New Haven Independent

Office Of Sustainability Proposed

by Melissa Bailey | May 6, 2009 7:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

The city hopes to grab $1.3 million in stimulus money to launch a three-year effort to save energy, cut costs and craft a long-term vision for greener government.

Plans include the creation of the city’s first Office of Sustainability, which would be staffed by a full-time director.

At the Board of Aldermen’s meeting Monday, Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts introduced a proposal to apply for and accept a $1,263,500 grant from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. The program just received a $3.2 billion infusion in the latest federal stimulus bill. New Haven should qualify for the grant based on its population, Smuts said.

The bulk of the grant, $600,000, would be used to make city buildings more energy efficient, according to Smuts’ proposal. The city has been undergoing an “aggressive energy conservation program” for the past 12 years, said Smuts.

“Based on past experience, every dollar spent in these conservation measures will yield many dollars saved in General Fund costs,” he reckoned.

The money may prove useful in one problem the city has been working on: As it ends an inefficient, costly, 20-year agreement with the Chase company to buy energy to heat and cool City Hall, the city is considering building its own power plant, which could be paid for in part by the stimulus funds. The city hasn’t decided if it will build the plant; it’s still negotiating with Chase to work out a solution, Smuts said.

Another $300,000 of the federal grant would be used to help New Haveners do energy audits and make green improvements to their homes and businesses. Programs already exist through United Illuminating and the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund to offset costs for people who add solar panels or retrofit buildings to conserve energy. The stimulus money would be used to “publicize and augment” these programs, said Smuts.

Office Of Sustainability

A remaining $300,000 of the grant would go towards the creation of the new Office of Sustainability. The office would be staffed by a full-time director, who would report to the Chief Administrator’s Office, Smuts said.

The director would launch a campaign of public outreach and education to increase participation in the city’s recycling programs. The director would also draft a comprehensive strategy for energy efficiency and conservation.

“This is meaningful, innovative, good government,” applauded East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar. Lemar has been a vocal advocate of the sustainability office since the idea was first floated five years ago. He argued that the city needs to articulate a clear vision for sustainability instead of taking a hodge-podge approach to environmental reform.

In creating the office, the city would follow in the footsteps of Yale University, which established its own sustainability office in 2005, headed by Julie Newman. Newman said her office has integrated the concept of sustainability across the university, working on best practices for energy, operations, design and construction, waste management, and green cleaning. Over the past five years, Newman has helped Yale take a lead on the issue, in part through a public commitment to reduce Yale’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Newman said Yale has worked nationally and internationally to encourage other universities to follow suit. She recently flew to China and ran a workshop for 34 Chinese universities to help them come up with sustainability plans.

Newman’s office has “positioned Yale as a global leader in sustainability,” remarked Lemar. “We need someone who would do the same for the City of New Haven as well, to position the city as a global leader in sustainability.”

Newman welcomed the prospect of working more closely with the city on green issues.

“Once the city has a point person, we’ll be better able to coordinate our efforts,” she said. She said Yale and New Haven could become a national model for for town-gown cooperation on sustainability issues.

In his proposal establishing the city’s sustainability office, Smuts put in an initial request to fund a new director’s position at $62,000 per year. He said the city is also applying to other small grants to boost that salary, and hopefully add another position to the office.

Creating a new position in a dire budget year would not have been possible without stimulus money, Smuts said.

“It would have been very hard to make the case” to create the position with general funds in the wake of recent layoffs, Smuts said. That’s why the city is funding the position with special funds, he said.

The structure of the Office of Sustainability will be fleshed out as the submission comes before the City Services and Environmental Policy Committee for a public hearing.

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Comments

Posted by: Christopher Zurcher | May 6, 2009 11:26 AM

This would be a progressive move by a premier city and would take New Haven a step closer to having its own climate action plan, sustainable city government, waste prevention and recycling, energy efficiency, renewable energy, green building, green jobs, and sustainable food initiatives, and maybe even a sustainable development commission? I think it would also help put New Haven in the forefront of a national movement toward greening this country's cities and making them healthy, livable places. Just do it.

