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CHICAGO, IL—The innovative Waste to Profit Network, founded by the city with local businesses and other partners in 2006, continues to pay impressive dividends. The Network, managed by the Chicago Manufacturing Center, identifies manufacturing reuses for industrial waste streams. In 2009, the Network’s economic impact totaled $10.7 million in savings and kept more than 115,000 metric tons of waste out of landfills.
BOSTON, MA—A $63 million energy efficiency overhaul to Boston’s public housing—the largest in U.S. history—is underway, upgrading everything from toilets and lighting to outdated heating boilers. The move will lead to massive savings in electricity and water and $7 million for taxpayers. HUD, which pays utility costs for the Boston Housing Authority, has agreed to continue payments for 20 years, and BHA borrowed against those future payments to fund the retrofit.
RACINE, WI—The Midwest’s first property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing program allows Racine homeowners to invest in energy efficiency upgrades with no upfront cost—which they can pay back over time with the money they save from reduced energy use. The $500,000, self- sustaining program will create jobs, and, thanks to a $20 million federal Retrofit Ramp-Up award, the city will establish PACE programs for the commercial and industrial sectors as well. This award will also boost other programs, including the regional Wisconsin Energy Efficiency (WE2) program, which will support retrofit efforts in Milwaukee, Madison, and Racine.
WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY—Starting up energy and climate programs can be a prohibitive expense for many smaller municipalities. So 13 of them formed the Northern Westchester Energy Action Consortium to share costs and staff and collaborate on energy solutions. The Consortium will use stimulus grants to hire a shared consultant to consistently measure greenhouse gas emissions and perform energy-saving measures across the municipalities for the next year.
ASHEVILLE, NC—Through low-cost changes and employee education the city has reduced energy costs for its buildings by $65,000 a year. The changes include switching 180 employees in several divisions to 4-day, 10-hour workweeks, which allows lights and heating/ cooling to be operated 20% less and using software to automatically turn off 500 computers at night.
CHATHAM COUNTY, GA— The county will use $210,000 of a stimulus grant for energy efficiency upgrades in its buildings. A $5,000 upgrade to the water heating system at its courthouse will save an incredible $30,000 per year. Twenty five percent of the savings from these energy improvements will be redirected to fund the creation of 20 new green jobs per year for four years—Project Step Up, a community-based poverty reduction initiative.
TAMPA, FL—Methane, a by-product at the city’s wastewater treatment plant, is captured and used to generate electricity, providing 25% of the treatment plant’s power. The system avoids the need to purchase 1.18 million kWh per year from the grid, saving the city $83,000 annually in operating costs.
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