Richmond Reports Building Energy Use Intensity

As a participant in the Virginia Municipal League’s  Green Government Challenge, a friendly competition to encourage local governments and their communities to reduce carbon emissions,

the City of Richmond is working to improve the efficiency of its facilities by measuring and benchmarking their energy use. A building’s energy use can be categorized in two ways.  Site energy is the amount of total energy a building uses on-site, as reported on utility (electric and natural gas) bills. Source energy accounts for a building’s total energy use and includes losses that take place during the generation, transmission, and distribution of the energy to the building.

Energy use intensity (EUI) is calculated by dividing a building’s site or source energy by its gross floor area. Calculating EUI allows for a comparison of the energy use between buildings based on size, type, or other characteristics.  Generally, a building with low EUI indicates efficient operation.  See this list of City of Richmond buildings over 5,000 sq. ft. and their EUI.

RVA Green the Scene Wins Recycler of the Year Award

RVA Green the Scene won the 2016 Virginia Recycling Association (VRA) Recycler of the Year award for recycling and composting efforts in partnership with the Virginia Green Travel Alliance during the 2015 UCI Road World Championships. Alicia Zatcoff, sustainability manager (second from right), accepted the award on behalf of the city at the VRA Annual Meeting in Harrisonburg, Oct. 25.

Richmond Green Spaces Survey

Enrichmond has partnered with students from VCU's Public Relations department to learn more about Richmonder’s views and opinions on urban green spaces.
 

Across the country, many cities are raising environmental awareness by planting trees and other plants in parks and public spaces. These areas, urban green spaces, become a place for the community to come together and create an eco-friendly environment. Enrichmond wants to increase urban green spaces across the city within existing places such as parks and playgrounds. 

This survey is around quick and confidential, allow yourself around 5 minutes to complete. 

Storm Drain Art

Visitors to the Richmond Folk Festival walked by the Storm Drain art project. (photo by Mary-Stuart Torbeck)

Richmond Joins Better Communities Alliance

Announced by the White House during Smart Cities Week, the U.S. Department of Energy is launching the Better Communities Alliance (BCA), a groundbreaking collaborative effort among local governments, philanthropies, nonprofit organizations, and leading private companies to accelerate local clean energy progress and leadership across the country. Richmond is one of 60 partners and affiliates joining and announcing their commitments.

With 87 percent of total U.S. energy to be consumed in cities by 2030, America’s local governments are stepping up to the challenge. Through the BCA, city and county leaders are making commitments to reduce the wasted energy in homes and buildings, expand renewable energy and sustainable transportation options for their residents and businesses, harness new energy-saving technologies, and invest in resilient power systems and community infrastructure.

 As part of the Better Buildings Initiative, the BCA will support Richmond in achieving their clean energy goals and making their communities cleaner, healthier, smarter, and more economically competitive. In addition, the BCA will deliver new clean energy resources and technical assistance to local governments, and improve community access to DOE’s existing clean energy expertise and resources. It will also create actionable dialogues and peer exchange between public and private partners to identify opportunities for collaboration and progress.

There are 34 local governments serving 40 million Americans that are committed to the BCA and working to accelerate local clean energy progress and bolster leadership. Local government partners will receive streamlined access to Department of Energy clean energy resources, opportunities to apply for resources, access to forums for peer networking and expert dialogue, and federal recognition of clean energy achievements. 

Landscaping Assistance

Do you live in the Yellow Breeches or James River watershed? Are you thinking about adding some new landscaping to your yard this fall? If so, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is offering assistance as part of its Reduce Your Stormwater program to help homeowners install conservation landscapes and rain gardens to reduce stormwater runoff and protect local water quality.

For more information and to apply, visit www.stormwater.allianceforthebay.org/yard-design

Congratulations to the Storm Drain Art Winners!

RVAH20 and the Richmond Department of Public Utilities announced the winners of the 2016 Storm Drain Art Project contest. Out of 55 entries, a panel of judges that included members of the Richmond Public Art Commission and the DPU Stormwater team selected:

"You Drop It, I Drink It" by Abby Klein
"The James" by Nicole Gomez
"Clean through the Drain" by Melissa Geedy
"Endangered" by Alfonso Perez Acosta
"Only Rain the the Drain" by Richard Lucente

All five artists submitted designs that successfully combined artistic elements with the project's suggested themes of "It All Drains to the James," the James River ecosystem and environmental protection.

