Charleston has seen a trend toward emissions reductions since 1994. Over two year periods, increases in emissions have been on a downward trend. Emissions increased 12.7% from 1994 to 1996, 8% from 1996 to 1998, 6.6% from 1998 to 2000, and finally only 4.3% from 2000 to 2002. While this is a positive trend, 2002 emissions were still 35% higher than 1994 emissions, and emissions per capita were 19.6% higher in 2002 than in 1994. Even if Charleston’s emissions per two-year period continued to be reduced to 3%/year, emissions in 2010 would be 52.2% higher than 1994 emissions.
A goal of reducing Charleston’s greenhouse gas emissions to 10% below 1994 levels is a very ambitions goal, requiring a net decrease of 33.5% of 2002 emissions, and a reduction of 513,690 tons of CO2 equivalents. There are many benefits of a global warming strategy that go beyond environmental concerns. Emission reduction actions complement other economic and environmental goals of the city. In addition to reducing air pollution and improving health, these actions will provide cost-effective electric power and natural gas services, increase reliance on renewable resources, reduce energy bills for businesses and individuals, expand recycling, reduce urban sprawl and traffic congestion, and promote tree planting. All of these benefits enhance the city’s livability.
Cross-Sectoral or Other Sector
Creation of an Office of Energy Efficiency
This office will oversee all the recommendations included in the City of Charleston Local Action Plan, as well as become a central source for energy tracking throughout all sectors of the community. They will also create an energy policy. A comprehensive energy policy can help to galvanize support for energy conservation in all sectors of the community. By adopting an energy policy, the local government goes formally on record in support of conservation measures, and promotes future efforts to integrate them in building and planning decisions. The current structure provides no tracking system to monitor energy/fuel use and cost, preventing effective planning and reduction strategies from being implemented. This office can also seek out grants to continue to improve Charleston’s greenhouse gas reduction programs while improving residents’ quality of life.
Environmentally Preferable Products Procurement Program
U.S. State and local governments spend $30 to $40 billion a year on energy consuming products and equipment. By ensuring that these products are energy efficient, governments can reduce energy bills while also cutting pollution from electricity generation. ENERGY STAR is a voluntary labeling partnership between the U.S. EPA and industry certifying and promoting energy efficient products. The ENERGY STAR label makes it easy to identify products that save money and prevent pollution, and ENERGY STAR products are available from almost all manufacturers at the same cost as more energy-intensive models. Thus advocating ENERGY STAR products in the city’s procurement policy protects the environment without compromising quality or price.
Results: Each ENERGY STAR computer and monitor that replaces a non-ENERGY STAR unit saves nearly 1 ton of CO2 per year. Each ENERGY STAR office product saves $15 to $25 per year in energy costs.
Earth Force Environmental Education Collaboration
Lowcountry Earth Force is already an established non-profit organization dedicated to educating today’s youth about environmental concerns. The City of Charleston can collaborate with Earth Force to create a curriculum that will be effective to inform students of the concerns of global warming: what the causes are, what the effects are, and what they can do to make a difference. The plan would be modeled after the City of Chula Vista case study. The curriculum introduces school children to the issue of global warming and how it affects daily life. Lessons help students identify how they and their families can alleviate global warming. Students’ families are also invited to take a pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in their own homes.
Reduce Urban Heat Sinks
Known as the Urban Heat Island Effect, large amounts of paved and dark colored surfaces in our built-up communities absorb rather than reflect the sun’s heat, causing urban temperatures to be higher than in nearby rural areas. City temperatures in late summer afternoons are on average 5ºF higher than in the adjacent countryside. This phenomenon is called the Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effect and it intensifies heat waves, causes smog, raises energy costs, and adds to global warming pollution. Local governments around the country are beginning to adopt UHI mitigation strategies to counter some of these effects, with Salt Lake City and nearby Highland, Utah, taking the lead in ensuring that new developments make use of “heat reduction” techniques, such as using reflective roofing, light-colored parking lots, and strategic tree planting. The City of Charleston can use the mentioned case studies as examples of ways to reduce urban heat sinks. In the Salt Lake City case study, the city enacted an ordinance requiring that commercial property owners retrofitting or constructing new buildings in a revitalized downtown area use light colored roofs and parking lots and strategic tree planting in their plans. Salt Lake City also amended the city’s existing landscaping ordinance to ensure that trees are planted in the interior of commercial parking lots to shade pavements, vehicles, and pedestrians. Highland, Utah encompasses all three aspects of heat abatement strategies in its Town Center’s Master Plan. The progressive plan requires all parking lots to be paved in light-colored concrete, or possess 20% more trees to compensate. Roofing materials for low-sloped or flat roofs must have 75% reflectivity and high emissivity. Breaks and skylights are encouraged where appropriate. Specific guidelines for strategic tree planting specify species of trees, and where and how they should be planted for optimal shading.
