EDUCATION & OUTREACH
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
-Dr. Seuss, the Lorax
The Queen City is filled with opportunities to learn about sustainable behavior – from the Greenest Zoo in America, to the region’s sustainability alliance in Green Umbrella, to the numerous environmental education programs available through the Cincinnati Nature Center, Great Parks of Hamilton County, Cincinnati Parks, the Civic Garden Center, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, local schools, universities and more. However, when it comes to sustainable behaviors, we recognize that nothing will get better - change will not occur - if we can’t find the inspiration to change ourselves. Accessible education is key to inspiring Cincinnatians to make sustainable behavior choices and be stewards of the environment.
Voice and participation are among the most important aspects of education. We would not be a comprehensive task team without the input, perspective, and expertise of our community. Therefore, we asked our Cincinnati community to share their voice, ideas, and passion for education and advocacy regarding the Green Cincinnati Plan. Task team meetings, written suggestions and feedback, conversations with experts in the field, were all included in this input and development process.
Together we identified a range of opportunities for encouraging, incentivizing, and educating about sustainable behavior change. This plan outlines these strategies, which include engaging the business community and neighborhoods through green certification programs; supporting public/private partnerships to help train and attract the next generation of sustainability professionals; developing a sustainability fund; and building a green business incubator.
Research and experience shows that behavior change can and does happen – especially with education and communication. A key to this plan’s success will be effective outreach and engagement of our communities. We have to tell our sustainability story, and show how easy it is to be a part of it!
FiaTurczynewycz
Cincinnati Zoo
Education Team Lead
Goals
1) REGISTER 100 BUSINESSES IN A GREEN BUSINESS CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.
2) ESTABLISH $1M IN A GREEN CINCINNATI FUND TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES.
3) AT LEAST 75% OF CITY RESIDENTS CAN NAME AT LEAST 3 ACTIONS THEY ARE DOING TO BE GREEN/PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY.
Recommendations
1. Install solar panels on Cincinnati Public Schools facilities.
What is it and why is it important to Cincinnati?
The City of Cincinnati will work with Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) to identify opportunities to install solar panels on school facilities for renewable energy generation. CPS has the ability to greatly reduce their carbon emissions by using the roofs of their facilities to generate energy that can be fed into the building, and potentially reduce operating costs. The City will work with CPS to explore financing options to implement solar with minimal cost. Solar panels can be incorporated into school curricula to serve as an educational tool for students of all ages and in many different disciplines.
Examples in Cincinnati and peer cities.
●North College Hill High School (North College Hill City School District)
- System Size: 50.4 kW
- Year Installed: 2011
- Provides 5% of total school power
●Tucson Unified School District (top in the nation, on-site generation)
- Annual Solar Power Usage: 22,056,172 kWh (on-site generation)
- Provides 25% of total school district power
●Arlington County Public Schools (example in climate/weather more similar to OH)
- Public school system with 36 campuses and several support buildings
- Annual Solar (and some wind) Power Usage: 5,342,483 kWh
▪On-site generation: 734,483 kWh
▪Green Pricing: 4,608,000
- Provides 10% of total school district power
Who will be taking the leading roles on this project?
●The City will work with CPS to explore feasibility and financing.
Who is the target audience?
●CPS facility managers
●CPS administrators
What is the City of Cincinnati’s role in implementation?
The City will work to provide assistance to CPS in adding solar panels by educating them on different financing methods to reduce the cost as well as helping to promote the solar panels and the benefits that come along with them.
Is it Feasible?
●Feasibility: Medium
- This recommendation will be moderately difficult. The technology and economics work, but each project has its own site-related issues and requires leadership support.
How much would it cost?
Cost / Benefit / Cost Benefit Ratio$10-12 million after tax credits / $1.24 million/year / 8-10 year ROI
Constructing 10 MW of solar on school facilities is expected to cost approximately $10M after federal tax incentives. It is expected to produce 13 million kWh of electricity per year. This gives the energy generated by the solar panels a value of $1.24 million per year. [1]. Financing for the solar installations may be accomplished through a variety of financing options or ownership structures. If owned by a private entity, the solar array will be eligible for a 30% federal tax credit and other tax benefits, substantially reducing the price [2].
[1] Ran Fu, Chung, Donald, Travis Lowder, David Feldman, Kristen Ardani, Robert Margolis. 2016. US Solar Photovoltaic System Cost Benchmark: Q1 Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-6A20- 66532 https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/66532.pdf Accessed 8/31/2017
[2] DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency). 2016. Accessed 8/31.
Keys To Equity:
●Implement throughout different parts of the city
●Promote panels on elementary, middle, and high schools
Timeline for Implementation
●This recommendation will take 3 to 4 years to implement.
Greenhouse Gas Impact
Annual Carbon Reduction Potential
2018 / 2023 / 20500 mtCO2e / 9,500 mtCO2e / 9,500 mtCO2e
The 10 MW solar array will not be completed in 2018. When completed in 2019-2020, the arrays will abate approximately 9,500 mtCO2e annually.
