Kent Portney's "Our Green Cities" Blog

Good News in Philly

In November, the Philadelphia city council approved a change to the city's charter making the Office of Sustainability a permanent office in city government.  Up until that point, the office, which had been created by Mayor Nutter, existed essentially at the pleasure of the mayor. Undoubtedly because of the incredible work by the office and its director, Katherine Gajewski, the sustainability results achieved there made it relatively easy for the city's policymakers to make this office a permanent part of the administrative landscape there. This decision, and similar decisions in other cities around the country, are testament to the idea that local sustainability is not some sort of fad. It has become an important function of city government, and I expect to see more cities following in Philly's footsteps.  If you read Chapters 7 and 8 in the new edition of my Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously book, you will get the distinct impression that I have been very impressed with what Philadelphia has achieved in its effort to try to become more sustainable.  This is yet more evidence to support that view.

Sustainability in San Antonio

Bill Barker from the San Antonio Office of Sustainability has provide an extensive update to the many impressive initiatives in their effort to try to become more sustainable there.  There is a short summary report available highlighting some of the many new initiatives in San Antonio, including impressive commitments to renewable energy, to energy conservation, and many other sustainability elements.  The summary report is called "SA Keeps Getting Greener," and although the title sounds more like simple marketing, it does provide insight to the very real and substantive efforts being made there. Congratulations to the city and to Barker for the tremendous work being done in San Antonio.

In June, Barker authored the Barker Rivard Report documenting the City's progress on a number of sustainability initiatives, and this is worth reading to see how aggressively the city is moving in a number of important areas. Although there are a number of important improvements, the one that jumped out at me is the commitment the city has made to water conservation, including creating an infrastructure for water recycling and reuse. 

Major Progress in Atlanta Sustainability Policies

Many thanks to Ruthie Norton from the Mayor's Office of Sustainability for keeping me up to date about the many new and impressive sustainability-related policies and programs there.  Most of the recent changes focus on internal city business practices.  City employees now must endeavor to eliminate vehicle idling, to use alternative transportation for work-related trips during business hours, to run all meeting with an eye toward reducing waste and energy, to engage in recycling, and to adhere to new printing standards designed to reduce paper and ink usage.  Aside from being just basic good business practice, this clearly sets the tone for others in Atlanta.  For a summary of these new policies and programs, see the document Atlanta Download Atlanta Sustainable Policy Packet.

As reported by Ruthie, Atlanta also has developed an impressive Better Buildings Challenge (BBC). Led locally by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and initially spearheaded by Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, the goal of the Atlanta BBC is to reduce energy and water consumption by at least 20 percent in participating buildings across Atlanta by 2020.  Also, Mayor Kasim Reed and Denise Starling, executive director of Livable Buckhead, announced in July major expansion of the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge (Atlanta BBC), bringing 41 Buckhead buildings- half of the Buckhead office market- into the energy and water efficiency program, which is administered by the U.S Department of Energy. The Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge now encompasses more than 120 buildings in the city’s three major submarkets, with a total of more than 65 million square feet. The newly added Buckhead buildings represent a 50 percent increase in participation, further building upon Atlanta’s role as the national leader for the program, which is supported by the Department of Energy.

Finally, following the adoption of the revised residential stormwater ordinance in winter of 2013, the City of Atlanta (“the City”) formed the Green Infrastructure Task Force to ensure green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) becomes the norm rather than a bonus.  The task force is in the process of formalizing goals around GSI and identifying key projects to promote.  The multi-departmental taskforce is also focusing on educating key communities, especially where GSI will have a big impact.