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All Mitigation Strategy Types
Cool Pavements | Cool Roofs | Green Roofs | Trees and Vegetation | | All| Mitigation Strategy | State - Locality | Initiative Type | Link  | Title & Description | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cool Pavements | Arizona - Gilbert | Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | Chapter 7 - Environmental Planning Element, Goal 5 | Gilbert General Plan - The "Environmental Planning Element" in the Gilbert, Arizona general plan lists mitigating heat islands as a core goal. Specific policies under the goal include: 1) developing criteria that will identify projects that might contribute to the heat island effect and will require an evaluation of mitigation techniques; 2) seeking sponsors such as educational institutions, utility companies, and government entities to promote heat island awareness among landowners, developers, engineers, and architects; and 3) promoting design concepts using engineered green space to maximize shading of surfaces that tend to heat up, promote education and awareness of cool roof materials and construction techniques, and promote alternative pavement technologies in parking areas. At this time, the plan does not include specific strategies to implement these policies. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Arizona - Phoenix | Research; Outreach and Education Program | ASU SMART | Arizona State University Sustainable Materials and Renewable Technologies Program - The Arizona State University Sustainable Materials and Renewable Technologies (SMART) Program is a trans-disciplinary group of researchers, industries and governmental agencies from around the globe working in partnership to develop the next generation of urban materials and advanced biological and solar technologies an effort to support urbanization in a more sustainable manner. SMART researchers are developing the next generation of urban materials that aid in the mitigation of the urban heat island, reduce energy demand for mechanical cooling, and incorporate feedstocks diverted from waste streams. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Arizona - Tucson | Demonstration Project | Cool Retrofit - Thomas O. Price Service Center | City of Tucson's Administration Building - A demonstration project for the City of Tucson documented how a cool roof reduced temperatures inside and on the roof of the building and saved more than 400 million Btu annually in energy. A white elastomeric coating was installed over a 28,000-square foot (2,600 m2), unshaded metal roof on one of the city's administration buildings. Following the installation, energy savings were calculated at 50 to 65% of the building's cooling energy – an avoided energy cost of nearly $4,000 annually. In addition to measuring the effects of adding a cool roof, the project will also investigate cooler paving materials and more trees and vegetation in the parking lots surrounding the building. | Completed |
| Cool Pavements | California - Sacramento | Demonstration Project | Pervious Concrete Pavements | Permeable Parking Lot Demonstration - The Sacramento Cool Communities Program was a partner in a project to install a pervious concrete parking lot at Bannister Park in Fair Oaks in 2001 to enhance stormwater management and to reduce the urban heat-island effect. This parking lot is one of the first in the state to use this type of paving. Pervious concrete helps water infiltrate the soil by capturing rainwater in a network of voids and allowing it to percolate into the underlying soil. Pervious concrete can help reduce or eliminate the need for traditional stormwater management systems such as retention ponds and sewer tie-ins. | Completed |
| Cool Pavements | Georgia - Atlanta | Demonstration Project | Cool Pavements | Atlanta Pervious Pavement Demonstration - A porous concrete parking lot was constructed in downtown Atlanta at the corner of Pryor and Memorial and was dedicated by the mayor of Atlanta on June 6, 2002. | Completed |
| Cool Pavements | Georgia - Atlanta | Outreach and Education Program | Cool Communities | Cool Communities Program - Cool Communities is a nonprofit program in Atlanta aimed at improving urban environments and conserving energy by promoting the use of lighter, reflective roofing and paving materials as well as planting shade trees. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Illinois - Chicago | Demonstration Project; Procurement | Green Alleys Green Alleys Handbook (PDF) | Chicago Green Alleys - Chicago, after the success of a demonstration project using permeable pavement, began a Green Alley initiative to use permeable pavement any time it needs to re-pave an alley. Forty-six alleys were renovated under this initiative in 2007; ultimately almost 2,000 miles of alleyways will be made permeable. The Green Alley Handbook notes that "if all the alleys had a light, reflective surface (high albedo) that reflected heat energy, [they would stay] cool on hot days and thereby reducing the "urban heat island effect." The handbook also mentions the heat island reduction benefits of shade trees and green roofs. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Illinois - Chicago | Demonstration Project | Alley Reconstruction (PDF) | Cool Paving Demonstration Alley - In the fall of 2001, the Chicago Department of Environment reconstructed an asphalt alley using a permeable system. Using a porous gravel structure the city was able to eliminate formerly chronic flooding without using the sewer system, while reducing the heat island effect by eliminating dark, heat absorbing surfaces. This paving can absorb 3 inches of rainfall per hour, allowing rainwater to soak into the ground and reducing polluted runoff and flooding. | Completed |
| Cool Pavements | Illinois - Chicago | Research; Demonstration Project; Building Code; Outreach and Education Program | Urban Heat Island Mitigation | Chicago Urban Heat Island Mitigation Program - The City of Chicago's Department of the Environment has been involved with reducing urban heat islands for several years. Some projects Chicago has conducted include constructing a porous pavement alley, revising the city's building code to require cool roofs, and launching a green roof program. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Illinois - Evanston | Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | Design Guidelines for Planned Developments (PDF) | City of Evanston Design Guidelines for Planned Developments - The City of Evanston, Illinois, includes permeable pavements in its assessment of green buildings. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Kansas - Kansas City | Urban Forestry Program; Demonstration Project; Tree and Landscape Ordinance; Outreach and Education Program; Air Quality Requirement | Sustainable Skylines - Kansas | Kansas City Sustainable Skylines Initiative - Sustainable Skylines is a locally-led, EPA-supported, public-private partnership to reduce air emissions and promote sustainability in urban environments. Greater Kansas City was chosen as one of the first pilot communities to implement the Sustainable Skylines program. Projects in Kansas City include: an idling-reduction campaign, water conservation and strategic landscaping projects, converting parking lots to parks, solar demonstration projects, a community forum, and a diesel engine retrofits partnership. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Michigan - Detroit | Demonstration Project | Detroit Metro Airport Terminal Expansion | Slag Cement Detroit Airport Expansion - The Detroit Metro Airport used 720,000 square feet (67,000 m2) of slag cement in an airport terminal expansion project. In this region, the local aggregate is susceptible to alkali-silica reaction, whereas slag resists that form of corrosion better than plain cement and is easier to place in hot weather. This approach increased the life expectancy of the paved surfaces, as well as allowed for the use of a high-albedo product. | Completed |
| Cool Pavements | North Carolina - Raleigh | Research | Permeable Pavement Research Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavements | North Carolina State University Permeable Pavement Research - North Carolina State University has an active permeable pavement research program, as well as a specialized collaborative effort with the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI) and the Low Impact Development Center on permeable interlocking concrete pavements. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Texas - Austin | Green Building Program and Standards; Resolution; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | City of Austin - Heat Island Mitigation Resolution Austin Climate Protection Plan | Austin Heat Island Mitigation - In May 2001, the Austin City Council adopted a heat island mitigation resolution that committed the city manager to review recommendations for a variety of activities to diminish the city's heat island. In September of that year, the City Council awarded $1 million towards implementing the recommendations, which ranged from developing a cool roof strategy to increasing enforcement of the city's tree-saving ordinance. Austin's Climate Protection Plan incorporates heat island reduction through its green building and energy efficiency elements. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Texas - Dallas | Urban Forestry Program; Green Building Program and Standards; Demonstration Project; Tree and Landscape Ordinance; Resolution; Zoning Code; Building Code; Outreach and Education Program; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines; Incentive; Air Quality Requirement | Sustainable Skylines - Dallas Urban Heat Island Project | Dallas Sustainable Skylines Initiative - The Sustainable Skylines initiative is a three-year partnership between the City of Dallas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTOG) to promote sustainability within the City via voluntary programs which emphasize air quality improvements. The initiative has identified the following categories of potential projects to initially perform together: green buildings project, creating a greenhouse gas strategy, green taxis project, off-road equipment replacements and retrofits, renewable energy/energy efficiency outreach program, and an urban heat island project. The goal of the urban heat island project is to develop and implement an urban heat island program for the City of Dallas that will both decrease heated surfaces and increase permeability of surfaces in the Central City and other areas of Dallas. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Texas - Houston | Research; Demonstration Project; Outreach and Education Program; Air Quality Requirement | Houston Urban Heat Island Effect | Cool Houston! - Cool Houston! is a program led by the Houston Advanced Research Center and is designed to reduce urban temperatures through use of cool technologies – reflective and green roofing, paving with light colored or porous materials, and a greatly expanded forest canopy. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Utah - Salt Lake City | Outreach and Education Program | Kool Kids | Utah Kool Kids Program - The Utah State Energy Program, Utah Department of Natural Resources, and the National Energy Foundation worked together to create the Utah Kool Kids program to teach elementary and secondary age students about urban heat islands, their impacts on energy and air quality, and heat island reduction strategies. The program gives teachers lesson plans, overheads, test questions, experiments, and research tools to engage students. | Active |
| Cool Pavements | Washington - Olympia | Demonstration Project | The Decatur Street Low Impact Systems (PDF) | Decatur Street Demonstration Project - The City of Olympia, Washington used a grant of $352,000 from the state's Department of Ecology to re-pave a street in 2007 with permeable pavement as part of a demonstration of stormwater management techniques. Decatur Street was originally designed without any stormwater management infrastructure and drains into nearby Schneider Creek. Olympia will monitor the demonstration site for how well it allows rainwater to infiltrate into the ground and how much pollution it filters. The city will also monitor the construction and long-term maintenance costs of the re-paved street. | Completed |
| Cool Pavements | Washington - Poulsbo | Demonstration Project | City of Poulsbo Public Works Committee (PDF) | Poulsbo Pervious Pavement - Poulsbo, Washington, used a $263,000 grant from the Washington Department of Ecology to pave 2,000 feet of sidewalk with pervious pavement, making it one of the largest pervious surface projects in the state. | Completed |
| Cool Roofs | Arizona - Gilbert | Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | Chapter 7 - Environmental Planning Element, Goal 5 | Gilbert General Plan - The "Environmental Planning Element" in the Gilbert, Arizona general plan lists mitigating heat islands as a core goal. Specific policies under the goal include: 1) developing criteria that will identify projects that might contribute to the heat island effect and will require an evaluation of mitigation techniques; 2) seeking sponsors such as educational institutions, utility companies, and government entities to promote heat island awareness among landowners, developers, engineers, and architects; and 3) promoting design concepts using engineered green space to maximize shading of surfaces that tend to heat up, promote education and awareness of cool roof materials and construction techniques, and promote alternative pavement technologies in parking areas. At this time, the plan does not include specific strategies to implement these policies. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Arizona - Phoenix | Research; Outreach and Education Program | ASU SMART | Arizona State University Sustainable Materials and Renewable Technologies Program - The Arizona State University Sustainable Materials and Renewable Technologies (SMART) Program is a trans-disciplinary group of researchers, industries and governmental agencies from around the globe working in partnership to develop the next generation of urban materials and advanced biological and solar technologies an effort to support urbanization in a more sustainable manner. SMART researchers are developing the next generation of urban materials that aid in the mitigation of the urban heat island, reduce energy demand for mechanical cooling, and incorporate feedstocks diverted from waste streams. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Arizona - Tucson | Demonstration Project | Cool Retrofit - Thomas O. Price Service Center | City of Tucson's Administration Building - A demonstration project for the City of Tucson documented how a cool roof reduced temperatures inside and on the roof of the building and saved more than 400 million Btu annually in energy. A white elastomeric coating was installed over a 28,000-square foot (2,600 m2), unshaded metal roof on one of the city's administration buildings. Following the installation, energy savings were calculated at 50 to 65% of the building's cooling energy – an avoided energy cost of nearly $4,000 annually. In addition to measuring the effects of adding a cool roof, the project will also investigate cooler paving materials and more trees and vegetation in the parking lots surrounding the building. | Completed |
| Cool Roofs | California - Sacramento | Incentive | Rebates - Residential Cool Roofs | Cool Roof Rebate Program - The Sacramento Municipal Utility District offers rebates to residential customers who use cool roofing technologies. The utility offers a 20-cent-per-square-foot (0.09 m2) rebate to customers who own single-family, multi-family, or mobile homes with flat roofs and who install ENERGY STAR® cool roof products. The rebate for sloped roofs is 10 cents per square foot. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | California - Statewide | Building Code | Title 24, Part 6 2008 Updates | California Code of Regulations: California's Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings - In response to electrical power shortages, the state of California added cool roofs as an energy efficiency option to its building energy code (Title 24) in 2001. The code defines a cool roof as having a minimum solar reflectance of 70% and minimum thermal emittance of 75%, unless it is concrete or clay tile, in which case it can have a minimum solar reflectance of 40%. This 40% rating incorporates new cool-colored residential products into the standard. In 2005, these cool roof provisions became mandatory requirements for all new non-residential construction and re-roofing projects that involve more than 2,000 square feet (180 m2) or 50% replacement. The code allows owners to meet these requirements in a variety of ways. The simplest approach is to apply a cool roof that meets the minimum requirements. Another alternative is to use products that do not fully meet the cool roof criteria and then offset those reduced performance levels by implementing other measures, such as insulation and window improvements, that exceed minimum requirements. The third, and most flexible option, is to use whatever methods are deemed practicable as long as the code's specific performance goal is reached; in this scenario, the building owner creates a model of all the characteristics that affect the energy consumption of the building to determine the mix of measures that will meet the code criteria. The California Energy Commission provides computer software for this compliance option. California began the process of updating Title 24 in late 2005, with final revised standards due in 2008. As part of this update, California is investigating extending cool roof requirements to the steep-sloped market. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Florida - Cocoa Beach | Demonstration Project | Profile of Success (PDF) | Our Savior's Elementary School - Our Savior's Elementary School in Cocoa Beach participated in a study done by the Florida Solar Energy Center. The school applied a simple white acrylic coating to its 12,000-square foot roof. As a result, the reflectivity of the roof increased from 23% to 68%. Despite an already energy-efficient building, the roof coating caused annual energy consumption to decrease by approximately 13,000 kWh and average electricity power demand to decline by 10%. Additionally, peak electric power demand fell by 35%. The roof coating saved the school approximately $850 per year and increased student and employee comfort. | Completed |
