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City of Cleveland’s Sustainability Program The City of Cleveland’s Sustainability Program was established in May of 2005 with the hiring of Andrew Watterson as the first Sustainability Program Manager. The Program is designed to guide the City on projects related to energy, buildings, fleet, and purchasing, and has led to new policies in energy, fleet, and facility management. What is being Sustainable? A community is sustainable when it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. To be sustainable is to find an equitable balance between the people, the economic viability, and the environmental health of a community.
Program Goals:
By focusing on these goals we will help to retain people, businesses, and intellectual capital in this region by providing a friendly and healthy place for people to live, visit, and work. Current Efforts and Opportunity Areas The Cleveland Sustainability Program has been working on many initiatives related to sustainability, including efforts to: save energy; clean the City’s fleet; develop green building and high performance building standards for municipal facilities; create bicycle facilities; reduce waste and increase recycling; and cultivate renewable energy and advanced energy opportunities. A number of "opportunity areas" have been identified to show where progress can be made. These include:
Current Projects: 1.Energy Audits & Efficiency The City of Cleveland is conducting energy assessments of our facilities to continue finding ways to save money and reduce our impact on the environment. Recent audits include the Cleveland Division of Water’s (CWD) water treatment plants, Public Utilities Building, and City Hall. Recent audits of CWD facilities have realized over $150,000 in annual savings. Click here to visit the Energy Star website for more information and tips for energy efficiency. 2. Green Building & High Performance Design The City of Cleveland encourages the use of “green” building principles in all of our building projects. We encourage residents and developers building in the City of Cleveland to build in a manner that focuses on sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, waste management, recycled and local materials, health, and alternative transportation. We are currently developing incentive programs and standards for implementing sustainable design strategies into projects. The City of Cleveland has required that projects such as the roof replacement at City Hall include an Energy Star Certified roof product & design. This will greatly improve the energy efficiency of City Hall. The Department of Community Development’s Housing Trust Fund Program now offers two green building incentive programs. These programs are an Energy Star grant program & the LEED Gold Certification grant program. For more information on LEED click here.
Wind Power is a clean and renewable energy source. Wind turbines in Ohio will provide jobs for Ohioans and will help reduce our dependency on imported fuel sources for electric power. Cleveland is well-suited for the manufacturing of wind power components and the potential expansion of wind power generation in our region. The Great Lakes Science Center installed a 225kw wind turbine and connected it to Cleveland Public Power’s (CPP) grid, making it the largest distributive wind generator on CPP’s system. For more information on the turbine click here. Cuyahoga County Energy Task Force: The Sustainability Program is one of the City of Cleveland’s representatives on the Cuyahoga County’s Energy Task Force. The Task Force’s focus is to explore the options available and to advance renewable energy for our region. Combined Heat & Power (CHP): Cleveland Public Power (CPP) is exploring CHP and distributive generation options as a public utility. CPP is currently working on a variety of potential pilot projects to understand how to have distributive generation on its system as well as incorporating CHP power in its power portfolio.
4. Recycling & Waste Reduction: Construction & Demolition Waste Management: The Cleveland Division of Water (CWD) now requires a minimum of 50% Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste diversion of all CWD projects. Diverting waste from the landfill keeps public dollars in the community by requiring contractors working with the City of Cleveland to send their C&D waste to local recyclers. This helps to retain jobs in the region and reduces trucking costs on projects. To review CWD’s C&D waste recycling goals click here. Recycling: The City of Cleveland operates a Citywide recycling program by operating recycling drop off containers in key locations throughout Cleveland. The City’s Division of Waste Collection now offers commercial recycling targeted to restaurant operators. The City of Cleveland maintains an internal paper recycling program which eliminates tons of paper from going to area landfills annually and reduces the amount of tipping fees the City of Cleveland has to pay. For more information regarding the City’s recycling program click here. 5. Clean Fuels & Clean Fleets: The City of Cleveland is improving the performance of its fleet by purchasing smalle, more fuel efficient vehicles. We are continuing to purchase flex-fuel and hybrid vehicles and now has approximately 300 flex-fuel and 32 hybrid vehicles operating in the fleet.
The City of Cleveland, Cleveland City Council, and CPP are also becoming plug in partners, supporting the development of plug in hybrid vehicles. Plug in hybrid vehicles can contribute to improving the local air quality by reducing emissions caused by commuting and short distance trips. For more information on plug in partners click here. 6. Alternative Transportation The City of Cleveland encourages the use of alternative transportation, including walking, biking, and public transit. We are working hard to improve alternative transportation options for City of Cleveland residents and employees RTA Commuter Advantage Program: The RTA Commuter Advantage Program allows employees to receive their monthly RTA passes deducted from their paychecks giving them an opportunity to pay for the passes on a pre-tax basis. The RTA estimates that an average employee will save approximately $4,659.00 annually by participating in this program instead of driving. For more information on public transportation in Cleveland click here. CityWheels Cleveland: The City of Cleveland is supporting car share programs by sponsoring the CityWheels Cleveland application for CMAQ funding. This new progressive program allows residents and companies in our region to become a member of a car share program rather than own a fleet vehicle or personal car. For more information click here. Biking: The City of Cleveland encourages Clevelanders to ride their bicycles as a means of transportation and for recreation. We are adding bike lanes and bike routes throughout the City. With the construction of the Veterans Memorial Bridge Bicycle and Pedestrian Walkway, for example, we are connecting Clevelanders to the Downtown District. 7. Health & Environment: Air Quality: Clean Fleet: The City of Cleveland has now introduced an Anti Idling Policy, requiring all City employees to turn off the engines to vehicles and equipment when they are not required for an immediate purpose. To view the City’s Anti Idling Policy click here. Climate Change: In July 2006, Mayor Jackson signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. This signature acknowledges that the City of Cleveland takes climate change seriously and will make efforts to reduce the City’s overall carbon footprint. To learn more about the climate change agreement click here. Water Quality & Storm Water Management: The City of Cleveland understands the connection between land use development and water quality. We are working to address the issues related to our built environment by changing our own construction standards to include on-site storm water management. The City is also encouraging projects working with the City to make their best effort to implement best practices for managing storm water. For more information on storm water management click here. Green Space & Community Gardens: The City of Cleveland’s Sustainability Program is working to expand green space opportunities and improve the quality of our urban core through increased tree planting and preservation of park lands. Programs like the Summer Sprout program in the Department of Public Health are helping to expand community gardening around the City. Steering Committee: A consortium of local environmental and sustainability organizations helped the City of Cleveland develop the Sustainability Program and obtain funding for it from the Cleveland Foundation and George Gund Foundation. The initiative will be overseen and advised by a steering committee composed initially of the following representatives:
Ohio Partners: Entrepreneurs for Sustainability Cleveland Green Building Coalition Cleveland Clean Air Century Campaign Funders: Resources: American Solar Energy Association American Wind Energy Association Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District Ohio Department of Development, Office of Energy Efficiency Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Contact information:
Philena A. Seldon, Asst to A. Watterson Carl W. (Bill) Eger Frances Crowe DiDonato, Esq.
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We will be conducting a Biodiesel Pilot project to demonstrate a 5% blend of biodiesel in the fleet. We anticipate a smooth trial and will then include the option to purchase 5% biodiesel as part of our future fuel contracts.