Voting is now open for the Fan Favorite. Check out the winning designs along Tredegar Street in downtown Richmond and vote for your favorite here by July 31.

To view the winning designs and all the entries, go here.

Recycling Happiness

Effective July 1, 2016, Central Virginia Waste Management is accepting many more items through their curbside and drop-off recycling programs. Those items include plastic containers 1 through 7, lids and caps to plastic containers, water bottles, soft drink bottles, juice and sports drink bottles, mouthwash bottles, ketchup bottles, mustard and salad dressing bottles, vegetable oil bottles, peanut butter jars, jelly, jams and pickle jars, plastic coffee containers, plastic drink mix containers, cake frosting rubs, plastic drinking cups, margarine and butter tubs, plastic flower pots, medicine and pill bottles, and waxy coated cartons for milk, juice, juice boxes, soup, wine, cream, egg substitutes, and cat food boxes.

Just be sure each item is thoroughly rinsed out or run through the dish washer to remove food residue.

Do not recycle pizza boxes! Because of the food residue, those boxes still go in the trash. Also, Styrofoam containers, packing peanuts, and all plastic bags are still not recyclable. Plastic bags should be collected and taken to the recycling bins in grocery and big box stores like Target and Wal-Mart. Stores like Best Buy accept old ink cartridges, and Home Depot can take fluorescent light bulbs.

Here's more tips on how to recycle all sorts of things.

RVAgreen Sustainability and Energy Management Program Wins Award

The City of Richmond received the First Place U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Award for large cities, it was announced June 24 in Indianapolis. Honorable mentions went to Bridgeport, Conn., Eugene, Ore., and New York City.

The winning entry was the RVAgreen Sustainability and Energy Management Program, developed to improve the quality of life for residents, create a healthy environment and enhance economic development, as well as promote job opportunities.

From the baseline years of 2008-2013, the program has reduced CO2 emissions within city government operations by almost 9 percent and community GHG emissions by nearly 6 percent.

Richmond is the first and is still the only local government in Central Virginia to create a formal sustainability program. RVAgreen's unique feature is its year-long community-based planning effort, involving more than 400 residents and 65 stakeholder organizations in its 55 initiatives.

The many ways RVAgreen has improved the city's quality of life include:

·        Converted all 520 signalized intersections in the city limits from incandescent to LED lamps

·        City construction and renovation projects over 10,000 square feet achieved a minimum LEED Silver Certification

·        32 diesel refuse trucks were converted to 25 CNG trucks, and the city worked with Richmond International Airport to convert its 14 shuttle buses to CNG, and the Greater Richmond Transit Company to replace its diesel buses with CNG buses

·        The stormwater utility was created to manage stormwater runoff and encourage green practices by offering credits to commercial and residental customers that implement stormwater practices on their property

·        Expanded curbside recycling service to all city residents, with a pay-as-you-throw program in process

·        Installed 44 Big Belly solar-powered trash cans and recycling units on city sidewalks

·        Supported the Community Garden Program to offer vacant parcels to residents to grow fresh, organic foods in neighborhoods

·        Created the James River Park Conservation Easement to conserve 280 acres along the James River from future development

·        Planted and established close to 2,000 trees annually since 2010

·        Expanded multi-modal transportation options via the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on a main artery through downtown

·        Developed a Bicycle Master Plan to strategically plan greenways and connectors

·        Received the Bronze level Bike Friendly Community status

·        Built 25 miles of bike infrastructure since 2010

·        Completed the Virginia Capital Trail, a 53 mile bicycle and pedestrian trails connecting Richmond to Williamsburg

In addition, the city hosted the 2015 UCI Road World Championships, the first U.S. city to do so in 30 years, attracting 1,000 professional cycling athletes from 75 countries to compete in 12 world championship races. The city accelerated its RVAgreen sustainability initiatives for the event, ensuring it was a sustainability success with a lasting positive impact on the community.

