty competitive with those that offer similar programming and curriculum, long term staffing and high-end equipment and supplies. For us, I think the big challenge will be how to keep tuition rates and increases to a minimum with daily parking validation for parents and annual CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charge increases for a structure of this size. These are just two of the major costs that we face running an urban vertical neighborhood facility,” Mannell said.

For those interested in starting their own day care center on a smaller scale, there are some resources for getting started. Many states have agencies that support new registered day care providers.

In the end, dropping off the kids with “Grandma” may be the best option for young families. But communities that provide appropriate choices for child care are more likely to keep people in the workforce who want to be there, and help children prepare for the demands of the educational system they’ll be entering in the next phase of their lives. n

[ 11 ]

Sustainable City Network Magazine

What Saves Lives, Money and Ecosystems?

Long-Term Monitoring Essential to Effective Environmental Policy

BY THE CARY INSTITUTE OF ECOSYSTEM STUDIES

Environmental policy guided by science saves lives, money, and ecosystems. So reports a team of 11 senior researchers in Environmental Science & Policy.

Using air pollution in the United States as a case study, they highlight the success of cleanup strategies backed by long-term environmental monitoring.

GARY LOVETT is a Senior Scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

“In an era where science faces skepticism, we came together to highlight measurable improvements to air and water quality made possible by legislation backed and tracked by environmental monitoring,” said co-author of the report, Gary Lovett, a senior scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

“When it comes to sound environmental policy, facts and data matter,” added lead author Timothy Sullivan of E&S Environmental Chemistry Inc. “Our efforts to curtail harmful emissions in the U.S. have been guided and validated by environmental monitoring. Reduced air pollution has had tremendous environmental, social, and economic benefits.”

Air pollution has been linked to illness and premature death. When it falls on forests and freshwaters, it also compromises habitat, water quality, and ecosystem services. Reducing air pollution is good for our health and keeps industries like forestry, tourism, and fisheries viable.

Across the U.S., the quality of air and freshwater has vastly improved in recent decades, mainly due to the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts enacted nearly 50 years ago.

Since the 1970s, monitoring sites have recorded declining concentrations of airborne pollutants such as sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, and lead. Precipitation has become less acidic, improving water quality in lakes and streams. Visibility-limiting haze and concentrations of ground-level ozone have also decreased.

Improvements in ecosystem health associated with legislation include reductions in: • Acidification: Fossil fuel combustion and other emissions sources release sulfur and nitrogen into the atmosphere. When these [ 12 ]

pollutants are deposited on the landscape, they can acidify soil and surface waters. Acidification degrades ecosystems; harms vegetation, fish, and wildlife; and threatens water quality. Nitrogen further compromises freshwaters by fueling algal and cyanobacterial blooms that can result in water toxicity and low-oxygen conditions that are unsuitable for aquatic life.

The National Atmospheric Deposition Program, established in response to the Clean Air Act, measures concentrations of sulfur and nitrogen in precipitation at 270 monitoring sites across the U.S. These records show that total sulfur and nitrogen deposition has decreased by more than half since monitoring began in the 1980s.

• Mercury: Sources of mercury emissions include power plants, incinerators, industry, mining, and biomass burning. When mercury enters surface waters, it is passed up the food chain. Through ‘bioaccumulation’, mercury can reach toxic levels in fish, posing a health threat to humans and wildlife who eat contaminated fish. In the US, mercury emissions peaked in the 1980s and are in steady decline.

• Lead: Lead causes neurological damage in children and cardiovascular effects in adults. Regulations requiring the removal of lead-based fuel additives from gasoline have led to a dramatic decline (>95%) in lead concentrations in the air.

• Haze: Gases and airborne particulate matter create haze and reduce visibility. Human-generated sulfur emissions are the primary cause of haze in the eastern U.S.; smoke from wildfires is one of the top contributors in the west. The Regional Haze Rule (1999) requires states to reduce haze to a ‘natural background’ in protected ‘Class 1’ national parks and wilderness areas. Several eastern national parks have already reported significant declines, in some cases well ahead of stipulated benchmarks.

Editor’s note: At the request of several energy companies and the state of Alaska, the EPA announced in January that it would revisit aspects of revisions it made to the Regional Haze Rule in 2017.

• Ozone: Ozone is a greenhouse gas that harms vegetation and human health. As part of the Clean Air Act, the National Ambient Air Quality Standard was created to limit the amount of ozone in ground-level air. Ozone concentrations recorded in many protected areas are decreasing and are now below the standard.

BEST OF

sCityNetwork.com

The authors highlighted the importance of monitoring programs in evaluating the success or failure of environmental policies.

“Monitoring programs throughout the U.S. keep a finger on the pulse of shifting environmental conditions,” said Gene Likens, president emeritus of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and a distinguished research professor at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. “They help us track the effectiveness of pollution reduction policies, and they provide the data needed to recalibrate strategies if they are not working.”

Likens established the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study, one of the longest running environmental monitoring programs in the U.S. Since 1963, the program has recorded precipitation and stream water chemistry in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Data from the study provided the evidence needed to link air pollution to fossil fuel combustion, and informed the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. The site is currently a part of the National Science Foundation’s Long Term Ecological Research Network.

To date, economic benefits of the Clean Air Act far outweigh costs.

Co-author Dallas Burtraw, a senior fellow at resources for the future,

■■ What Gets Measured, Gets Managed

Across the US, the quality of air and freshwater has vastly improved in recent decades, mainly due to the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts enacted nearly 50 years ago.

Experts say monitoring programs are important in evaluating the success or failure of environmental policies.

Photo: Cary Institute

[ 13 ]

Sustainable City Network Magazine

Photo: Joe Mabel

said, “Improved human health and reduced mortality between 1970 and 1990 provided an estimated $22 trillion benefit to the US economy – at a cost of only 2 to 3 percent of that total benefit. By 2020, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments are projected to yield an additional $2 trillion in benefits, at an estimated cost of about 3 percent of that benefit.”