Power Generation Sector
Lifecycle purchasing
Each year a city or county may buy millions of dollars worth of energy using equipment, including items such as motors, pumps, lighting devices, air conditioners, office machines and so forth. Energy efficient equipment is usually more expensive than less efficient equipment, and thus the biggest obstacle to purchasing it is often by price. Since local governments are frequently bound by law to take the lowest bid, they often do not end up buying the more efficient products. To overcome this hurdle, some communities have introduced the concept of lifecycle costing. Under this principle, a local government, such as the City of Charleston, bases its buying decisions not only on an item’s purchase price, but also the cost of operating the item during its expected lifetime. It takes into account the purchase price, number of years of expected use, the cost of electricity needed to operate it during those years, and any other quantifiable maintenance costs. In this way, energy efficient equipment, which may be a
wiser long-term 24 investment, is more competitive during the bidding process when compared to equipment that is less expensive but also less efficient.
Low Income Energy Efficiency Subsidies (Light Bulb Exchange Program)
Implementing a program to benefit underprivileged families in Charleston who cannot afford to invest in energy efficiency measures would not only improve the quality of life and save those families money, it would decrease greenhouse gas emissions stemming from electricity generation. If the city were to distribute 10,000 23-watt compact florescent light bulbs (CFL), which are the equivalent of 100-watt light bulbs to 2,000 low-income households, those households would save a total of $134,904 per year (an average of $67.45/household, at $0.08/ kWhr). 1,686 tons of CO2 would also be prevented from entering the atmosphere. This program would cost between $50,000 - $150,000, though community savings would be realized year after year. This cost is a mere 1.5%-4.8% of what the City of Charleston pays to supply electricity and gas to their buildings.
Switch to Energy Efficient LED Traffic Signals and Exit Signs
Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology for traffic signals and exit signs offers big energy savings over traditional incandescent lamps. LED signals use less electricity to produce the same amount of light output as traditional traffic signals. Furthermore, the lifetime of an LED signal is more than ten times that of an incandescent bulb signal, reducing maintenance and replacement costs drastically. A third advantage is that LED signals are made up of hundreds of small diodes rather than a single light source, so the signal is less likely to burn out and cause traffic delays or accidents. These factors, combined with technological advances that have driven the cost of LED signals down by 50% in the last few years, make LEDs a logical and cost effective choice. Local governments using this technology are showing short payback periods.
Improve Streetlight Efficiency
The City of Charleston is responsible for 8,935 streetlights. Of these, only 1201 are high efficiency high-pressure sodium lights. The remaining 7734 are less efficient mercury vapor lights. High-pressure sodium streetlights use on average 54.91% less electricity than do mercury vapor lights. Implementation of this measure could result in annual savings of $15,673 and in the elimination of 97 tons of CO2.
Residential Sector
Local Housing and Building Code Changes
Conserving energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions, creates big savings on utility bills, improves home comfort, and increases worker productivity. Local governments, including the City of Charleston, can make energy conservation happen through their building codes—requiring basic measures such as improved insulation and efficient lighting and appliances. As seen in a case study of the City of Berkeley, California, it was demonstrated that energy savings can be achieved with off-the-shelf technologies and need not be confined to new buildings. In 1981, Berkeley passed its Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance (RECO) requiring energy efficiency upgrades in existing residences. The law includes a dollar cap on owners’ obligations, but these typically inexpensive upgrades often pay for themselves rapidly in the form of lower energy bills. RECO’s success led the City of Berkeley to extend its mandate to businesses, enacting its Commercial Energy Conservation Ordinance (CECO) in 1993. While new building requirements often face initial resistance, home- and business-owners also value the benefits that conservation measures create, such as improved real estate and lower utility bills.