| Cool Roofs | Florida - Statewide | Building Code | Chapter 13 Energy Efficiency (PDF) | 2007 Florida Building Code - Florida gives cool roofs credit in its building energy code. Buildings using a roof with 70% minimum solar reflectance and 75% minimum thermal emittance are eligible to reduce the amount of insulation needed to meet building efficiency standards, as long as a radiant barrier is not also installed in the roof plenum or attic space. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Florida - Statewide | Incentive | Residential Building Envelope - Trade Ally Standards (PDF) | Florida Building Code Cool Roof Credit (Residential Program) - Florida Power and Light offers customers a 10 cent per square foot rebate for reflective roofs (either metal or tile with 65% or 73% solar reflectance respectively). The program applies only to existing dwellings with whole house electric heating or air conditioning. This initiative is designed to encourage energy conservation. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Florida - Statewide | Incentive | Florida Power and Light Energy Notes (PDF) | Florida Power and Light Cool Roof Incentive (Commercial Program) - Florida Power and Light offers rebates of 10 to 25 cents per square foot to customers who insulate their roof with spray polyurethane foam (over air conditioned space) and another 15 cents per square foot if a cool coating is applied. Florida Power and Light estimates that cool coating can reduce cooling costs by 5 to 10%. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Georgia - Atlanta | Outreach and Education Program | Cool Communities | Cool Communities Program - Cool Communities is a nonprofit program in Atlanta aimed at improving urban environments and conserving energy by promoting the use of lighter, reflective roofing and paving materials as well as planting shade trees. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Georgia - Statewide | Building Code | See Section 704 (PDF) | Georgia Amendment to the 1995 CABO Model Energy Code with Georgia Supplements and Amendments - Georgia was the first state to add cool roofs to its energy code, in 1995. Georgia allows a reduced roof insulation level if a cool roof with a 75% minimum solar reflectance and 75% minimum thermal emittance is installed. Note that if the insulation level is reduced when a cool roof is used, there may be no net energy savings. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Illinois - Chicago | Building Code | Chicago Energy Conservation Code | Chicago Energy Conservation Code - Chicago's energy code contains a section on "Urban Heat Island Provisions", which sets out requirements for both solar reflectance and emissivity for low and medium sloped roofs. In January 2003, the City of Chicago amended its energy code to require roof installations on or prior to December 31, 2008, to meet a minimum solar reflectance of 0.25. The amendments apply to most air-conditioned buildings with low-sloped roofs. After December 31, 2008, contractors must use roofing products that meet or exceed the minimum criteria to qualify for an ENERGY STAR label. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Illinois - Chicago | Incentive | Green Roof & Cool Roof Grants Programs | Chicago Roof Grants Programs - Chicago has established green and cool roof grant programs for residential and commercial buildings. In 2005, the first year of the green roof grants program, the city supported 20 green roof installation projects; in 2006, it helped fund 40. In the fall of 2007, the city announced that it was expanding the program to include cool roofs and expected to provide about 55 $6,000 grants. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Illinois - Chicago | Research; Demonstration Project; Building Code; Outreach and Education Program | Urban Heat Island Mitigation | Chicago Urban Heat Island Mitigation Program - The City of Chicago's Department of the Environment has been involved with reducing urban heat islands for several years. Some projects Chicago has conducted include constructing a porous pavement alley, revising the city's building code to require cool roofs, and launching a green roof program. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Kansas - Kansas City | Urban Forestry Program; Demonstration Project; Tree and Landscape Ordinance; Outreach and Education Program; Air Quality Requirement | Sustainable Skylines - Kansas | Kansas City Sustainable Skylines Initiative - Sustainable Skylines is a locally-led, EPA-supported, public-private partnership to reduce air emissions and promote sustainability in urban environments. Greater Kansas City was chosen as one of the first pilot communities to implement the Sustainable Skylines program. Projects in Kansas City include: an idling-reduction campaign, water conservation and strategic landscaping projects, converting parking lots to parks, solar demonstration projects, a community forum, and a diesel engine retrofits partnership. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | New York - The Bronx | Research; Demonstration Project; Outreach and Education Program | Green Roofs | Sustainable South Bronx - The non-profit group Sustainable South Bronx has developed several goals for the green roof/cool roof demonstration project on top of its office building in Hunts Point. These goals include gathering research on local impacts, establishing a resource for the community, educating New Yorkers on the benefits of green roofs, and advocating sustainable building practices. The demonstration project has become a springboard for developing a local green and cool roof installation company to provide employment opportunities in the South Bronx area. The group's business is called SmartRoofs and includes a job-training program for local residents. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Pennsylvania - Philadelphia | Weatherization | The "Cool Homes" Program | Philadelphia Cool Homes Program - The Energy Coordinating Agency (ECA) of Philadelphia, which administers the city's weatherization services, has applied cool roof coatings as part of its package of energy efficiency treatments. Through its Cool Homes Program, more than 550 residences in the Philadelphia area have had their roofs coated. ECA commissioned a study that found the cool coatings and increased insulation eliminated 90% of the heat gain through the ceiling, reducing top-floor ceiling temperatures by an average of 4.7°F (2.6°C) and chest-height temperatures by 2.4°F (1.3°C). These reduced temperatures lowered air conditioning loads by about one-third in a typical rowhouse. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Texas - Austin | Green Building Program and Standards; Resolution; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | City of Austin - Heat Island Mitigation Resolution Austin Climate Protection Plan | Austin Heat Island Mitigation - In May 2001, the Austin City Council adopted a heat island mitigation resolution that committed the city manager to review recommendations for a variety of activities to diminish the city's heat island. In September of that year, the City Council awarded $1 million towards implementing the recommendations, which ranged from developing a cool roof strategy to increasing enforcement of the city's tree-saving ordinance. Austin's Climate Protection Plan incorporates heat island reduction through its green building and energy efficiency elements. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Texas - Austin | Incentive | Building Envelope Rebates | Austin Energy Efficiency Rebates - Austin Energy offers a 15-cent-per-square-foot rebates for cool roof retrofits. Customers must use cool roof products that have a minimum reflectivity of 75%. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Texas - Dallas | Green Building Program and Standards | See Item #3 (PDF) | Dallas Green Building Program Ordinance - The City of Dallas passed this ordinance to establish a green building program. The program will consist of two phases; the first phase focusing on energy efficiency, water conservation and reduction of the heat island effect through cool roofs, and phase two will expand phase one to implement a comprehensive green building standard for all new construction. For new proposed commercial projects affecting less than 50,000 square feet of floor area, the requirements include energy efficiency, water conservation, cool roof requirements for low-slope roofs, and an outdoor lighting restriction. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Texas - Dallas | Urban Forestry Program; Green Building Program and Standards; Demonstration Project; Tree and Landscape Ordinance; Resolution; Zoning Code; Building Code; Outreach and Education Program; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines; Incentive; Air Quality Requirement | Sustainable Skylines - Dallas Urban Heat Island Project | Dallas Sustainable Skylines Initiative - The Sustainable Skylines initiative is a three-year partnership between the City of Dallas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTOG) to promote sustainability within the City via voluntary programs which emphasize air quality improvements. The initiative has identified the following categories of potential projects to initially perform together: green buildings project, creating a greenhouse gas strategy, green taxis project, off-road equipment replacements and retrofits, renewable energy/energy efficiency outreach program, and an urban heat island project. The goal of the urban heat island project is to develop and implement an urban heat island program for the City of Dallas that will both decrease heated surfaces and increase permeability of surfaces in the Central City and other areas of Dallas. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Texas - Frisco | Green Building Program and Standards | Green Building Program See Chapter 18, Article IV, Division 3 | City of Frisco Green Building Program - Frisco, Texas requires cool roofs in its commercial green building program. In late 2006, the City Council approved requirements for most new commercial construction to install ENERGY STAR labeled cool roof products. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Texas - Houston | Building Code | See Section 5.4.3.5 Cool Roofs (PDF) | City of Houston Commercial Energy Conservation Code - The City of Houston created this energy conservation code to provide requirements for the design and construction of new buildings. Cool roof requirements are included for new buildings. The code requires low slope roofs up to 2:12 to be covered with a surface that has a minimum solar reflectance of 0.70 and a minimum thermal emittance of 0.75. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Texas - Houston | Research; Demonstration Project; Outreach and Education Program; Air Quality Requirement | Houston Urban Heat Island Effect | Cool Houston! - Cool Houston! is a program led by the Houston Advanced Research Center and is designed to reduce urban temperatures through use of cool technologies – reflective and green roofing, paving with light colored or porous materials, and a greatly expanded forest canopy. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Utah - Salt Lake City | Outreach and Education Program | Kool Kids | Utah Kool Kids Program - The Utah State Energy Program, Utah Department of Natural Resources, and the National Energy Foundation worked together to create the Utah Kool Kids program to teach elementary and secondary age students about urban heat islands, their impacts on energy and air quality, and heat island reduction strategies. The program gives teachers lesson plans, overheads, test questions, experiments, and research tools to engage students. | Active |
| Cool Roofs | Virginia - Alexandria | Demonstration Project | Profile of Success (PDF) | Jefferson Houston Elementary School - The Jefferson Houston Elementary School replaced its conventional, dark roof with a cool roof which increased the roof's reflectivity from less than 20% to 78%. The cost of the reflective roof was comparable to alternate materials considered. The school also increased its insulation level from R-10 to R-20. Energy costs were reduced to $90,000 a year from $120,000 a year. | Completed |
| Cool Roofs | Virginia - Arlington | Green Building Program and Standards | Environmental Services: Green Building | Arlington County Green Buildings - Arlington, Virginia bases its municipal green building requirements on the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System, which includes cool roof and green roof options. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Illinois - Chicago | Demonstration Project; Procurement | Green Alleys Green Alleys Handbook (PDF) | Chicago Green Alleys - Chicago, after the success of a demonstration project using permeable pavement, began a Green Alley initiative to use permeable pavement any time it needs to re-pave an alley. Forty-six alleys were renovated under this initiative in 2007; ultimately almost 2,000 miles of alleyways will be made permeable. The Green Alley Handbook notes that "if all the alleys had a light, reflective surface (high albedo) that reflected heat energy, [they would stay] cool on hot days and thereby reducing the "urban heat island effect." The handbook also mentions the heat island reduction benefits of shade trees and green roofs. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Illinois - Chicago | Demonstration Project | City Hall Rooftop Garden | Chicago's City Hall - The City of Chicago installed a green roof on its city hall that includes 20,000 plants, shrubs, grasses, vines, and trees. The city expects to save directly more than 9,270 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year of electricity and nearly 740 million British thermal units (Btu) per year of natural gas for heating. This energy savings translates to about $3,600 annually, and savings will increase with higher energy prices. In addition to assessing energy impacts, the green roof has been designed to test different types of rooftop garden systems, success rates of native and non-native vegetation, and reductions in stormwater runoff. This city hall green roof has helped to raise the visibility of green roofs and to increase public understanding of them. Chicago's Department of Environment staff has frequently given presentations about the roof, which has won numerous awards. | Completed |
| Green Roofs | Illinois - Chicago | Incentive | Green Roof & Cool Roof Grants Programs | Chicago Roof Grants Programs - Chicago has established green and cool roof grant programs for residential and commercial buildings. In 2005, the first year of the green roof grants program, the city supported 20 green roof installation projects; in 2006, it helped fund 40. In the fall of 2007, the city announced that it was expanding the program to include cool roofs and expected to provide about 55 $6,000 grants. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Illinois - Chicago | Research; Demonstration Project; Building Code; Outreach and Education Program | Urban Heat Island Mitigation | Chicago Urban Heat Island Mitigation Program - The City of Chicago's Department of the Environment has been involved with reducing urban heat islands for several years. Some projects Chicago has conducted include constructing a porous pavement alley, revising the city's building code to require cool roofs, and launching a green roof program. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Illinois - Chicago | Research; Outreach and Education Program; Incentive | Green Roofs | Chicago Green Roof Program - The City of Chicago's Department of the Environment has launched one of the strongest green roof efforts in the United States. Through this program the city has been constructing green roofs on public buildings, doing research to estimate impacts from green roofs, providing grants to encourage green roof installations (see entry on Chicago Green Roof and Cool Roof Grants Programs), and educating the public about green roofs in general. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Kansas - Kansas City | Urban Forestry Program; Demonstration Project; Tree and Landscape Ordinance; Outreach and Education Program; Air Quality Requirement | Sustainable Skylines - Kansas | Kansas City Sustainable Skylines Initiative - Sustainable Skylines is a locally-led, EPA-supported, public-private partnership to reduce air emissions and promote sustainability in urban environments. Greater Kansas City was chosen as one of the first pilot communities to implement the Sustainable Skylines program. Projects in Kansas City include: an idling-reduction campaign, water conservation and strategic landscaping projects, converting parking lots to parks, solar demonstration projects, a community forum, and a diesel engine retrofits partnership. | Active |
| Green Roofs | New York - New York City | Research; Demonstration Project; Outreach and Education Program | Green Roofs | Earth Pledge Foundation Green Roof Initiative - Earth Pledge, a non-profit organization in New York City, runs a Green Roofs Initiative that supports the development of green, vegetated rooftops in urban areas to prevent stormwater runoff pollution, lower urban temperatures, and improve air quality. | Active |
| Green Roofs | New York - The Bronx | Research; Demonstration Project; Outreach and Education Program | Green Roofs | Sustainable South Bronx - The non-profit group Sustainable South Bronx has developed several goals for the green roof/cool roof demonstration project on top of its office building in Hunts Point. These goals include gathering research on local impacts, establishing a resource for the community, educating New Yorkers on the benefits of green roofs, and advocating sustainable building practices. The demonstration project has become a springboard for developing a local green and cool roof installation company to provide employment opportunities in the South Bronx area. The group's business is called SmartRoofs and includes a job-training program for local residents. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Oregon - Portland | Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | Section C Project Design (PDF) | Central City Fundamental Design Guidelines - The City of Portland, Oregon has focused on the use of green roofs in the city center district, primarily for their aesthetic and stormwater management benefits. Design guidelines call for integrating vegetated roofs into central city projects. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Oregon - Portland | Zoning Code; Building Code | Chapter 33.510 (PDF) | Central City Plan District Zoning Code - In 2001, Portland, Oregon modified its zoning code to include an "eco-roof development bonus" for developers to install green roofs (which are called "eco-roofs" in the code). In Title 33 of the Zoning Code there is a floor area ratio bonus for projects that install green roofs in Portland's central district. The bonus amount depends on the extent of the green roof coverage. If the green roof covers 60% or more of the roof surface, developers can build an additional 3 square feet (0.3 m2) for each square foot of green roof. If the green roof covers a lower percent of the surface, the bonus is reduced. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Pennsylvania - Statewide | Incentive | Energy Harvest Program | Pennsylvania Office of Energy and Technology - The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Energy Harvest Program has been providing grants for specific energy saving projects since 2003. In 2007, it dispensed more than $500,000 to green roof projects across the state. The Energy Harvest Program overall aims to deploy innovative technologies and encourages "proposals that are market-driven, create jobs, and produce economic development within the Commonwealth." | Active |