2. Outreach to multi-family buildings to educate residents of sustainability programs and benefits.
What is it and why is it important to Cincinnati?
Cincinnati has a large number of multi-family structures, including apartment buildings and condos. Multi-family structures present unique challenges for sustainability programs, especially when the occupants are low income tenants, and when the buildings have high turnover rates. Common communication tools like postcards, door hangers, utility bill inserts, and door-knocking often fail to reach multi-family tenants. Due to their inaccessibility, multi-family tenants can be less aware of sustainable efforts, such as recycling. City programs are often targeted at the property owner. The City must work with property owners to have them educate their residents.
The City will develop an educational campaign for multi-family buildings to inform residents of the money saving opportunities and environmental benefits of pursuing a green lifestyle. Living “green” often simply means conservingresources and thinking of the impact of everyday behaviors. The City will target both residents and property owners with this program. Encouraging green lifestyles for residents creates money saving opportunities for property owners, giving them an incentive to educate their tenants.
Landlords can incentivize behaviors like recycling, which reduce the landlord’s cost for trash removal, by offering reduced monthly rates for residents who practice green behaviors. For low income residents, this gives them an easy way to put a little bit of money back in their pockets each week. Pursuing these educational programs will help to make Cincinnati a more sustainable City, offering residents health, lifestyle, and economic benefits.
Examples in Cincinnati and Peer Cities
● Madison, WI
- The City of Madison is working to educate developers and the community on the existing models of mixed-use multi-family buildings with a special focus on providing support for low-income residents.
●Pittsburgh, PA
- The City of Pittsburgh is working with landlords of commercial and multifamily residential buildings to engage them with energy conservation programming.
Who will be taking the leading roles on this project?
●Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance
●Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority
●Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Apartment Association
●Real Estate Investors Association
●Empower
Who is the target audience?
●Owners of multi-family dwellings
●Building managers of multi-family dwellings
●Residents of multi-family dwellings
What is the City of Cincinnati’s role in implementation?
●The City of Cincinnati will work with building owners and building managers to encourage sustainable behavior by tenants. The City will work with these partners to create educational campaigns that specifically target residents in multi-family dwellings and the unique challenges they face when trying to live more sustainably.
Is it feasible?
●Feasibility: Hard
- Much of the City’s existing programming around sustainable behaviors is geared toward home owners. New programming will have to be created that specifically addresses the unique issues faced by residents of multi-family dwellings.
●Obstacles:
- When addressing the issues in multi-family dwellings, it can be difficult to connect directly with the residents. Therefore, the City must work with local partners to create incentives for landlords to educate their tenants about the benefits of living more sustainably.
How much will it cost?
Cost / Benefit / Cost-Benefit Ratio$40,000 / $144,000 / 1 : 3.5
To implement sustainability programming for multi-family dwellings, the City will hire a part-time employee to lead the campaign. The cost of the employee would be $25,000. There will be an additional $15,000 given to create signage, handouts, and programming for multi-family buildings. This brings the total cost to $40,000 to implement this recommendation.
As a result of the City’s door knocking campaign to increase recycling rates in neighborhoods, there was a 4% increase in recycling rates from face to face conversations. We would expect to see similar results in a campaign targeted at multi-family dwellings. There are currently about 60,000 occupied residences in multi-family structures in Cincinnati. If 4% of those residences, 2,400 households, decrease their energy use by 10%, they would save $60 annually. $60 of savings across 2,400 households would result in $144,000 of savings for Cincinnati residents.
Keys to Equity
For residents living in multi-family dwellings who are struggling to put food on their tables or pay rent month to month, education around sustainable habits can help them to reduce their monthly costs. This is especially true for those tenants who pay their own electricity and water bills because living sustainably means using less of these resources. Some landlords may offer small incentives to those who do things such as recycling because it is cheaper for the landlord to send waste to the recycling plant rather than the landfill.
Timeline for implementation
●Expected: 3 - 4 years
- The first step will be to educate landlords and building managers on the benefits of making their buildings more sustainable. The City can then use those partnerships to directly reach out to the families of multi-family dwellings to educate them of the benefits they can receive from living a more sustainable lifestyle.
Greenhouse Gas Impact
Annual Carbon Reduction Potential
2018 / 2023 / 2050960 mtCO2e / 960 mtCO2e / 960 mtCO2e
This recommendation will help reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of multi-family buildings in Cincinnati by reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy and water sectors.
As a result of the City’s door knocking campaign to increase recycling rates in neighborhoods, there was a 4% increase in recycling rates. We would expect to see similar results in a campaign targeted at multi-family dwellings and energy usage. There are currently about 60,000 occupied residences in multi-family structures in Cincinnati. If 4% of these households reduced their energy use by 10%, it would eliminate 960 tons of CO2 emissions each year.
3. Create a "Green Cincinnati Fund" to finance sustainability initiatives.
What is it and why is it important to Cincinnati?