■■ Getting the Lead Out

Photo: Tony Webster via Flickr Creative Commons

Removal of lead from gasoline has resulted in more than a 95 percent decrease in the concentration of lead in the air. This graph reflects mean air concentration of lead (Pb) measured at eight U.S. monitoring sites from 1980 to 2015.

Coauthor James Galloway, Sidman P. Poole professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, noted, “We need to apply lessons from these air pollution success stories to rising greenhouse gases. This includes using evidence-based decisionmaking to track improvements, avoid reversals, and identify emerging threats.”

Charles Driscoll, a coauthor and professor of Environmental Systems Engineering at Syracuse University, concluded, “Despite recent and substantial improvements in air pollution, challenges remain.

Ammonia levels are still high and legacy effects of air pollution, like soil acidification, persist for decades. Continued long-term environmental monitoring is needed to track recovery and guide future policy crafted in the interest of people, our economy, and the environment.”

■■ Clearing the Air

Photo: Jordan Jessop

Sulfur and nitrogen pollution reductions have been primarily attributed to the Clean Air Act, its amendments, and other rules and legislation. Data reflects trends in air pollution levels from U.S. EPA’s National Emissions Inventory.

■■ Reductions in Acid Rain

The acidity of precipitation falling on the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire has decreased by about 80 percent since 1970.

The paper “Air pollution success stories in the United States: The value of long-term observations” is available for open access. n■ Authors: • Timothy J. Sullivan – E&S Environmental Chemistry, Inc. • Charles T. Driscoll – Civil & Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University • Colin M. Beier – Forest and Natural Resources Management, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry • Dallas Burtraw – Resources for the Future • Ivan J. Fernandez – School of Forest Resources & Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono • James N. Galloway – Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville • David A. Gay – Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, University of Wisconsin, Madison • Christine L. Goodale – Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University • Gene E. Likens – Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs • Gary M. Lovett – Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies • Shaun A. Watmough – School of the Environment, Trent University Research and monitoring efforts that have provided some of the data used in these analyses were supported with funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (through grants DEB-1633026, DEB-1637685, and DEB-1256696), the A.W. Mellon Foundation, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Photo: NC DEQ Haze Cam

The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies is one of the world’s leading independent environmental research organizations. Areas of expertise include disease ecology, forest and freshwater health, climate change, urban ecology, and invasive species. Since 1983, Cary Institute scientists have produced the unbiased research needed to inform effective management and policy decisions.

■■ Coming Out of the Haze

Haze levels at the Shining Rock Wilderness in North Carolina are decreasing at a rate faster than defined by the Regional Haze Rule.

[ 14 ]

BEST OF

sCityNetwork.com

Americans Want to Live in Healthy, Sustainable Communities Who Will Lead Them?

BY KEVIN TAYLOR MANAGER OF CITIES AND CLIMATE WORLD WILDLIFE FUND At first glance, cities like West Palm Beach, Fla. and Carmel, Ind. may seem worlds apart. But though they are separated by more than 1,000 miles and a vast array of social, political and economic differences, these two cities have one thing in common: they are both leaders in America’s new climate movement.

The poll, commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund and conducted in April

by SynoInt, surveyed more than 1,000 adults across the U.S.

And they are not alone.

Clean air and clean water were a virtual tie for the top spot on the list, with roughly 66 percent of respondents naming them as among the most important. But most surprising, and encouraging, were the 25 percent of people who named “decent job opportunities” as essential for life in a sustainable city. Too often, the conversation around sustainability focuses exclusively on environmental issues, when in reality social and economic factors are just as crucial.

The mayors of West Palm Beach and Carmel stand shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other cities, businesses, states, colleges and universities that have stepped up to fulfill America’s promise under the Paris Climate Agreement. Their commitments come at a critical juncture for the climate movement. Three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions originate in cities; without their participation, there is no viable global strategy to curb climate change.

With a U.S. federal government stepping back on climate, the need for local leadership is greater than ever. And according to a new poll, America’s mayors aren’t just on the right side of history; they’re also on the right side of what their residents want.

According to Americans, living in a “sustainable city” means investing more in renewable energy, fossil-fuel-free public transport, green space, and waste recycling.

The survey also asked people what programs their city should invest in to become a sustainable city. According to respondents, America’s cities ■■ People Want Clean Air, Water

A poll, commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund and conducted in April by SynoInt, surveyed more than 1,000 adults across the U.S. and found respondents believe clean air and clean water are the most important factors for their health and well-being. Good jobs and greenways also scored high on the list.

Photo: Golden Triangle Bike, Pittsburgh

Clean air and clean water are most important for health and wellbeing in a sustainable city. But job opportunities were next on people’s minds.

People were asked to name the three most important things for their health and well-being as the resident of a “sustainable city.”

[ 15 ]

Sustainable City Network Magazine

across their jurisdictions, but more cities need to do the same — and do it now.

Cities can also make a difference by transitioning their energy supply from fossil fuels to renewable energy. More than 60 U.S. cities have already committed to using 100 percent renewable electricity to power their operations by 2035.

Chart: WWF

The poll commissioned by WWF affirms that Americans are hungry for robust climate action. Mayors and other local leaders who commit to reducing emissions will find they have the overwhelming support of their constituents.

Chart: WWF

But while the poll tells us people are eager for solutions, it also reveals that many have lost hope in their power to affect positive change. Some 42 percent of respondents don’t believe they can help build a more sustainable city through their own actions, and 53 percent don’t believe they can influence their leaders to do the right thing.

could most benefit from increased investment in renewable energy (36 percent), waste recycling (32 percent), green space (23 percent) and fossil-fuel-free public transport (23 percent).

The main takeaway here: Americans have a strong grasp on what cities can do to cut carbon pollution. All these steps would help reduce emissions, a necessary step to ensure cleaner air and ultimately curb climate change. And therein lies our reason for hope, as well as our most persistent challenge. We know what we need to do; we’re just not doing it fast enough.

The science is clear: to avoid the worst impacts of a warming planet, we must phase out our use of fossil fuels by mid-century. For the world to successfully make this shift from fossil fuels toward renewable energy — and accomplish it in time to avert catastrophe — cities must do some of the heavy lifting.