| Green Roofs | Texas - Austin | Green Building Program and Standards; Resolution; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | City of Austin - Heat Island Mitigation Resolution Austin Climate Protection Plan | Austin Heat Island Mitigation - In May 2001, the Austin City Council adopted a heat island mitigation resolution that committed the city manager to review recommendations for a variety of activities to diminish the city's heat island. In September of that year, the City Council awarded $1 million towards implementing the recommendations, which ranged from developing a cool roof strategy to increasing enforcement of the city's tree-saving ordinance. Austin's Climate Protection Plan incorporates heat island reduction through its green building and energy efficiency elements. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Texas - Dallas | Urban Forestry Program; Green Building Program and Standards; Demonstration Project; Tree and Landscape Ordinance; Resolution; Zoning Code; Building Code; Outreach and Education Program; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines; Incentive; Air Quality Requirement | Sustainable Skylines - Dallas Urban Heat Island Project | Dallas Sustainable Skylines Initiative - The Sustainable Skylines initiative is a three-year partnership between the City of Dallas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTOG) to promote sustainability within the City via voluntary programs which emphasize air quality improvements. The initiative has identified the following categories of potential projects to initially perform together: green buildings project, creating a greenhouse gas strategy, green taxis project, off-road equipment replacements and retrofits, renewable energy/energy efficiency outreach program, and an urban heat island project. The goal of the urban heat island project is to develop and implement an urban heat island program for the City of Dallas that will both decrease heated surfaces and increase permeability of surfaces in the Central City and other areas of Dallas. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Texas - Houston | Incentive | Downtown Houston Development Assistance (PDF) Vertical Gardens Grant Initiative (PDF) | Vertical Gardens Matching Grant Initiative - The Houston Downtown Management District (HDMD) Vertical Gardens Matching Grant initiative first gave grants in 2007 to encourage plantings that cover walls. The grants also support exceptional landscaping that adds significant evapotranspiration and shade for blank walls, parking garages, and sidewalks. The program goals include improving overall aesthetics, pedestrian comfort, air quality, and reducing the heat island effect. Grants cannot exceed half of the total project cost or $20,000, and contributions can be in kind. Tenants, property owners, and registered non-profits can all apply. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Texas - Houston | Research; Demonstration Project; Outreach and Education Program; Air Quality Requirement | Houston Urban Heat Island Effect | Cool Houston! - Cool Houston! is a program led by the Houston Advanced Research Center and is designed to reduce urban temperatures through use of cool technologies – reflective and green roofing, paving with light colored or porous materials, and a greatly expanded forest canopy. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Utah - Salt Lake City | Outreach and Education Program | Kool Kids | Utah Kool Kids Program - The Utah State Energy Program, Utah Department of Natural Resources, and the National Energy Foundation worked together to create the Utah Kool Kids program to teach elementary and secondary age students about urban heat islands, their impacts on energy and air quality, and heat island reduction strategies. The program gives teachers lesson plans, overheads, test questions, experiments, and research tools to engage students. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Virginia - Arlington | Green Building Program and Standards | Environmental Services: Green Building | Arlington County Green Buildings - Arlington, Virginia bases its municipal green building requirements on the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System, which includes cool roof and green roof options. | Active |
| Green Roofs | Washington - Seattle | Zoning Code | Department of Planning and Development - Green Factor | Seattle Green Factor - Seattle has adopted minimum landscape requirements, known as the Seattle Green Factor, for new developments in commercial areas in the city. This program requires that, as of late January 2007, certain new developments in neighborhood business districts must provide for vegetative cover on the equivalent of 30% of the applicable property. The regulations apply to developments with more than four dwelling units, more than 4,000 square feet (370 m2) of commercial uses, or more than 20 new parking spaces. Developers can use a menu of strategies, including planting new trees, preserving trees, and installing green roofs and green walls to meet this target. The regulations are part of the city's Commercial Code and encourage planting of layers of vegetation and larger trees in areas visible to the public. The rules also include bonuses for harvesting rain water and choosing plants that need less water. The city has developed a worksheet to help applicants calculate a "score" that indicates whether various mixes of landscaping measures meet the requirements, which will allow developers to try different combinations of features. | Active |
| none listed | Pennsylvania - Philadelphia | Outreach and Education Program | Extreme Heat – the City of Philadelphia | Heat Health Watch-Warning System (HHWWS) - Philadelphia was the first U.S. City to implement the Heat/Health Warning System and has become a worldwide model for heat forecasting. City staff work with the National Weather Service to determine when a heat wave is imminently approaching. When a heat alert is issued, news organizations provide educational information about heat waves and health. Philadelphia has appointed thousands of "block captains" to check on elderly neighbors, and the Public Health Department provides home visits by field teams. This program has been a model for the creation of similar programs in other cities throughout the United States. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Arizona - Gilbert | Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | Chapter 7 - Environmental Planning Element, Goal 5 | Gilbert General Plan - The "Environmental Planning Element" in the Gilbert, Arizona general plan lists mitigating heat islands as a core goal. Specific policies under the goal include: 1) developing criteria that will identify projects that might contribute to the heat island effect and will require an evaluation of mitigation techniques; 2) seeking sponsors such as educational institutions, utility companies, and government entities to promote heat island awareness among landowners, developers, engineers, and architects; and 3) promoting design concepts using engineered green space to maximize shading of surfaces that tend to heat up, promote education and awareness of cool roof materials and construction techniques, and promote alternative pavement technologies in parking areas. At this time, the plan does not include specific strategies to implement these policies. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Arizona - Tucson | Demonstration Project | Cool Retrofit - Thomas O. Price Service Center | City of Tucson's Administration Building - A demonstration project for the City of Tucson documented how a cool roof reduced temperatures inside and on the roof of the building and saved more than 400 million Btu annually in energy. A white elastomeric coating was installed over a 28,000-square foot (2,600 m2), unshaded metal roof on one of the city's administration buildings. Following the installation, energy savings were calculated at 50 to 65% of the building's cooling energy – an avoided energy cost of nearly $4,000 annually. In addition to measuring the effects of adding a cool roof, the project will also investigate cooler paving materials and more trees and vegetation in the parking lots surrounding the building. | Completed |