Richmond Wins First Place for Climate Protection Efforts

Today at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Richmond was announced as the nation’s 1^st Place winner for the Large City Category in the 2016 Mayors’ Climate Protection Awards, an initiative sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Walmart. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this mayors’ awards program recognizes mayors for their energy and climate protection efforts, selected by an independent panel of judges from a pool of mayoral applicants. New Bedford, MA Mayor Jonathan F. Mitchell won first place in the Small City Category.

Mayor Dwight C. Jones will receive the first place Climate Protection Award today in Indianapolis, IN. View the noon live stream at http://www.usmayors.org/84thAnnualMeeting/.

“Mayors Jon Mitchell and Dwight Jones are both innovators and leaders, showing us how to confront the energy and climate protection challenges before our cities and the nation,” said Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, president of The U.S. Conference of Mayors. “As we witnessed in Paris late last year, it is the mayors who are the first responders in this global battle, whether it is reducing harmful emissions or fortifying their cities to withstand increasing threats from climatic events.”

"Improving the quality of life for our residents and creating a healthy environment while enhancing economic development and job creation opportunities are our triple bottom-line goals of RVAgreen,” said Mayor Dwight C. Jones. “As the first and only local government in Central Virginia to create a formal sustainability program, we’ve been able to lead the way with improvements from our CNG fleet conversions, expanded recycling efforts, community gardens program, new bike infrastructure, and many other efforts that make up our 55 initiatives under the plan.”

Governor Announces Environmental Excellence Award Winners

Governor Terry McAuliffe has announced the winners of the 2016 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards, which were presented at the Environment Virginia Symposium at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington.

In addition to recognizing significant environmental contributions in sustainability, environmental projects and land conservation, this year’s awards also recognize exemplary implementation of the Virginia Outdoors Plan. Winners represent businesses and industrial facilities, not-for-profit organizations and government agencies located throughout the Commonwealth.

“These winners have made a commitment that all Virginians benefit from,” Governor McAuliffe said. “I congratulate and thank these organizations for their leadership, innovation and commitment to Virginia’s natural environment.”

The Gold Medal winners are:

• The City of Richmond and the Virginia Green Travel Alliance for implementing green practices at the 2015 UCI Road World Championships, which successfully managed waste with a 76 percent landfill diversion rate, offset 100 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from event operations, and created a positive legacy with resources available to future events.
• The Luray Hawksbill Greenway Trail for the exemplary implementation of the Virginia Outdoors Plan by connecting the community to the natural environment along the 2-mile walking and biking trail that borders the Hawksbill Creek.
• The Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which is also celebrating its 50^th anniversary, for its leadership in land conservation including the protection of more than 750,000 acres throughout the Commonwealth. 

Award winners were chosen based on criteria including environmental benefit, stakeholder involvement, public outreach, transferability and innovativeness.  The awards are sponsored by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.  Additional information on the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards is available on the DEQ website at www.deq.virginia.gov.

For Community Gardens to Thrive, Education is the Key

From WCVE:

http://ideastations.org/radio/news/community-gardens-thrive-education-key

City Receives Gold Level Certification for UCI Road World Championships

The city received the Gold Level Certification from the Council for Responsible Sport for its sustainability efforts with the 2015 UCI Road World Championships.

To commemorate the 2015 UCI Road World Championships, the event's colors will be painted as stripes at what was the finish line for the event at E. Broad and 5th streets. (Artist rendition. Actual work will be done this summer.)

(left to right) Keith Peters, executive director for the Council for Responsible Sport; Alicia Zatcoff, sustainability manager for the City of Richmond; Tom Griffin, executive director for Virginia Green Travel Alliance; and Mary-Stuart Torbeck of Virginia Green Travel

The Council for Responsible Sport presented Mayor Dwight C. Jones, City officials, and partners with the Gold Level Certification April 4 for their sustainability efforts during the 2015 UCI Road World Championships. 

The Council for Responsible Sport event certification is based on an objective verification of the event’s actual performance in key areas of social and environmental responsibility. Gold certification is the second highest level of certification available. The City of Richmond and partners met or exceeded all of their sustainability goals for the event, passed an on-site validation process and submitted documentation to receive a total of 48 out of 61 available credits in the areas of planning, procurement, resource management, access and equity and community legacy.