A key area where cities can make a difference is transportation. In 2016, transportation overtook the electric power sector to be the largest source of emissions in the United States. Cities as small as West Palm Beach and as big as Los Angeles are already electrifying fleet cars and buses [ 16 ]

It’s incumbent upon those very leaders to prove them wrong — by taking tangible and measurable steps to reduce emissions, and by raising awareness about what people can do in their own lives to bolster those efforts. Networks like Climate Mayors, C40 Cities, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy are great platforms where leaders can learn from peers about what’s working.

Hundreds of local governments are already implementing ambitious plans to reduce emissions. But if we want to deliver on our international and domestic climate targets, we need to pick up the pace, and foster greater collaboration. The lead up to September’s Global Climate Action Summit — the premier climate event of the year — is a perfect opportunity to do exactly that. Ahead of this important milestone, leaders can make a concrete pledge — before the eyes of their residents, the nation and the world.

Governors, mayors, university presidents and CEOs across America are declaring with one voice: “we are taking action.” Join them, and help put your community, our nation, and the world on a path to a sustainable future. n■

BEST OF

sCityNetwork.com

The Link Between Energy Efficiency and Clean Air Report: Efficiency Can Help 32 States Meet EPA Rules

BY CASSANDRA KUBES AND SARA HAYES, ACEEE

Energy efficiency is a proven, low-cost way to reduce pollutants, and it can significantly help 32 states comply with U.S. air quality regulations, according to a new report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

Despite its value, many states are not taking credit for using energy efficiency to meet federal standards.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) set limits on six criteria pollutants that are harmful to public health and welfare. States are required to develop state implementation plans (SIPs) to maintain or achieve these standards. EPA designates states with air pollutant concentrations above the NAAQS limits as “nonattainment” areas. These states must meet added stringency requirements through their SIPs to reduce air pollutant emissions in specific geographic regions. States that meet the standards are in “attainment” and must take steps to maintain this status.

such barrier involves the complex nature of the electric grid and the movement of pollutants through the atmosphere. The air quality benefits of reducing pollution extend throughout the country, but the exact location of air quality improvements depends on many complex factors. State regulators cannot assume that energy efficiency executed in a state or city will result in improved air quality in that same state or city, let alone a specific nonattainment area.

Modeling can be used to overcome this uncertainty. The ACEEE analysis uses a publicly available screening model to identify where state-level energy efficiency measures will result in some of the greatest in-state pollution reductions and determine which states can make the best use of energy efficiency to demonstrate compliance with NAAQS. Using AVERT (AVoided Emissions and geneRation Tool), an emissions quantification tool developed by EPA, we evaluated the avoided power plant pollution that energy efficiency can achieve. We preliminarily

Energy efficiency is a least-cost strategy for reducing multiple pollutants simultaneously by reducing the need for power generation from power plants. States can use energy efficiency as a strategy to help reach or maintain attainment with NAAQS or to proactively reduce emissions to avoid initial nonattainment designations. EPA recognizes the multiple benefits of energy efficiency and supports its use as an air quality strategy. Yet, even though energy efficiency policies and utility programs are reducing pollution, many states are missing opportunities to take credit for these reductions. They are not incorporating their energy efficiency programs into SIPs and are instead relying on costlier compliance options.

ACEEE conducted a survey of state air regulators to understand why more states are not taking credit for what they are already doing. Responses suggest that a variety of real and perceived barriers hinder states’ use of energy efficiency as a NAAQS compliance strategy. One

■■ Figure ES1

The ACEEE report identified 32 states (in orange) where energy efficiency has the potential to reduce certain criteria pollutants required under NAAQS.

[ 17 ]

Sustainable City Network Magazine

Ohio Our energy efficiency scenario resulted in multipollutant reductions in three key geographic areas throughout the state.

Ohio could incorporate energy efficiency as a compliance strategy to help meet NAAQS for SO2, PM2.5, and ozone, including the 2015 Ozone NAAQS. ■■ Table ES1

Pennsylvania Our energy efficiency scenario resulted in multipollutant reductions in 11 geographic areas throughout the state. Pennsylvania could incorporate energy efficiency as a compliance strategy to help meet NAAQS for SO2, PM2.5, and ozone, including the 2015 Ozone NAAQS.

Total in-state pollution reductions from energy efficiency in locations required for modeled NAAQS obligations.

identified 32 states where energy efficiency has the potential to reduce certain criteria pollutants required under NAAQS (modeled NAAQS obligations). We determined the potential for each state using results from AVERT that showed pollutant reductions from energy efficiency in geographic areas that coincide with modeled NAAQS obligations.

Table ES1 gives an overview. Figure ES1 shows reductions from energy efficiency in every region of the country.

Next, we selected five states with high potential (more than 2,500 tons) and developed a range of estimates for the amounts and locations of the pollutants that could be reduced by energy efficiency.

The results indicate that savings from energy efficiency can be a significant contribution to a SIP depending on the state’s obligations.

The pollutant reductions from our scenario on a ton-per-day basis are comparable to those from nonenergy efficiency measures states currently rely on to demonstrate compliance.

RESULTS Illinois Our energy efficiency scenario resulted in multipollutant reductions in six geographic areas throughout the state. Illinois could incorporate energy efficiency as a compliance strategy to help meet NAAQS for sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM2.5), and ozone, including the 2015 Ozone NAAQS. Missouri Our energy efficiency scenario resulted in multipollutant reductions in five geographic areas throughout the state, including two overlapping areas with Illinois. Missouri could incorporate energy efficiency as a compliance strategy to help meet NAAQS for SO2, PM2.5, and ozone, including the 2015 Ozone NAAQS.

[ 18 ]

Texas Our energy efficiency scenario resulted in multipollutant reductions in 14 major geographic areas throughout the state. Texas could incorporate energy efficiency as a compliance strategy to help meet NAAQS for SO2, PM2.5, and ozone, including the 2015 Ozone NAAQS. Energy efficiency can also help with obligations under the Ozone and PM Advance Program.

RECOMMENDATIONS Based on our survey of states and the opportunities for pollution reduction identified in our analysis, we recommend the following steps.

