Greensboro, NC, produces $30,000 worth of landfill methane per year

The Achievement

In 1995, the City of Greensboro, NC, entered into an agreement with Duke Energy to develop a renewable energy recovery system. This system collects and transports methane gas that is created by the decomposition of organic materials found in the landfill. The gas is collected from the landfill through a series of pipes that have been placed below the surface of the waste. The gas is then transported to the program’s industrial partner, Cone Mills, by way of a three-mile pipeline. The gas is burned in boilers to generate steam in order to operate machinery in the Cone Mills’ textile plant. The methane is sold to Cone Mills at a lower cost than other natural gases, thereby lowering their utility costs.

The Benefit

Historically, the City of Greensboro has received around $30,000 annually from the sale of the landfill gas.

Boise, ID, heats 366 buildings with geothermal energy

The Achievement

Boise, ID, uses geothermal resources underlying the downtown area to heat a total of 366 homes, businesses, and public buildings using four geothermal systems. Boise also has the only state capitol building in the U.S. that is heated by geothermal water.

Roanoke, Va., provides free bus service for students

The Achievement

In July 2007, the City of Roanoke, Va., collaborated with Roanoke City Public Schools to offer Valley Metro bus service at no cost to students between ages 12 and 18. The program continues to be successful, and during summer 2008, the Valley Metro system averaged 26,000 student trips per month.

The Benefits

Seattle, WA, develops incentives for LEED-certified construction

The Achievement

Saint Louis County, Minn. saves $20,000 on parking garage bills

The Accomplishment

Saint Louis County painted the interior of a parking garage white as part of routine maintenance, and turned off one half of the lights and dimming the rest.

The Benefit

El Cerrito, CA, Builds LEED-Certified City Hall

The Achievement

El Cerrito, CA, has built a “green” City Hall, scheduled to open in October, 2008. The building features water-saving faucets, sensored lights, large windows, recycled wood, renewable materials, and sustainably produced paint, carpets, and counter tops. The two-story structure will house all city departments except police, fire, and recreation. The city is also proud to house its earthquake emergency operations center in City Hall, and in general create a healthy work environment that will save the city money and energy over time.

Although not planned, the city received a LEED certification award for the building through additional efforts such as the use of nontoxic cleaning materials and preferred parking for alternative-fuel vehicles; a solar panel system will also likely be installed in the near future.

San Jose, Calif., sets new green building standards

The Achievement

In September 2008, San Jose, Calif., adopted a green building policy to reduce energy and water consumption in new residential, commercial and industrial construction projects. The policy is a step forward for San Jose’s Green Vision, which sets a goal that 50 million square feet of buildings built or retrofitted in the City will be “green” within 15 years.
The San Jose green building policy stipulates the following:

• Checklists based on the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) or Build It Green's GreenPoint standards are to be used for all new buildings regardless of type or size.
• Commercial and industrial buildings that are 25,000 square feet or more must meet LEED Silver standards.
• Residential developments of 10 or more units are to meet basic LEED certification standards or achieve 50 points under the GreenPoint rating system.
• Housing structures that are 75 feet high or taller are required to meet basic LEED standards.
• Starting in 2012, commercial and industrial buildings of 10,000 square feet or more and residential buildings 75 feet high or taller must meet LEED Silver standards.

Ashland, OR, installs solar arrays on public buildings

The Achievement

Ashland, OR, has worked with the Bonneville Environment Foundation to install numerous solar arrays in such places as the Southern Oregon University Library, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Administration Building, Ashland City Council Chambers and Ashland Police Station.  The output from the solar arrays is sold locally by Ashland's municipal utility to local subscribers, delivered to the grid as generic power, and used for resale as green power.

Lexington-Fayette Greens its Government Purchasing

The Achievements

Using less, reusing items and buying recycled content products are all part of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government’s (LFUCG) environmentally preferable purchasing strategy.

• The LFUCG has implemented a formal policy requiring purchase of ENERGY STAR rated equipment when available. The LFUCG now routinely purchases many energy-efficient items including EPA ENERGY STAR-rated computers and office equipment, as well LED exit signs, LED scoreboards, LED traffic signal modules, electronic fluorescent light ballasts, programmable thermostats., and low-mercury-content (green tip) fluorescent bulbs.
• In 2007, the LFUCG began an initiative to buy 30 percent post-consumer recycled content paper as our “default” paper for printers and copiers. The LFUCG uses approximately 3,000 cartons (15 million sheets) a year of copy paper, and switching to recycled content paper reduced the amount of wood required to produce this paper by 83 tons, the amount of energy required by 398 million BTU, the amount of greenhouse gases generated by 50,000 pounds, the amount of wastewater generated by 208,000 gallons, and the amount of waste by 27,000 pounds annually.
• LFUCG is required to purchase furnaces with a 90% or higher efficiency rating and 13 SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) air conditioners.
• LFUCG purchases recycled content paper towels and tissue, non-treated lumber, and water-based traffic marking paint.
• The LFUCG reuses many items including using empty traffic marking paint barrels for asbestos and lead abatement, metal street signs as blanks for new street signs, and crushed glass from the Recycling Center for landfill closure activities.
• The LFUCG also took steps to reduce the number of printers in the Government Center, Police Headquarters, the Phoenix Building and the Switow Building from 527 to 127 (a 75 percent reduction), which saves resources.

[Source: Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government website]

Kansas City, MO, Continues to Expand Recycling Efforts

The Achievements

In 2006, Kansas City’s residential curbside recycling program collected 19,000 tons of materials, an 18 percent increase from 2005. The city also added recycling bins in several business districts. It recently initiated a program to recycle food waste at the City Market. The waste is now used to create premium market-ready compost.

The Household Hazardous Waste Center, which was built in 1996, takes up to one million pounds of materials annually. It also runs a swap shop where good paints and other products are offered to the public for free.

In 2005, the city began recycling at Kansas City International Airport. During the first year, it kept 9 tons of waste from entering landfills. In 2007, the total grew to 191 tons.