| Trees and Vegetation | Arizona - Tucson | Urban Forestry Program | Trees for Tucson | Urban Forestry Program - Trees for Tucson began in 1989 as a program of Tucson Clean & Beautiful to encourage and facilitate tree planting in the Tucson metropolitan area using desert-adapted trees. Trees help beautify the community as well as conserve energy by shading buildings. More than 40,000 trees have been distributed through the Trees for Tucson program since 1993. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | California - Davis | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | Chapter 37 of the City of Davis Municipal Code | Davis Landscaping Ordinance - The City of Davis requires that 50% of the paved parking lot surface of any building shall be shaded with tree canopies within 15 years of acquisition of a building permit. Specific guidelines for the development of such canopy are outlined by the city. Only trees from the city's list may be used as parking lot shade trees unless otherwise approved by the city's arborist. It is recommended that the genera of trees be varied throughout the parking lot. Trees shall receive 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% shading credit based on their location relative to paved surfaces. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | California - Los Angeles | Urban Forestry Program; Outreach and Education Program | LADWP Cool Schools | Los Angeles Cool Schools Program - The Cool Schools program in Los Angeles teaches students to become environmental stewards through hands-on and classroom experience. Through the project, students have helped plant hundreds of trees around Los Angeles schools. Cool Schools creates an opportunity to teach lessons on biology, botany, horticulture, and related topics. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | California - Los Angeles | Urban Forestry Program | LADWP: Trees for a Green LA | Trees for a Green LA - Los Angeles residents interested in free trees from the Trees for a Green LA program first participate in an online or neighborhood workshop. Then they complete a site plan and apply for their free trees. Residents pledge on their applications to plant and care for the trees in a proper manner and allow the city to inspect their work for program evaluation and quality assurance purposes. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | California - Sacramento | Air Quality Requirement; Urban Forestry Program | Urban Forests for Clean Air Strategic Tree Planting in Sacramento (PDF) | Urban Forests for Clean Air - In 2006, Sacramento secured a large Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program grant to work on including urban forestry in its State Implementation Plan. The project, known as the Urban Forests for Clean Air demonstration project, involves the Sacramento Tree Foundation, the USDA Forest Service, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments and the Sacramento, El Dorado, and Placer and Feather River Air Districts. The project includes three phases: 1) initial estimates of the effects of the urban forest on air quality; 2) development of improved models to analyze these impacts; and 3) a final report on the findings. Under the first phase, the Forest Service's Center for Urban Forest Research estimated the impacts of trees on air quality using existing models and statistical analyses. That analysis predicted that one million additional trees could lower emissions of NOx by almost a quarter ton per day and particulate matter by over one ton per day. If trees that emitted low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were chosen, ground-level ozone could also be reduced by 1.5 tons daily. The long-term goal for the project is to develop the technical support for a SIP revision that includes large-scale, urban tree planting as a ground-level ozone reduction control strategy for the Sacramento region. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | California - Sacramento | Incentive; Urban Forestry Program | Rebates - Shade Trees | Sacramento Shade - Since 1990, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has partnered with the Sacramento Tree Foundation to provide more than 350,000 free shade trees to residents in the Sacramento area. This program encourages residents to strategically plant vegetation around their homes to reduce energy consumption. Homes with an eastern, western, or southern exposure that heats up during the summer are eligible for this program. SMUD provides trees between four and seven feet tall (1.2–2.2 meters), as well as stakes, ties, fertilizer, tree delivery, and expert advice on tree selection and planting techniques free of charge. Homeowners must agree to plant and care for the trees. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | California - Sacramento | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | Section 17.68.040 Tree Shading Requirements for Parking Lots | Sacramento Parking Lot Shading Ordinance - Since 1983, an ordinance in Sacramento's zoning code has required that enough trees be planted to shade 50% of new, or significantly altered, parking lots after 15 years of tree growth. A 2001 study found that the lots were only achieving about 25% shading because sometimes shade was double-counted, trees did not grow to their expected size under conditions of the lot, or trees were not adequately dispersed. Based on these findings, Sacramento modified its code in 2003 to improve coverage. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | California - San Jose | Green Building Program and Standards | Green Building Policy | San Jose Green Building Policy - The City of San Jose, California, includes landscape design for heat island mitigation as one of the goals of its Green Building Policy, adopted in 2001. The policy applies to planning, design, construction, management, renovation, operations, and demolition of facilities that are larger than 10,000 square feet and constructed, owned, managed, or financed by the city. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | District of Columbia - Washington | Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines; Air Quality Requirement | Plan to Improve Air Quality in the Washington, DC-MD-VA Region (PDF) | State Implementation Plan - The Washington D.C. region's State Implementation Plan includes a Regional Canopy Management Plan as a ground-level ozone reduction strategy. The plan involves working with local governments to establish goals for increasing tree canopy coverage and decreasing ground-level ozone pollution. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Florida - Miami-Dade County | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | See Chapter 18A | Miami-Dade Landscaping Ordinance - In 1995, Miami-Dade County established landscaping ordinances for different classes of structures, which establish requirements for planted vegetation surrounding all buildings. For example, single-family residential units are required to have three trees (new construction only). | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Florida - Orlando | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | See Section 61.226 Street Trees | Code of the City of Orlando - Orlando, Florida, specifies that trees must be planted along both sides of a street, with one tree every 50 to 100 feet (15-30 m). The selected trees must eventually be capable of reaching a minimum height of 40 feet (12 m) and a crown spread of 30 feet (9 m). | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Georgia - Atlanta | Outreach and Education Program | Cool Communities | Cool Communities Program - Cool Communities is a nonprofit program in Atlanta aimed at improving urban environments and conserving energy by promoting the use of lighter, reflective roofing and paving materials as well as planting shade trees. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Hawaii - Honolulu | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | Bill 43 | The Land Use Ordinance relating to the Chinatown Special District - Honolulu's Park Dedication Ordinance contains landscaping requirements within the urban redevelopment area of Chinatown. Small-scaled interior landscaped courtyards and interior pedestrian walkways are encouraged as well as interior pedestrian walkways. The ordinance states "Street trees should be provided, as needed, to complement adjoining development and minimize the intrusion of towers on Chinatown street scenes. Tree species, spacing and size shall be in accordance with the City's tree planting standards or as approved by the director." | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Hawaii - Honolulu | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | See Section 21-4.70 (PDF) | Honolulu Parking Lot Shade Ordinance - The Honolulu Land Use Ordinance requires that parking lots within the city be landscaped or screened. Depending on the size of the parking lot, a tree canopy may also be required. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Illinois - Chicago | Demonstration Project; Procurement | Green Alleys Green Alleys Handbook (PDF) | Chicago Green Alleys - Chicago, after the success of a demonstration project using permeable pavement, began a Green Alley initiative to use permeable pavement any time it needs to re-pave an alley. Forty-six alleys were renovated under this initiative in 2007; ultimately almost 2,000 miles of alleyways will be made permeable. The Green Alley Handbook notes that "if all the alleys had a light, reflective surface (high albedo) that reflected heat energy, [they would stay] cool on hot days and thereby reducing the "urban heat island effect." The handbook also mentions the heat island reduction benefits of shade trees and green roofs. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Illinois - Chicago | Research; Demonstration Project; Building Code; Outreach and Education Program | Urban Heat Island Mitigation | Chicago Urban Heat Island Mitigation Program - The City of Chicago's Department of the Environment has been involved with reducing urban heat islands for several years. Some projects Chicago has conducted include constructing a porous pavement alley, revising the city's building code to require cool roofs, and launching a green roof program. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Illinois - Chicago | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | Chapter 17-11 Landscaping and Screening (PDF) | Chicago Landscape Ordinance - Chicago has a landscape ordinance that requires planting trees or shrubs on parkways and landscaping parking lots, loading docks, and other vehicular use areas, both within the sites themselves and to screen their perimeter. The ordinance applies to most new building construction, as well as repairs, remodeling, and enlargements of a particular size and cost. The Bureau of Forestry, which maintains the standards, must inspect and approve all parkway vegetation prior to planting. The Chicago Department of Zoning reviews all building and zoning permit applications to ensure compliance with the ordinance. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Illinois - Chicago | Urban Forestry Program; Tree and Landscape Ordinance | Landscaped Medians | Chicago Landscaped Medians Program - Chicago has more than 65 miles of landscaped medians on arterial streets throughout the city. The Chicago Transportation Department plants trees and other vegetation in medians to reduce the urban heat island effect as well as to provide scenic landscaping. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Kansas - Kansas City | Urban Forestry Program; Demonstration Project; Tree and Landscape Ordinance; Outreach and Education Program; Air Quality Requirement | Sustainable Skylines - Kansas | Kansas City Sustainable Skylines Initiative - Sustainable Skylines is a locally-led, EPA-supported, public-private partnership to reduce air emissions and promote sustainability in urban environments. Greater Kansas City was chosen as one of the first pilot communities to implement the Sustainable Skylines program. Projects in Kansas City include: an idling-reduction campaign, water conservation and strategic landscaping projects, converting parking lots to parks, solar demonstration projects, a community forum, and a diesel engine retrofits partnership. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Louisiana - Baton Rouge | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | Chapter 18 Landscape and Trees (PDF) | Baton Rouge Landscape and Trees Ordinance - In 2007, the City of Baton Rouge strengthened its landscape ordinance, which requires tree planting on all new developments, excluding single-family residences. The ordinance requires two shade trees for every 5,000 square feet of site, and one shade tree per 600 square feet of street frontage. Parking lot requirements include one shade tree per 15 parking spaces for a lot with one to 25 spaces; one shade tree per 12 parking spaces for a lot with 25 to 100 spaces; and one shade tree per 10 parking spaces for a lot over 100 spaces. For example, a 10,000-square-foot site with 600 square feet of storefront and 150 parking spaces would require 20 shade trees (i.e., four for the square footage of the site, one for the store frontage, and 15 for the parking lot). | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Maryland - Annapolis | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | See Chapter 17.09 | Annapolis Ordinance on Trees in Development Areas - Annapolis, Maryland has explicitly recognized the environmental value of trees and acted to protect them during construction. The "Tree Protection Ordinance" requires a survey of trees on a proposed development site and fences or other means to mark and protect designated trees during construction. The ordinance also prohibits certain activities, such as trenching or grading, within the dripline of trees unless specific precautions are followed. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Maryland - Annapolis | Urban Forestry Program; Green Building Program and Standards; Tree and Landscape Ordinance; Resolution; Outreach and Education Program; Incentive | See Item 12 (PDF) | Annapolis Energy Efficiency Resolution - In October 2006, Annapolis, Maryland adopted a comprehensive energy efficiency resolution that included general goals and specific long-term targets for adopting a range of energy efficiency measures. One recommendation was to increase tree shading so that the city could sequester carbon dioxide, reduce the urban heat island effect, and lower ozone levels. In 2007, the city adopted a new tree protection ordinance as one step to protecting existing shade trees. This resolution also proposed green building goals, including adopting green building standards for public buildings, investigating incentives for green building construction, and developing an outreach and education program for the building community and government staff. The resolution also proposes increasing the urban forest canopy to 50% of the city’s land area by 2036. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Maryland - Baltimore | Incentive; Urban Forestry Program | The Growing Home Campaign A Stewardship Success Story (PDF) | Baltimore's Growing Home Campaign - Since 2006, Baltimore County's Growing Home Campaign has provided $10 coupons to homeowners toward the purchase of most trees at local nurseries. Each coupon represents $5 of public funds and $5 of retail funds. In order to validate their coupon, homeowners provide information including tree type and location planted, allowing the county to integrate the data with future tree canopy studies. The county began the program as an innovative way to increase tree canopy cover as part of its larger "Green Renaissance" forest conservation and sustainability plan. In the first two months of the program, 1,700 trees were planted. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Maryland - Statewide | Urban Forestry Program; Outreach and Education Program; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines; Air Quality Requirement | See Section 6.3 Voluntary and Innovative Measures (PDF) | Maryland's State Implementation Plan - Maryland's State Implementation Plan includes a regional forest canopy program that aims to reduce the heat island effect. The program involves assistance and outreach to encourage tree plantings through the coordination of various state and local agencies. This program would be housed within the Department of Natural Resources and would be charged with management of a tree planting database and promoting outreach efforts to landowners and stakeholder groups. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Maryland - Takoma Park | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | Ordinance No. 2003-40 (PDF) | Takoma Park Trees and Vegetation Ordinance - The Takoma Park Ordinance provides protection to the urban forest. Tree impact assessments are required for paving activities, and permits are required to construct or develop land when trees would be affected. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | New Jersey - Elizabeth | Urban Forestry Program; Outreach and Education Program | Groundwork Elizabeth | Groundwork Elizabeth - Groundwork Elizabeth, a nonprofit group in Elizabeth, New Jersey, works to involve neighborhood residents in community revitalization projects, including tree planting at local schools and parks. The organization was instrumental in getting the city of Elizabeth involved in New Jersey's Cool Cities Initiative, which aims to plant trees primarily in the large cities of New Jersey with low tree coverage. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | New Mexico - Albuquerque | Research; Urban Forestry Program | Urban Forestry - City of Albuquerque | Albuquerque Urban Forest Improvement Initiative - The City of Albuquerque, New Mexico's Urban Forest Improvement Initiative combines multiple efforts to tap the benefits of urban trees. In addition to pledging to plant 2,000 trees per year, the city has hired an urban forester to design and manage municipal trees and commissioned the USDA Forest Service Center for Urban Forest Research to develop a Municipal Forest Resource Analysis. Completed in August 2006, the analysis found that Albuquerque received a benefit of $1.31 for each dollar invested in city trees. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Pennsylvania - Statewide | Urban Forestry Program | TreeVitalize | TreeVitalize - The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources oversees a project called TreeVitalize, which brings together county and local governments, foundations, trade associations, and private industry to restore tree cover in the southeastern part of the state. TreeVitalize aims to plant more than 20,000 trees in approximately 40 neighborhoods in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties. The program targets neighborhoods in older cities, boroughs, and townships where tree cover is below 25%. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Tennessee - Knoxville | Urban Forestry Program; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | Table of Contents | Knoxville Street Tree Master Plan - Knoxville Master Street Tree Plan surveys the existing tree cover in Knoxville and Knox County and develops strategies to preserve and increase the urban canopy. Knoxville has established guiding principles, designated preferred species of trees, and evaluated and implemented opportunities to plant throughout the city. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Texas - Austin | Green Building Program and Standards; Resolution; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | City of Austin - Heat Island Mitigation Resolution Austin Climate Protection Plan | Austin Heat Island Mitigation - In May 2001, the Austin City Council adopted a heat island mitigation resolution that committed the city manager to review recommendations for a variety of activities to diminish the city's heat island. In September of that year, the City Council awarded $1 million towards implementing the recommendations, which ranged from developing a cool roof strategy to increasing enforcement of the city's tree-saving ordinance. Austin's Climate Protection Plan incorporates heat island reduction through its green building and energy efficiency elements. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Texas - Dallas | Urban Forestry Program; Green Building Program and Standards; Demonstration Project; Tree and Landscape Ordinance; Resolution; Zoning Code; Building Code; Outreach and Education Program; Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines; Incentive; Air Quality Requirement | Sustainable Skylines - Dallas Urban Heat Island Project | Dallas Sustainable Skylines Initiative - The Sustainable Skylines initiative is a three-year partnership between the City of Dallas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTOG) to promote sustainability within the City via voluntary programs which emphasize air quality improvements. The initiative has identified the following categories of potential projects to initially perform together: green buildings project, creating a greenhouse gas strategy, green taxis project, off-road equipment replacements and retrofits, renewable energy/energy efficiency outreach program, and an urban heat island project. The goal of the urban heat island project is to develop and implement an urban heat island program for the City of Dallas that will both decrease heated surfaces and increase permeability of surfaces in the Central City and other areas of Dallas. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Texas - Houston | Incentive | Downtown Houston Development Assistance (PDF) Vertical Gardens Grant Initiative (PDF) | Vertical Gardens Matching Grant Initiative - The Houston Downtown Management District (HDMD) Vertical Gardens Matching Grant initiative first gave grants in 2007 to encourage plantings that cover walls. The grants also support exceptional landscaping that adds significant evapotranspiration and shade for blank walls, parking garages, and sidewalks. The program goals include improving overall aesthetics, pedestrian comfort, air quality, and reducing the heat island effect. Grants cannot exceed half of the total project cost or $20,000, and contributions can be in kind. Tenants, property owners, and registered non-profits can all apply. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Texas - Houston | Research; Demonstration Project; Outreach and Education Program; Air Quality Requirement | Houston Urban Heat Island Effect | Cool Houston! - Cool Houston! is a program led by the Houston Advanced Research Center and is designed to reduce urban temperatures through use of cool technologies – reflective and green roofing, paving with light colored or porous materials, and a greatly expanded forest canopy. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Texas - San Antonio | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | San Antonio Ordinance (PDF) | San Antonio Tree Preservation Ordinance - San Antonio, Texas requires different levels of tree protection based on tree class or location. The ordinance classifies significant trees, heritage trees, and trees within the 100-year floodplain. For example, heritage trees (defined, for most species, as trees 24 inches [60 cm] or greater in diameter at breast height), must be preserved. The ordinance, however, generally counts total tree diameter-inches at a site, not individual trees, and gives flexibility in preservation: up to 90% of the tree-diameter-inches can be considered preserved if the developer plants an equal or greater number of tree-diameter-inches elsewhere. Developers can also fulfill the preservation requirement by contributing to the city's tree fund. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Texas - Taylor | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | Click on Ordinances, and then Landscape Ordinance | Landscape Ordinance for Taylor, Texas - The City of Taylor requires that all outdoor parking areas having spaces for more than twenty vehicles have landscaping within the perimeter of the parking area equal in area to not less than 5% of the total paved area. Further, no parking space is to be located more than seventy feet from a portion of the required landscaping, and one tree of at least two inch caliper in size will be provided within the perimeter of the parking area for each two hundred fifty square feet of landscaping required. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Utah - Highland | Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | General Plan Update 2008 | Highland City General Plan - The Town of Highland, Utah, created a master plan for a 50-acre (200,000 m2) overlay zone to be privately developed as a town center. The city design guidelines for the zone recommended several heat island mitigation elements, including reflective roofing, reflective parking lot surfaces, and landscaping. Those guidelines were then adopted into the zoning requirements for the town center. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Utah - Salt Lake City | Outreach and Education Program | Kool Kids | Utah Kool Kids Program - The Utah State Energy Program, Utah Department of Natural Resources, and the National Energy Foundation worked together to create the Utah Kool Kids program to teach elementary and secondary age students about urban heat islands, their impacts on energy and air quality, and heat island reduction strategies. The program gives teachers lesson plans, overheads, test questions, experiments, and research tools to engage students. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Utah - Salt Lake City | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | See Chapter 21A.48.070 | Salt Lake City Parking Lot Shade Tree Ordinance - Salt Lake City stipulates, via ordinance, that all hard-surfaced parking lots or hard-surfaced vehicle sales or lease lots, for passenger cars and light trucks, with 15 or more parking spaces, must provide landscaping amounting to not less than 5% of the interior of the lot. The ordinance specifies the number of shrubs and trees per foot of front, corner, interior, and rear side yards required for compliance. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Utah - Statewide | Urban Forestry Program; Outreach and Education Program | Statewide Urban & Community Forestry Program | TreeUtah - TreeUtah has launched a comprehensive initiative, the MetroGreening Program, that uses advertising, outreach, and educational workshops to promote proper planting and maintenance of trees to reduce heating and cooling costs, diminish the heat island effect, and achieve other benefits in Utah's most densely-populated regions. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Virginia - Fairfax County | Comprehensive Plan and Design Guidelines | Fairfax County Tree Action Plan (PDF) | Tree Action Plan - In June 2007, Fairfax County, Virginia set a precedent by selecting an urban forestry canopy goal of 45%. The county developed this target after it determined that current tree management efforts would lead to a decrease in canopy size from 41% to 37% over the next 30 years. To combat this loss, the county has proposed increasing the average number of trees planted from 21,000 to 84,000, justifying the expense of additional trees by citing the multiple benefits they provide. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Washington - Seattle | Tree and Landscape Ordinance | Street Tree Planting Procedures | Seattle Street Tree Planting - Seattle requires a street use permit before landscaping in a planting strip in a public right-of-way. For street trees, the strip must be at least 5 feet (1.5 m) wide, unless specific approval from the city's arborist is received. Five feet is generally recommended as the minimum width for planting most trees. A guide is available to help property owners select and install trees in accordance with the city's requirements. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Washington - Seattle | Urban Forestry Program; Incentive | Seattle reLeaf | Seattle Urban Forestry Initiative - Since 1996, Seattle's Neighborhood Matching Fund program has provided more than 17,200 trees to more than 600 neighborhood groups for Seattle's streets and parks, and the city has established the Emerald City Task Force, which advises the city on incentives and policies to encourage private property owners – residential and commercial – to improve their land by preserving existing trees and planting new ones. | Active |
| Trees and Vegetation | Washington - Seattle | Zoning Code | Department of Planning and Development - Green Factor | Seattle Green Factor - Seattle has adopted minimum landscape requirements, known as the Seattle Green Factor, for new developments in commercial areas in the city. This program requires that, as of late January 2007, certain new developments in neighborhood business districts must provide for vegetative cover on the equivalent of 30% of the applicable property. The regulations apply to developments with more than four dwelling units, more than 4,000 square feet (370 m2) of commercial uses, or more than 20 new parking spaces. Developers can use a menu of strategies, including planting new trees, preserving trees, and installing green roofs and green walls to meet this target. The regulations are part of the city's Commercial Code and encourage planting of layers of vegetation and larger trees in areas visible to the public. The rules also include bonuses for harvesting rain water and choosing plants that need less water. The city has developed a worksheet to help applicants calculate a "score" that indicates whether various mixes of landscaping measures meet the requirements, which will allow developers to try different combinations of features. | Active |