Develop tools that states can use to evaluate the impact energy efficiency measures will have on SIP compliance obligations. States have access to a number of valuable tools and guidance documents, but determining the impact of any single program or policy on overall attainment requires detailed and expensive power sector and atmospheric air quality modeling. This rigor of modeling is an integral part of the SIP process but is resource intensive for states. This means that to evaluate the impact a measure will have on the concentrations of a pollutant, a state must invest substantial resources. A tool or decision-making framework for making this assessment before investing the resources for atmospheric modeling could be useful.

Develop a streamlined, EPA-acceptable approach for measuring and documenting outcomes of efficiency programs to be included in a SIP. In 2012, EPA produced a Roadmap detailing pathways a state could take to include energy efficiency programs and policies in a SIP (EPA

BEST OF

sCityNetwork.com

2012b; Appendix B). This document provides valuable guidance on many aspects of incorporating energy efficiency into a SIP and has 11 supporting appendices outlining additional details. ACEEE and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) have also produced templates for guiding states through this process (ACEEE 2014; NASEO 2017). What seems to remain elusive is a simple, straightforward way to account for, document, and model the results of an energy efficiency program or policy for inclusion as part of a SIP plan. This may be partially because many efficiency programs are designed for the non–air quality benefits they provide. For example, utility-run energy efficiency programs are generally regulated by public service commissions, where cost and reliability are top goals. These programs are typically subject to rigorous evaluation, measurement, and verification-reporting requirements, but those results may not be presented in the format that air quality regulators might need. Ideally, programs would report one set of results that could be used by utility commissions and air regulators alike. One way to simplify this process is to treat pollution reductions from energy efficiency similarly to how area and mobile sources are treated in SIPs. Like energy efficiency measures, compliance strategies for area and mobile sources include many small and dispersed measures that states do not individually track but can reasonably model to demonstrate compliance (Colburn, James, and Shenot 2015; Seidman 2017). Building on these existing resources, states could benefit from additional guidance and a streamlined process for measuring and documenting energy efficiency outcomes in a SIP. Provide states with ongoing, in-depth technical support. Many groups, including ACEEE, provide technical support to states looking to assess the potential role for energy efficiency in attaining air quality goals. However that assistance will be limited by budgets, time constraints, and other realities. Ideally, states would have a longterm support partner with the capacity to offer the rigor and in-depth analytics to answer their most complex questions. A permanently staffed institute or support organization dedicated to meeting these needs could be one way to supplement states’ staffing and budget constraints. For example, Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) performs modeling for the Northeast states. Multijurisdictional organizations that already perform state and regional air quality modeling (e.g., Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association [MARAMA] and Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium [LADCO]) could incorporate both energy efficiency and other emission reduction strategies to help relieve individual states of this analysis burden.

CONCLUSION Energy efficiency is a valuable resource that can achieve low-cost, multipollutant reductions in states across the country. Air regulators can rely on energy efficiency to meet specific pollutant reductions required under NAAQS, but states are missing out on this opportunity.

One reason for this is the complexity of determining the exact location where pollutant reductions from energy efficiency will show up.

Our analysis demonstrates that savings from energy efficiency can result in avoided pollution from power plants in the locations needed for modeled NAAQS obligations in 32 states. Looking further at Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, potential reductions from energy efficiency savings occurred in areas that are currently or anticipated to be in nonattainment for SO2, ozone, and PM2.5.

States can use energy efficiency as a low-cost strategy to help reach or maintain attainment with NAAQS or to avoid initial nonattainment designations.

While all states have energy efficiency programs and policies, experience with incorporating energy efficiency in SIPs has been limited. Ignoring the multipollutant reduction benefits from energy efficiency means states must invest in potentially unnecessary control measures for reducing pollution. Our survey of state air regulators indicates that a variety of real and perceived barriers hinder states’ use of energy efficiency as a NAAQS compliance strategy.

Based on our survey of states and assessment of opportunities identified in our analysis, we recommend several actions to further the role of energy efficiency as an air quality strategy for states. To help states evaluate the impact energy efficiency measures can have on SIP compliance, we suggest developing a tool or decision-making framework for making this assessment prior to investing the resources required for atmospheric modeling. In addition, states could benefit from a streamlined, EPA-acceptable approach for measuring and documenting outcomes of efficiency programs for inclusion in a SIP. We also suggest providing ongoing and in-depth technical support.

Although the value of energy efficiency as an air quality planning strategy is clear, further work is needed to incorporate energy efficiency into SIPs for NAAQS. n Download the entire report at: https://aceee.org/research-report/h1803

About the Authors Cassandra Kubes conducts research, analysis, and outreach on opportunities for energy efficiency to reduce air pollution and improve public health. She provides technical analysis and educates decision makers on strategies to advance energy efficiency policies and programs through federal, state, and local governments. Cassandra is a master of public policy candidate at George Washington University and holds a bachelor of arts degree in people-environment geography from the University of Wisconsin– Madison.

Sara Hayes leads ACEEE’s work related to health and the environment. She oversees a research team focused on the use of energy efficiency to reduce pollution in buildings, increase air quality, and improve human health. Sara serves on the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee and has over 15 years of experience related to the implementation of the Clean Air Act in federal rulemakings and in states.

She has a bachelor of arts degree in environmental studies from Lewis & Clark College and a JD from Fordham Law School.

[ 19 ]

Sustainable City Network Magazine

EPA Tool Helps Chicago Visualize Urban Water Flows Software Automates Data Gathering and Synthesis for Water Flows COURTESY OF U.S. EPA, WRITTEN BY STUDENT CONTRACTOR SAM COHEN

Urban water systems are necessarily complex. Delivering drinking water and treating sewage for millions of people, in addition to managing stormwater across hundreds of square miles, requires an extensive network of pipes, pumps, and treatment facilities.

EPA scientist and lead researcher, Laura Erban, Ph.D., believes that as more and more water data is shared online, tools like this will make it easier to account for unmeasured flows and uncertainties in urban water systems.

The buried and often hidden nature of this infrastructure adds to its complexity.

The concept behind this effort is simple. CityWaterBalance performs “mass balance” calculations on water flowing through a city. Water cannot be created or destroyed, so its mass must always be conserved.

Flows and the amount of water stored in a system may change over time, but new water is never created out of thin air and it never simply disappears. Basically, CityWaterBalance does the job of an accountant, but for water.

This is a problem for municipalities seeking to manage water in more integrated and sustainable ways. New EPA software can help planning agencies and water utilities better understand the flows of water into, within, and out of their cities.

Dr. Erban and her colleagues relied on this concept to create model flow equations for urban water flows and storages generally, and then used the example case of the greater Chicago area to test their work. The researchers consulted with local planning agencies and water utilities to help fill in data gaps and build a complete understanding of the system. The flows calculated by CityWaterBalance and diagrammed in

Chart: Erban et al., (2018).

In an article published in Open Water Journal, EPA researchers explain how the CityWaterBalance software package can automate data gathering and synthesis for many water flows — precipitation, stream flows, water usage, etc. — freeing up city water managers’ time for deeper insight and planning.

■■ Chart 1

The flows calculated by CityWaterBalance and diagrammed here help shed light on the Chicago area water system, and can spur follow-up studies of specific components. This urban water system was evaluated using R package CityWaterBalance for water years 2001-2010 for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) region.

[ 20 ]

BEST OF

Chart: Erban et al., (2018).

sCityNetwork.com

■■ CityWaterBalance

CityWaterBalance performs “mass balance” calculations on water flowing through a city. Basically, CityWaterBalance does the job of an accountant, but for water.

Chart 1 help shed light on the Chicago area water system, and can spur follow-up studies of specific components.

The system perspective illustrates how the engineered portion of Chicago’s water system is only part of the picture. Precipitation, evaporation, and other environmental flows matter a great deal.

Over the 10-year period of analysis, overflow of untreated sewage and stormwater during intense rain storms (shown as the flow from sewers directly into streamflow) is small compared to the volume passing through sewage treatment plants (sewer → treatment → streamflow).

However, for brief stretches of time during and after these rain events, stormwater can overwhelm sewers causing major public health and environmental problems that Chicago and other cities with old sewage systems are still trying to address.

The flow diagram represents recent, average annual conditions, but the tool can be readily applied to any time or spatial scale for which the user has data. After identifying a specific question that they want to examine more closely, a municipality can change the parameters and incorporate their local data with the data acquired from federal sources

by CityWaterBalance. In the case of overflow of sewage and stormwater, a city might look at days with particularly heavy rainfall to see how the overall system changes during and after a storm event. Or, they may choose to look at specific neighborhoods where the problem is acute.

More specialized tools can be incorporated, including stormwater and sewer system modelling software or cost-benefit analyses.

Planners can also alter inputs to explore future scenarios. Models predict that extreme wet weather events will become more likely over the coming decades. This trend will likely change how cities choose to manage stormwater. CityWaterBalance can help planners understand some of the cascading consequences that increased rain and various potential interventions may have.

Importantly, CityWaterBalance is completely open, accessible, and supports reproducible analysis.

“Transparency is vital when public funds and well-being are at stake,” says Dr. Erban. “CityWaterBalance makes it easy to see the big picture, a critical step toward systemic urban water management.” n■ Sources and References Erban, L. E., Balogh, S. B., Campbell, D. E., & Walker, H. A. (2018). An R Package for Open, Reproducible Analysis of Urban Water Systems, With Application to Chicago. Open Water Journal, 5(1), 3.

[ 21 ]

Sustainable City Network Magazine

11th Annual Growing Sustainable Communities Conference Slated Oct. 2-3 Event Features Workshops, Mobile Tours, Keynote Luncheons and Networking DUBUQUE, Iowa – The 11th annual Growing Sustainable Communities Conference will be held Oct. 2-3, 2018 at the Grand River Center in Dubuque, and is expected to draw more than 500 attendees.

Hosted by the City of Dubuque and Sustainable City Network, the Growing Sustainable Communities Conference is the largest and longest standing sustainability conference in the Midwest and promises to be two days of “education, inspiration and collaboration” on topics of interest to anyone who cares about creating great towns and cities that stand the test of time.

The conference, which is sponsored by Crescent Electric Supply Co. and other corporate sponsors, features two keynote luncheons and a breakfast plenary session, as well as more than 25 workshops featuring speakers with a wide range of expertise, including representatives from federal, state and local governments, along with business and academic leaders from across the country.

Each of six workshop sessions offer up to six concurrent presentations from which to choose. Complete workshop descriptions can be found at http://GSCDubuque.com. An abbreviated schedule (subject to change) is as follows:

Workshop Session 1

Solar + Storage: Taking Advantage of New Energy Technology Presenters: Eric Holthaus, City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Nick Hylla, Midwest Renewable Energy Association; and Ryan Young, Iowa Economic Development Authority Part 1: Strategies for growing solar in a community can take a variety of approaches. Learn how Cedar Rapids worked in-house and in the community to install solar using three different strategies.

Part 2: The Midwest Renewable Energy Association will step through solarize programs the group led in Linn County, Iowa, in 2017 and Johnson County, Iowa, in 2018.

Part 3: Early this year, the Iowa Economic Development Authority organized an energy storage committee made up of stakeholders across the industry. This presentation will provide an update.

The Role of Urban Forests in Sustainable Communities Presenters: Graham Herbst, Nebraska Forest Service & Eric North, University of Nebraska - Lincoln; Dan Buckler, Wisconsin DNR; and Ulrike Passe, Iowa State University & David Jahn, City of Des Moines Urban Forestry Part 1: This presentation will provide an overview of the ways urban trees can be incorporated into municipal planning, with emphases on environmental justice, public health benefits and energy conservation.

[ 22 ]

Part 2: Learn the difference between native, non-native, aggressive, invasive and naturalized species. Strategies will be presented on how, when, and where native species can be successfully incorporated in urban landscapes.

Part 3: A university-community partnership in Des Moines has brought big data and urban energy modeling together to inform policymakers in developing strategies for improving human health and quality of life in resource-vulnerable neighborhoods. What they’ve learned is applicable to any low-resource, vulnerable urban area.