Transportation Sector
Implement Biodiesel for Fleet Vehicles
In 2002, the City of Charleston used 182,283 gallons of diesel fuel in fleet vehicles, causing 1,942 tons of CO2 to be emitted. Implementing cleaner burning biodiesel (described below) for municipal purposes would reduce that number by half, preventing 971 tons of CO2 emissions. Biodiesel is a renewable, non-toxic fuel derived from vegetable oils such as soybean oil and canola oil, as well as recycled cooking oil. It can be blended with diesel fuel in any proportion or used in its pure form, and is commonly used in a 20% blend with petroleum diesel known as B20. The Department of Energy published a final rule allowing the use of biodiesel credits for the alternative fuel transportation program. This rule allows States to purchase and use biodiesel as a means of satisfying their Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) purchase requirements. This would also create a market for public consumption of biodiesel in Charleston. In 2002, travelers used 5 million gallons of diesel fuel, emitting 53,928 MTCO2E. By creating a supply for biodiesel, it could then be offered to the public for use in their vehicles.
Green Fleets
The City and County of Denver operates a combined fleet of 3,500 vehicles. Faced with rising fuel costs, increased air pollution, and Federal mandates to clean the city’s air, Denver enacted the “Green Fleets” executive order on Earth Day in 1993. Elements of a Green Fleet: As a result of this order, fleet managers must purchase the most cost-effective and lowest emission vehicle possible, while meeting operational requirements of the agency. In order to accomplish this goal, fuel efficiency standards are included in procurement specifications. The Green Fleets process also includes reducing vehicle size and eliminating old and underused vehicles. The effectiveness of the program is measured by fleet energy use and CO2 emissions. Originally the program set targets of 1% and 1.5% annual average reductions in fuel expenditures and CO2 emissions, respectively. After achieving substantial reductions the order was revised in 2000, and new goals were targeted to provide more flexibility.
Park and Ride Stations
Creating park and ride stations at critical locations throughout the City of Charleston, including at the James Island Connector, West Ashley Bridge, and Cooper River Bridge will decrease the flow of traffic coming in and out of the peninsula, decreasing congestion while also decreasing emissions stemming from personal vehicles. The program would also give a boost to Charleston’s struggling mass transit system, increasing ridership and generating revenue. According to a 2000 Texas Transportation Institute study, Charleston is more congested than other cities of similar size. Eliminating the amount of single occupancy drivers by providing park and ride stations would greatly improve the congestion and emission problems stemming from these automobiles.
Comprehensive Commuter Trip Reduction Program
The City of Charleston can model the Commuter Trip Reduction Program based on a similar program in Los Angeles. In order to alleviate traffic congestion, the City of Los Angeles devised a commuter trip reduction program aimed at discouraging solo personal vehicle use and encouraging transit, car- and vanpooling. The commuter program is offered to 38,000 city employees with a budget of about $1.6 million a year. The program operates in over 40 city departments, including 110 vanpools, 1,000 carpools and the City Telecommuting Program.
Innovative Financing: The Rideshare Trust Fund
The Rideshare Trust fund in Charleston can be shaped according to a similar program in Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles and its employee bargaining units agreed to a unique arrangement regarding commuter benefits and employee parking. Basically, it rewards the “good guys” (those who rideshare) and penalizes the “bad guys” (solo drivers). Parking fees from solo drivers are used to support rideshare programs. Parking permit fees go to the interest-earning Rideshare Trust Fund. Unlike typical “use-it-or-lose-it” budgets, unspent funds in one fiscal year carry over into the following fiscal year. The Commuter Services Office (CSO) then applies these monies to its entire program; the initiative is thus relatively insulated from the effects of year-to-year tax revenue shortfalls in the General Fund. Trust Fund expenditures are primarily directed toward subsidizing vanpools and employee transit passes. They also cover producing carpool matchlists, purchase and installation of bicycle lockers, and office expenses.
Waste Sector
Pay As You Throw Waste Management Practices
As solid waste costs have continued to rise through this past decade, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, communities have increasingly explored Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) programs. With this system, residents buy bags, tags, stickers, or punch cards for their trash, each typically costing between $.30 and $2.00. A few towns use weight-based programs where residents are charged by the pound. In almost all programs, recycling is free. As a result, people only pay for what they throw out, and are provided with incentives for reducing solid waste generation and increasing recycling.