“I commend Mayor Jones, the City of Richmond, the event management team and partners for their significant achievement. Hosting such a large event and doing so in a socially and environmentally responsible way required a huge amount of sustained effort,” said Keith Peters, executive director for the Council for Responsible Sport. 

“The Gold Certification recognizes the tremendous effort our dedicated City employees and partners put forth to make the 2015 Road World Cycling Championships a sustainable event,” said Mayor Dwight C. Jones. “I especially want to acknowledge Alicia Zatcoff, the City of Richmond Sustainability Manager, and Tom Griffin, Executive Director of Virginia Green Travel Alliance for their leadership and commitment in this undertaking.”

Sustainability was a key factor in the success of the Worlds and in giving athletes and spectators an immensely positive experience. In making the 2015 Road World Championships a sustainable event, the city also moved its broader RVAgreen sustainability initiatives forward.

Initiatives include making the city more bike friendly with over 23 miles of new bike infrastructure and 450 new bike racks. This event also set a new standard for sustainable events and festivals in the city. 

During the press event, which was held at the corner of Broad and 5^th streets, Mayor Jones and City officials also announced a project designed to commerorate Richmond, Virginia's hosting of the 2015 Worlds – the first time the event had been held in the United States in nearly 30 years, and only the second time the event had been held in the United States in its 88 year history.

“The event brought international attention to our City and the region,” noted Mayor Jones. “Right here at 5^th and Broad is where the finish line was, and right here is where we will memorialize the City of Richmond hosting the event.”

The Mayor announced plans to stripe the pavement across Broad Street with the UCI rainbow stripe colors to mark the spot of the official Finish Line of the 2015 Road World Cycling Championships.

“This project will be a part of our downtown corridor improvement project that will take place over the spring and summer months and will be part of our restoration effort for this corridor, post-event,” said Jones.

Interview with the Green Guy

http://bit.ly/1RxRdNa

Our interview with Eric the Green Guy on Talk Radio 640 WGST.

Urban Agriculture Learning Series - Grow Your Own Food

The Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities is sponsoring six instructional classes and workshops to teach you how to grow your own food.

The free classes are all at 700 Blanton Avenue, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Register by emailing RichmondGrowsGardens@Richmondgov.com

Saturday, April 2
Vegetable gardening in containers; composting is fundamental

Saturday, April 9
Preserving food; building your own food dehydrator; foraging for wild medicines; fundamentals of making wine at home

Richmond City Justice Center Awarded LEED Green Building Certification

Since 2011, the city has built seven LEED certified facilities, including one LEED silver and two LEED gold new schools, a LEED silver new fire station, the LEED gold Justice Center renovation, and the LEED certified Bon Secours Redskins Training Center.

The city is in the process of multiple LEED projects, including three LEED schools, a LEED Pre-K facility, and the Main Street Station shed renovation.

The LEED rating system was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the foremost project for buildings, homes and communities designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance.

The USGBC developed the LEED certification process to enhance environmental awareness among architects and building contractors, and to encourage the design and construction of energy-efficient, water-conserving buildings that use sustainable or green resources and materials.

The LEED certification process uses a point system to determine the environmental merits of a building, with different rating systems for homes, commercial buildings, interior renovations, schools, neighborhood developments, and other construction projects.

For most projects, there are four levels of LEED certification, depending on points earned: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The new Justice Center is one of three gold awards received by the city. The city mandated the facility be built to silver standards, but during the construction process, the joint venture of Tompkins/Ballard/Davis and HOK Architects found ways to meet additional standards. The project received maximum points for site selection, density and community connectivity, Brownfield redevelopment, public transportation access, bicycle storage and changing rooms, low-emissions and fuel efficient vehicles, restored habitat, maximized open space, water efficient landscaping, water use reduction, enhanced refrigerant management, construction waste management, regional materials, construction management plans, and low-emitting materials,

Runoff Busters!

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is sharing these awesome videos to inspire homeowners to know their watershed address and make a difference in the quality of the water that runs from our neighborhoods to the Chesapeake Bay.