Sustainability Planning in Small to Mid-Sized Communities Presenters: Abby Attoun, City of Middleton and Dan Streit, WECC Middleton, Wis., population 17,000: After drafting its first sustainability plan in 2010, the City of Middleton found itself struggling to meet its goals for a variety of reasons. In 2017, the city resolved to conduct a reboot.

Learn how to develop a municipal sustainability plan - what has worked for Middleton, and what hasn’t - and gain perspectives on how to ensure plans remain current, relevant and effective.

Fort Collins, Colo., population 164,000: Recognized internationally for its goal to be carbon neutral by 2050, Fort Collins was the smallest city ever to win a C40 Cities Award in 2017, and this year was named one of 35 Champion Cities in the Bloomberg Mayor’s Challenge. Participants will come away with tools to address transparency, community engagement and messaging for different audiences.

Green and Affordable Housing Made Easy Presenters: Stefen Samarripas, ACEEE; Vicki Worden & David Eldridge, Green Building Initiative; and Patty Bacon, City of Brookings, S.D. Part 1: Low-income families need homes that have both affordable rents and affordable energy bills, and addressing these needs simultaneously requires supportive policies, programs, and financing. This presentation will profile case studies of multifamily housing projects that used energy savings to preserve affordable housing costs.

Part 2: This presentation will follow a case study of a residential building whose residents worked together to achieve building-wide sustainability using the nationally recognized green building standard, Green Globes, to benchmark their success.

Part 3: The Brookings (S.D.) Affordable Housing Task Force was created to advise city leaders on housing-related issues and help advance the creation and availability of affordable housing for middle and low income residents. City Council member Patty Bacon will describe the 18-month study and subsequently approved recommendations.

BEST OF

sCityNetwork.com

Building a Real Estate Design Guide for More Sustainable Development Presenter: Chris Chopik, EvolutionGreen In this fun and interactive 90-minute workshop, design researcher Chris Chopik of EvolutionGreen uses the World Cafe engagement method to help participants collaborate to co-create a usable design guide for Real Estate Industry Literacy about Sustainability.

Personal Sustainability Goals Presenters: City of Dubuque Staff This workshop will cover the basic but essential things people can do at home to help their families live a more sustainable lifestyle, which in aggregate can help make the world a better place to live for everyone.

Workshop Session 2

Keeping PACE with Clean Energy in Wisconsin Presenters: Will Erikson, Wisconsin DNR, Jon Hockhammer, Wisconsin Counties Association & Jason Stringer, Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation; and Stacie Reece, Sustain Dane Part 1: Learn how a collaboration of agencies and organizations in Wisconsin are helping municipalities work with private sector lenders to set up Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing programs.

Part 2: In 2017 the City of Madison, Wis., established a goal of 100% renewable energy use and net zero carbon emissions community wide. Learn best practices you can take back to your community.

Hazard Mitigation as a Local Planning Priority Presenters: James Schwab, American Planning Association & Jennifer Ellison, Polk County, Iowa; and Doug Ongie & Mike Fisher, Impact7G The two presentations in this workshop will explain why communities can and should make mitigation a priority in their local planning process and become more resilient and better prepared for potential future disasters including the impacts of climate change. Learn the practical steps your community can take to prepare.

Iowa Watershed Approach Flood Mitigation Program Presenters: Kate Giannini, Breanna Shea, Ashlee Johannes & Craig Just, Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa This presentation will focus on the Iowa Watershed Approach flood mitigation program and its efforts to make communities more resilient to floods.

Building Healthy and Resilient Neighborhoods in Distressed Urban Settings Presenters: David Doyle & Charlie Foley, U.S. EPA Region 7; and Sharon Gaul, City of Dubuque Part 1: Since 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been working with federal partners and local stakeholders in St. Louis, Mo., to address stagnant economic conditions there, with a specific focus on issues related to vacant properties. Learn what strategies and steps are being taken.

to improve 320 housing units where low- to moderate-income residents reside. This presentation will describe the program and lessons learned.

Regional Solutions in Solid Waste Management Presenters: Lelande Rehard & Ramon Garza, Mid Missouri Solid Waste Management District; and Jennifer Trent, Iowa Waste Reduction Center Part 1: The Mid Missouri Solid Waste Management District is a regional waste diversion grant funding agency that supports an eight-county area. The district has assisted in setting up six Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) facilities in the region. Learn strategies and best practices for offering HHW services.

Part 2: This presentation will detail work done by the Iowa Waste Reduction Center to promote wasted food prevention and reduction in two Iowa communities.

Utility Management Through Measurement with Sub-Metering Presenter: Jack Group, Leviton Manufacturing Co. This workshop will explain sub-metering and how it can reduce overall energy costs and increase revenue. Learn how energy managers for municipalities, schools, hospitals and multi-unit dwellings can measure and manage their utility consumption, including electric, water, gas and steam.

Workshop Session 3

The Million Gallon Challenge Presenters: Joe Wagner & Colin Stuhr, City of Iowa City This presentation will explain how Iowa City saves more than one million gallons of potable water per season at its athletics facilities through best practices in irrigation, bathroom fixtures and other water conservation techniques.

Strategies in Green Remediation on Complex Brownfield Sites Presenters: Emily Smart, Blackstone Environmental; and David Kulczycki, Geosyntec Consultants These presentations will step you through the considerations involved in extensive brownfield redevelopment projects: Part 1: A former scrapyard in Dubuque is being remediated and converted into a bike path trail node, play space, public restrooms, boat ramp, and a mixed-use building.

Part 2: A large vacant property in La Porte, Ind., is being transformed into green infrastructure, a remediated wetland, a pedestrian/bike trail, and lakefront development that will include residential and commercial uses.

ReZone: A Novel Approach to Zoning in Cedar Rapids Presenters: Anne Russett & Seth Gunnerson, City of Cedar Rapids In 2015 the City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, updated its comprehensive plan, EnvisionCR. Afterwards the city wanted to ensure its zoning code supported the direction outlined in this new plan. During this session, city planning staff will discuss the comprehensive zoning code update known as ReZone Cedar Rapids.

Part 2: Many residents in Dubuque’s Bee Branch Watershed have experienced repeated flash flooding events, including six Presidential Disaster Declarations since 1999. The Bee Branch Healthy Homes Resiliency Program is providing $8.4 million in forgivable loans

[ 23 ]

Sustainable City Network Magazine

Parallels, Problems & Possibilities in Urban & Rural Sustainability Presenters: Clint Twedt-Ball, Matthew 25; and Chris Ball, City of Bloomfield, Iowa This presentation will allow attendees to be part of a discussion on similarities and differences between sustainability in urban and rural areas.

Bike and Pedestrian Planning in a Small Community Presenter: Zoey Mauck, Iowa State University College of Design The Connecting Jefferson project is a bike and pedestrian master plan project in Jefferson, Iowa, population 4,300. This presentation will step you through the planning and design process.

Workshop Session 4

Attaining Living Building Challenge Certification Presenters: Lisa Henderson, Alliant Energy; and John Myers, Indian Creek Nature Center Indian Creek Nature Center opened its new “Amazing Space” in September 2016 and is seeking to become Iowa’s first certified Living Building through the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge program. The facility is Net Zero water, Net Zero energy, and uses biophilic design principles throughout the building. Discover what they’ve learned after two years in operation.

Green Campus Initiatives Presenters: Matthew Bednarski & Tanya Fonseca, GRAEF; and Jay Womack, Huff & Huff Part 1: GRAEF led the team that developed a green infrastructure guidebook for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. MMSD hopes to encourage schools considering schoolyard or building upgrades, replacements, or additions to use this guidebook in their decisionmaking. Learn how your organization can benefit.

Part 2: Woodridge School District 68, Woodridge, Ill., developed the Green Campus Initiative, a multi-year effort to replace every asphalt surface at all seven of its schools with permeable pavements. Learn the pros and cons of permeable pavers, how to get financial support, contractor pitfalls and more.

Revitalizing a Community Impacted by Civil Unrest Presenters: David Doyle, U.S. EPA & Cordaryl Patrick, St. Louis Economic Development Partnership In July 2014, Michael Brown was killed by a Ferguson, Mo., police officer.

When a grand jury not to indict the officer, significant civil unrest took place, which damaged or destroyed numerous businesses in the area.

In 2016, the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership requested environmental and planning assistance from U.S. EPA Region 7 to redevelop a large number of vacant lots. Learn how they engaged local citizens and applied lean urbanism approaches in redeveloping vacant properties.

The Iowa Talent Bank: A Movement for Inclusion Presenters: Monica Stone & Kristen Corey, Iowa Department of Human Rights The Iowa Talent Bank is a state-wide effort to increase the number of public boards and commissions that enjoy diverse representation of their community members. Explore this new technology tool and marketing portal available from the State of Iowa to enhance engagement and bring new people into the civic decision-making process. Workshop participants will learn how to use this tool within their own organizations.

Winning with Local Food Development Presenters: Janice Hill & Matt Tansley, Kane County, Ill., Food and Farms Program; and Mara Strickler, Algona (Iowa) Public Library Part 1: Public sector planners will provide the lessons learned from a three year public-private partnership for a local foods program, including transition to a private sector food hub.

Part 2: The Algona Public Library has developed nature-based programs including a garden share program, nature walks, a seed library and more.

Nutrient Harvesting to Sustain Water Quality And Reduce GHG Emissions Presenters: Dennis Burke, Sustainable Enterprises; and Martin Gross, Gross-Wen Technologies Inc. This session will feature two presentations on nutrient harvesting technologies that can remove nitrogen and phosphorus from municipal treatment plants, septic system effluent, confined animal feeding operations, anaerobic ponds or digesters, and natural lakes, rivers, and estuaries.

Workshop Session 5

Partnerships in Energy Planning Presenters: Tara Brown, City of Edina, Minn.; and Eric Gliddens, Green Iowa AmeriCorps Part 1: The City of Edina, Minn., and Xcel Energy have collaborated to create an Electricity Action Plan and execute multiple strategies to meet four goals around energy efficiency and renewable energy. Learn strategies to engage businesses, residents, and city operations to take on energy efficiency and renewable energy actions.

Part 2: Staff from the University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Energy & Environmental Education will present on energy planning. Take-aways will include an understanding of specific cases of high impact projects related to energy.

Green Infrastructure Metrics and Best Practices Presenters: Michael Kurek, HDR Engineering & Sandy Pumphrey, City of Cedar Rapids; and Megan Barnes, Landscape Architecture Foundation Part 1: HDR Engineering and the City of Cedar Rapids will describe a variety of green infrastructure projects being monitored within the city and the effectiveness and maintenance expectations of various best management practices.

Part 2: The Landscape Architecture Foundation will present an overview of its Landscape Performance Series, a set of online resources to help evaluate performance, show value and make the case for sustainable landscape solutions.

[ 24 ]

BEST OF

sCityNetwork.com

Building Coalitions Anywhere Presenters: Kathy Kuntz, Cool Choices, Inc. & Lisa Geason-Bauer, Waukesha-Ozaukee-Washington County Workforce Development Board In this session presenters will share a case study from Waukesha County, Wis., where advocates leveraged workforce concerns to engage business leaders in a program promoting environmentally sustainable practices.

Dubuque’s Waste-to-Energy Project Update Presenters: Paul Cammack, Black Hills Energy & David Lyons, City of Dubuque Black Hills Energy has partnered with the City of Dubuque and BioResources Development in the successful start-up of a Renewable Natural Gas production facility located at the Water Resource Recovery Center in Dubuque. Black Hills is also working with the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Agency in developing a landfill-gas-toenergy project. Hear the lessons learned and best practices discovered during the planning and implementation of these two projects.

Step into Nature with Marion Presenter: Tom Treharne, City of Marion, Iowa In 2015 the City of Marion, Iowa, completed the Step Into Nature Guidebook, which provides a set of principles and goals that will guide the City’s future design decisions to create a community where residents will be empowered and inspired to be active and incorporate nature in their daily lives.