The purpose of the Green Cincinnati Fund (GCF) will be to support the implementation of the Green Cincinnati Plan and to finance sustainability initiatives perpetually into the future. Funds will be raised through regional partners including institutions, corporations, foundations and community members. Separation of the GCF from the municipal budget will ensure that funds are used to transform Cincinnati into a green city. The GCF would: assist in gap financing for sustainability projects; support environmental education, boosting City’s ability to communicate new sustainability initiatives; and assist the region in development of built environment, new transit opportunities, community outreach and to further enhance our natural systems.
The Fund will be administered by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation in partnership with the Office of Environment and Sustainability. A professional fundraising associate may help to facilitate generation of funds, at least to get the GCF started. The GCF would give the Office of Environment and Sustainability greater flexibility in project selection, planning and execution.
Who will be taking the leading roles on this project?
●Office of Environment and Sustainability
●Greater Cincinnati Foundation
Who is the target audience?
●Individual and Institutional donors
What is the City of Cincinnati’s role in implementation?
The City will work with partners to form the GCF, secure contributions, and oversee the use of funds.
Is it Feasible?
●Feasibility: Easy
- A feasibility study commissioned by the Office of Environment and Sustainability determined that there is sufficient interest in the philanthropic community to justify creating the GCF.
●Obstacles:
- The City will need to have clear parameters for where the money is going and what it takes for one to receive funding. Few people will be willing to donate not knowing where their money is going.
How much would it cost?
Cost / Benefit / Cost Benefit Ratio$25,000 / $100,000 / 1:4
Cost is based on a half-time fundraiser
Benefits are based on the findings of a feasibility study
The GCF would rely on donations for its funding. There is very little direct costs to City Government. Hiring a professional fundraising consultant would enhance the ability of the Fund to attract donations, especially at the outset, but is not imperative. Green financing and sustainability related projects are likely to attract donors with knowledge in the field and donors are likely to want to hear from the person who has a detailed understanding of where the money is going and how that would benefit the community and region. A fundraising professional may not be as well versed in these areas of expertise. It is likely that the largest costs are the time devoted by the administrator(s) of the fund for both establishment and fundraising.
A feasibility report was conducted in 2014 which concluded that it was likely that the GCF would raise at least $100,000.
[1] “The Cincinnati Sustainability Foundation Feasibility Study”. Seth Walsh Consulting LLC. 5/10/ 2014. Accessed 11/9/2017.
Keys to Equity
The GCF is a mechanism to finance the implementation of other recommendations in the Green Cincinnati Plan. If the Plan is successful in addressing equity, then the work funded by the GCF will address equity.
Timeline for Implementation
●Expected: 1 - 2 years
- The target is to create the fund and receive initial contributions within the first year following adoption of the Plan. The assets of the Fund and impact of the Fund are expected to grow over time.
Greenhouse Gas Impact
The GCF will help to implement other recommendations in the Plan. It does not have a direct effect on GHG emissions.
4. Develop a Green Business/Neighborhood Certification program.
What is it and why is it important to Cincinnati?
A Green Business/Neighborhood Certification and Recognition program will provide institutions, businesses, organizations and individuals an opportunity to be recognized for practicing sustainable behaviors. The program will provide participants with tools and resources they need to lower their impact on the environment and adopt green practices. It will offer sustainability recommendations specifically crafted to the needs of each member. New members will make pledges to lower water use, reduce waste, conserve energy and make overall efforts to live and work in a more sustainable way.
The program will host events and offer educational services to spread awareness and offer suggestions on the best ways to go green. Many people do not live green lifestyles because they do not see the immediate benefits. Through the education of its members, the program will provide people a reason to live sustainably and raise awareness throughout the City. Sustainable practices encouraged by this program will help reduce costs by improving efficiency, creating benefits for participants and the environment.
For businesses and institutions, being awarded the status of a green organization will provide positive press and recognition among Cincinnati communities. This identification will attract new customers and allow organizations to educate those that visit about the benefits of sustainable practices.
Sustainability is a grassroots movement. All members of a green recognition program will be advocates for sustainability for their peers, clients, and friends. Creating a program that is open to everyone will spread sustainable practices throughout the City and help to make Cincinnati a better place to live. The Columbus Green Spot Program and Dayton Bring Your Green Challenge are two examples of successful Green Business Certification/Recognition programs.
Examples in Cincinnati and Peer Cities
●Columbus, OH
- Green Spot
●Dayton, OH
- Bring Your Green
Who will be taking the leading roles on this project?
●Office of Environment and Sustainability
●Greater Cincinnati Green Business Council
●Green Umbrella
Who is the target audience?
●Businesses
●Residents
●Institutions
What is the City of Cincinnati’s role in implementation?
The City of Cincinnati and partners will recognize businesses, organizations, and residents who are achieving sustainable practices and make these recognitions public knowledge so these organizations and individuals can be recognized for their accomplishments.
Is it feasible?
●Feasibility: Medium
- The City will be able to develop a green certification program, but it will take time to ensure this certification is recognized City-wide and carries significance.
●Obstacles: