Sustainability Efforts Across The State

Sustainability Efforts Across The State

Local governments in Ohio are taking action to further sustainability, conservation and climate change resilience. Here are some of the communities and organizations leading the way.

By J.M. Rayburn

Climate change is coming. Greenhouse gases (GHG) are changing the chemistry and composition of our atmosphere. Plastics and garbage alike are present in our oceans, lakes and watersheds. Our cities are sprawling further into natural habitats and farmlands. It is simply not enough to be sustainable. We have to further the conversation and consider bolder investments in resiliency and conservation. Fortunately, we have local governments in Ohio who are taking action on this front. Here are some of the communities and organizations leading the way:

COLUMBUS

Under the leadership of Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, the City of Columbus established the Sustainable Columbus initiative and renewed the City’s commitment to the Global Covenant of Mayors. The Covenant is an international alliance of cities and local governments with a shared long-term vision of promoting and supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and move to a low emission, resilient society. The City also participated in the OSU Columbus Climate Change Action Plan, which is an adaptation plan for climate change.

The big announcement in 2018 was Bloomberg Philanthropies awarding Columbus as a winning city in the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge. It marks an unprecedented opportunity for Columbus to join the ranks of other ambitious cities to significantly deepen and accelerate their efforts to tackle climate change and promote a sustainable future for their residents. You may recall reading about it in the December 2018 issue of True Q. Other notable initiatives by the City include Blueprint Columbus to eliminate sanitary sewer overflow and GreenSpot to educate and engage residents, businesses and community groups of topics of sustainability.

A rain garden as part of the Blueprint Columbus program.

THE MID-OHIO REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION (MORPC)

MORPC is a voluntary association of Central Ohio governments and community partners across a 15-county region. In 2017, MORPC released the 2017-2020 Regional Sustainability Agenda as the guiding document for the organization’s sustainabilityfocused programming and committees. The agenda also provides a framework for member local governments and regional partners to work toward common goals. Shortly after MORPC released the Regional Sustainability Agenda, it launched the Sustainable2050 certification program to benchmark participating Central Ohio communities in their sustainability efforts and track their progress in achieving their sustainability goals and objectives. Sustainable2050 is directly tied to the goals and objectives of the Regional Sustainability Agenda. In Fall of 2018, the Cities of Dublin, Gahanna and Upper Arlington; the Village of Lockbourne; and Genoa Township became the first class of local governments certified as Sustainable2050 Communities. Since the start of 2019, the Cities of Grove City and Whitehall; the Metro Parks system; and Blendon Township joined the list of certified Sustainable2050 communities.

Members of the MORPC.

DUBLIN

It’s exciting to talk about the work Dublin is doing in the areas of sustainability, energy efficiency and environmental stewardship as a city planner for the city. At the end of 2018, the Dublin City Council accepted the Dublin Sustainability Framework and authorized staff to create an external green team that includes residents, businesses and community partners. Another notable 2018 milestone was the city’s certification by MORPC as a platinum-level Sustainable2050 community — the highest possible designation.

With respect to transportation and mobility, the city of Dublin continues to be a leader in greening its municipal fleet to run on cleaner burning fuels as well as increase the number of electric vehicles. The Dublin Mobility Study is guiding the city to provide new options to get around town by means of complete streets, a bike share, local circulators (like the Downtown Columbus CBUS) and more.

We can’t talk about transportation without talking about land use and buildings; the two go hand-in-hand. To encourage private investment in energy efficiency projects, the city has partnered with the Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority to provide special financing for building energy efficiency projects (HVAC, boilers, roofing, light fixtures, etc.) through tax assessment. These projects lower the operating costs of aging office buildings. The city offers incentives to building owners through covering the costs of building energy efficiency audits in partnership with PlugSmart. The first round of P.A.C.E. projects have resulted in $2.4 million dollars of private investment in over 300,000 square feet in office space. The most visible example of Dublin’s transformation is the Bridge Street District. What makes the Bridge Street District unique is the zoning. Rather than conventional zoning, which looks at different types of land uses (residential, commercial, industrial) and their density, the Bridge Street District is form-based zoning. The focus of form-based zoning codes is on the physical form of buildings and streets rather than a separation of uses. This tends to favor true mixeduse developments with an urban feel.

CINCINNATI

The Green Cincinnati Plan has helped establish Cincinnati as a national leader in sustainability and an attractive destination for businesses and individuals. Updated in 2018, the Green Cincinnati Plan presents a comprehensive set of recommendations to advance the sustainability, equity, and resilience of the Queen City. The Plan will help map Cincinnati’s path to 100% renewable energy, starting with a proposal to build the largest city-owned solar array in the country. The development of the plan was guided by a steering committee comprised of government, corporate, academic, non-profit, faith, and community organizations appointed by the Mayor. The 2018 Green Cincinnati Plan was adopted by City Council in May of last year.

Cincinnati also joins Columbus as one of the cities selected by Bloomberg Philanthropies for the American Cities Climate Challenge. City leadership committed to power the municipal energy load with 100 percent renewable energy and outlined advance energy efficiency programs for the commercial and residential buildings sectors.

When thinking about the intersection of sustainability and resilience with smart cities, Cincinnati is without question a leader. CincyInsights is the City of Cincinnati’s official visual open data portal. This online tool makes government data simple to use, easy to understand and effortless to access. There is data for greenhouse gas emission and recycling participation rates. With the introduction of RFID technology in recycling carts, the City has been able to use recycling analytics data to target outreach efforts and improve participation, reduce our environmental footprint and save money.

Cincinnati is a leader in sustainability.

CLEVELAND

Ten years ago, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson announced a 10-year initiative to engage all citizens to work together to design and develop a thriving and resilient region. This initiative would culminate in 2019, exactly 50 years after the infamous 1969 Cuyahoga River fire. Each year since 2009, Cleveland focused on one key area fundamental to a sustainable city. The Sustainable Cleveland Celebration Years were designed to be accessible to all members of the community — households, neighborhoods, businesses and institutions could all participate, either in collaboration or independently.

Despite the positive momentum, work remains to scale up progress and to ensure those most in need enjoy the benefits of sustainability and climate action. Laying out this path forward began last year, when the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability worked with more than 400 stakeholders to update the Cleveland Climate Action Plan. This plan builds off the previous work by firmly establishing a series of cross-cutting priorities: social and racial equity, good green jobs, resilience to the impacts of climate change and business leadership.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Montgomery County (Dayton) is a leader in green-certified businesses. The success of the green business program can be credited to the “Bring Your Green 2.0 Challenge,” which is a friendly year-long competition open to businesses and organizations of all sizes to reduce costs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and resources used. Last year, 200 buildings signed up for the challenge resulting in $639,644 saved in energy costs and 1,712 tons of waste diverted from local landfills. The competition prevented over 6,875 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the atmosphere and saved over 6.8 million kWh in electricity. That is the equivalent to taking 935 homes off the grid and 1,336 cars off the road.

J.M. Rayburn is an urban planner with the City of Dublin, Realtor with Coldwell Banker King Thompson and neighborhood commissioner for the 5th by Northwest neighborhood of Columbus. Opinions are his own and not the views of his employers.