How Variable Frequency Drives Lower Costs in Municipal Pumping Stations Presenter: James Schall, Crescent Electric Supply Co. This session will cover the factors that affect the operational costs of pumping systems and how Variable Frequency Drives can lower those costs. Topics will include pump system efficiency, system asset management and the true cost of power.

Workshop Session 6

Innovative Community Design Presenters: Kevin Griggs & Kimberly Perlstein, Iowa Agricultural Mitigation, Inc.; and Bill Schmidt, Fehr Graham Engineering and Environmental Part 1: Iowa Agricultural Mitigation, Inc. has partnered with a developer to make use of otherwise unused land at a high-end development in West Des Moines, Iowa. The situation created a win-win for landowners looking to replace farmed wetlands and a developer interested in maximizing his return on the property.

Part 2: Fehr Graham designed site and stormwater management solutions to help international aerospace parts supplier Woodword Inc. develop its $250 million Rock Cut Campus. Learn how bioswales, green space, and native and environmentally adapted landscaping provide benefits throughout the property.

Part 2: DISC (Decision Integration for Strong Communities) is software that provides users with access to US EPA tools relating to data that could be helpful in community decision making. The presentation will discuss results thus far and demonstrate the soon-to-be web-based tool.

Part 3: The Climate Resilience Screening Index developed by the US EPA has been developed as an endpoint for characterizing county and community resilience outcomes that are based on risk profiles and responsive to changes in governance, societal, built and natural system characteristics. The framework shows how acute climate events impact resilience after factoring in local community characteristics.

The Latest in Biogas Conversion Presenters: Phil Gates, Bartlett & West, Inc.; Jan Scott, Unison Solutions, Inc.; and Jason Beatty, City of Petaluma, Calif.

Part 1: When Sioux City, Iowa needed to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant, city leaders identified a way to accomplish their goal without negatively impacting rate payers. Learn how the city has partnered with Bartlett & West to produce renewable natural gas onsite.

Part 2: Jan Scott from Unison Solutions, Inc. will walk the audience through a variety of case studies of municipalities and industries across the country that are converting sewage, food & yard waste, and landfill methane into vehicle fuel.

Part 3: The City of Petaluma’s Biomass to Biofuel project uses anaerobic digestion and compressed natural gas production technology to transform high strength waste from local food and beverage industries into CNG to fuel the city’s refuse collection vehicles.

Mobile Tours

(Separate Registration Required) Sinsinawa Mound Collaborative Farm The Sinsinawa Mound Collaborative Farm offers land, education, infrastructure, and mentorship to beginning farmers. New farmers commit to collaboratively farm the land in an organic manner and are offered farm and business development mentoring.

Bee Branch Watershed Bike Tour The Bee Branch Watershed flood mitigation and water quality project is reintroducing the confined Bee Branch Creek to one of Dubuque’s oldest neighborhoods where hundreds of families and businesses have been repeatedly impacted by flooding. Join a bike tour of the watershed and impacted neighborhood along a new linear park with amenities including habitat restoration, floating islands, a community orchard, unique play spaces, and more.

Alliant Energy’s Dubuque Solar Garden Take a tour of a sustainable success story along the Mississippi River.

Alliant Energy’s Dubuque Solar Garden is a 1.2 MW solar garden on a former industrial site and has been awarded Envision Platinum. n■

New Tools in the Quest for Resiliency Presenters: Rylie Pelton & Andrew Fang, LEIF (Lifecycle Environmental Impact Footprinting), LLC; Viccy Salazar & Linda Harwell, US EPA; and James Summers, US EPA Part 1: The Greenhouse Gas-Infrastructure Vulnerability (GHG-IV) Framework is a novel assessment framework linking the infrastructure-related sources of community GHG emissions with estimates of infrastructure vulnerability. To demonstrate the framework, a case study on a Colorado community will be presented.

[ 25 ]

NORTHERN NORTHERN LIGHTS LIGHTS LIGHTGRID™ OUTDOOR WIRELESS CONTROL SYSTEM LIGHTGRID™ OUTDOOR WIRELESS CONTROL SYSTEM EVOLVE LED ROADWAY-ERL2 EVOLVE LED ROADWAY-ERL2

Allowing remote monitoring and control as well Allowing remote monitoring and control as well as utility-grade energy measurement and GPS as utility-grade energy measurement and GPS mapping of streetlights, Current’s unique LightGrid mapping of streetlights, Current’s unique LightGrid Outdoor Wireless Control System – comprised of Outdoor Wireless Control System – comprised of

Crescent Electric Supply Company offers Crescent Electric Supply Company offers no-obligation energy audits and municipal no-obligation energy audits energy-project financing.

Letand ourmunicipal energy energy-project financing.

Let our energy experts detail the potential savings that are experts detail the potential savings thatand are available by upgrading to LED lighting available by upgrading digital lighting controls.to LED lighting and digital lighting controls.

gateway, and cell modem components -- -gateway,node, node, and cell modem components offers features including fullfull photocell offerspowerful powerful features including photocell functionality, dynamic lumen output level control, functionality, dynamic lumen output level control, reliable and secure encrypted communications, reliable and secure encrypted communications, and real-time measurement and storage of voltage, and real-time measurement and storage of voltage, current, wattage, power factor, and hours of current, wattage, power factor, and hours of operation. Together with Current’s award-winning operation. Together with Current’s award-winning Evolve™ LED roadway lighting fixtures, LightGrid can Evolve™ LED roadway lighting fixtures, LightGrid can deliver the energy efficiency, reliability, and flexibility deliver the energy efficiency, reliability, and flexibility needed to optimally support the street and roadway needed to optimally support the street and roadway lighting needs of the most modern cities and towns. lighting needs of the most modern cities and towns.

Contact us today to see how Crescent Electric and GE Lighting cantohelp andElectric reduce Contact us today seesave howenergy Crescent maintenance costs. and GE Lighting can help save energy and reduce maintenance costs.

(800) 397-3900 | info@cesco.com cesco.com/locations (800) 397-3900 | info@cesco.com

cesco.com/locations 7750 Dunleith Dr, East Dubuque, IL 61025

7750 Dunleith Dr, East Dubuque, IL 61025