| Local Policy Description: | 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.
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