Posted by: anon | May 6, 2009 11:59 AM

New Haven does not have to pioneer this. There are many examples of very successful citywide greenhouse gas emission and sustainability plans. Portland, Oregon was one of the early innovators. These plans help the community focus on creating initiatives that have a meaningful, measurable impact on the city's long-term financial and environmental sustainability and health.

With its environmental and forestry school, supposedly the best in the world, New Haven should have done this years ago.

It is important to include individual family health and security in any discussions of sustainability or "green" initiatives. Many people think that sustainability costs more money. But the reality is that, with a properly targeted plan, initiatives such as recycling, energy conservation, and sustainable transportation can actually save individual New Haven families hundreds if not thousands of dollars per year. For example, creating a citywide network of pedestrian/bicycle streets, or raising parking fees, could encourage residents to walk, bike and take transit more often. The result would be a lot more money spent locally and saved by families, not to mention better air quality. There is a direct relationship between sustainability and family success.

BTW our addiction to gasoline doesn't just destroy the environment and kill people, it also results in $700 billion being sent per year to Saudi Arabia, never to return. That's like an "economic stimulus package" disappearing every year.

Posted by: JT | May 6, 2009 12:27 PM

Great Job Roland and Rob! I know the Mayor was not excited about the idea at first, but you guys are great and kept up the pressure! New Haven is lucky to have the two of you pushing on this!

Posted by: lance | May 6, 2009 12:48 PM

City agency not trusted to handle federal funds

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/05/06/news/new_haven/doc4a0156cf9ecab738510001.txt

Posted by: City Hall Watch | May 6, 2009 1:31 PM

This is another program, launched with a grant and at the end, will be added to the general fund where the program will be sustained by the taxpayer. Is there no better way to do this?

Posted by: anon | May 6, 2009 1:33 PM

The city's new sustainability coordinator could have his/her hands full working full-time on sustainable transportation. Even just writing grants for this could easily take up a full time job.

Giving people more realistic options for alternative transportation would do more for the environment than any number of new blue bins or recycled paper bags.

Maybe the city should consider poaching one of Copenhagen's 23 full-time sustainable transportation planners to fill this position, like what New York City did.

Posted by: JT | May 6, 2009 1:56 PM

Lance,

That is not a City agency - terrible headline - the CAA is just an agency within the City, it has no affiliation with the City of New Haven.

Posted by: jawbone | May 6, 2009 2:32 PM

JT,
Worst New Haven Register headline ever?
"I Want My Liver Back!"
Remember that one from a couple of months ago?

Posted by: lance | May 6, 2009 2:52 PM

city merely means "local".

Either way, this "intiative" is merely another entitlement hustle. Home improvements on one persons house paid for out of another person's pocket.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | May 6, 2009 3:57 PM

City Hall Watch I was wondering the same thing

Posted by: anon | May 6, 2009 8:57 PM

CHW and CHR have valid concerns. Rather than create a new office with temporary money, perhaps a better tack would be to assign the coordinator to an existing, permanent city office.

City plan should be coordinating issues like these, which have to do with long term health, economics, and energy use within the city. Ideally zoning, transportation, schools and public works need to be incorporated as well, since those have more of an impact on sustainability than anything else (particularly zoning and transportation). It is quite likely that the planners are a bit understaffed and haven't been able to devote as much time to long term planning issues as they would like to, but it's time to start.

Why not assign a sustainability coordinator there, and have them become a part of the city's necessary responsibilities, regardless of where the money comes from?

Posted by: abg | May 7, 2009 12:43 AM

the City could (and should) save enough from energy efficiency improvements and better utilization of recycling programs to pay for the sustainability office and then some

Posted by: jawbone | May 8, 2009 11:19 AM

The City of San Francisco makes a ton of money through their mandatory home waste recycling program. Residents are required to put out their cans and bottles because the city sells them off.
Not sure how hard it is for them to police.
It is San Fran. after all so most people probably comply. Here, we'd all be grabbing our muskets because being forced to do the right thing would mean that our right to not do the right thing would be all trod on...
Live free or Die, Baby. Don't Tread on Me, Baby.
Gotta luv New England.

Office Of Sustainability Proposed

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