What Village of Croton-on-Hudson is doing on climate action in terms of zoning/planning, GHG inventory, and intermunicipal collaboration.

1. Greenhouse Gas
Local Lessons from the Emissions Baseline
Village of Croton-on-Hudson New York
Leo Wiegman mayor
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov
Community-Based Climate Action Strategies
27 October 2009
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Saturday, October 31, 2009 1

2. this slide deck presents
• part #1: what is a greenhouse gas and
why do we care?
• part #2: what is Croton doing?
• part #2a: some zoning/planning actions
• part #2b: baseline emissions inventory
• part #2c: working with neighbors
• part #3: what can a family do?
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 2
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3. #1: what is greenhouse gas?
Concentrations of greenhouse gases from 0 to 2005
400 2000
CH4
1800
1600
CO2 (ppm) and NO2 (ppb)
350
Industrial Age commences 1400
CH4 (ppb)
1200
300
1000
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Nitrous oxide (NO2) 800
Methane (CH4)
250
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Year
(IPCC AR4 WG1 FAQ2 2007 www.ipcc.ch)
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 3
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4. #1: Business as Usual, or...?
(IPCC AR4 WG1 ch10 2007 www.ipcc.ch)
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 4
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5. #1: Trends exceed projections
10 Actual emissions (CDIAC data)
Actual emissions (EIA data)
9 450 ppm scenario
CO2 emissions (GtC/year)
650 ppm scenario
Range within IPCC SRES
8 emission scenarios
7
6
5
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
(Raupach et al PNAS 2007 www.pnas.org)
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 5
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6. 49.0
Gigatons carbon dioxide equivalents p
50
44.7
GHG sources
39.4
40
35.6
#1: 30
28.7
20
(GtCO2eq/year)
60 10
Gigatons carbon dioxide equivalents per year
50 49.0
1970 1980 1990 2000 2004
44.7
39.4 N2O from agriculture and others
40
35.6
CH4 from agriculture, waste and energy
28.7
30 CO2 from deforestation, decay, and peat
CO2 from fossil fuel use and other sources
20
(GtCO2eq/year)
10
1970 1980 1990 2000 2004
N2O from agriculture and others (IPCC AR4 SYR SPM 2007 www.ipcc.ch)
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline energy Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009)
CH4 from agriculture, waste and Inventory: 6
CO2 from deforestation, decay, and peat
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7. Local NY Impact
O U R C H A N G I N G N O R T H E A S T C L I M AT E 7
#1:
e Climates
Upstate New York NYC Tri-State Region
990 •NY winters warmed
rapidly by 4°F between
1961–1990
1961–1990
1970-2000.
39
2010–2039 2010–2039
•Coastal Flooding
2040–2069
2040–2069
2040–2069 2070–2090
•Severe Weather
2070–2090
2040–2069
2070–2090
2070–2090
•Disease Vectors
ario
rio Higher-Emissions Scenario Higher-Emissions Scenario •Asthma Increases
•Loss of Agriculture
Lower-Emissions Scenario Lower-Emissions Scenario
a Eastern Pennsylvania (Frumhoff 2007 Union of Concerned Scientists www.northeastclimateimpacts.org )
Changes in average summer
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov heat index—a measure of how
Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 7
hot it actually feels, given tem-
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8. Why start
here?
“Create a place,
not just a space."
–Mark Hutker, AIA
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 8
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9. #2: what Croton is doing...
•1. Use smart growth concepts in
local zoning and planning;
•2. Inventory our greenhouse gas
emissions;
•3. Build knowledge networks
with neighbors.
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 9
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10. #2: one small example...
•Composter can divert 700 lbs
of organic waste from the
waste stream per year (1/3 of a ton
for an average 4 person household).
•In June 2009, residents
bought 193 composters
capable of recycling 135,100
pounds of organic matter
into useable soil = about 67.5
tons of matter avoided from
the collection process.
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 10
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov
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11. #2a: Smart growth concepts
TRANSPORTATION ENHANCEMENTS PROGRAM
$1.2 Million awarded in 2009 for...
Provision of Facilities for Pedestrians and Bicycles
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 11
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12. #2a: Smart growth=Bike-pedestrian friendly connections
Safer Harmon-to-Station Connections
2,000 parking spaces at village RR lot
400 yards to commercial district
busiest RR station betw. Albany and NYC
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 12
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13. #2a: Smart growth=Transit-oriented development
Harmon mixed-use
zoning bonuses
Offers incentives to redevelop
parcels closer to public
transportation:
0.8 FAR for mixed use
35 ft ht max
15 ft front setback
1st oor retail-prone (60% glass)
shared parking incentives
36 parcels with average
assessment year of 1987.
7 minute walk to RR station.
SEQRA public hearing 11/2/2009
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 13
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14. #2a: Smart growth= Careful density = $ in the bank
1 commercial zone parcel: 2 options
Current zoning FAR 0.5 Proposed zoning FAR 0.8
with 1 story max yields: with 3 story max yields:
- 31 parking spaces for shoppers/owners on + adds 16 parking spaces (50% more!)
prime 30,000 sf corner lot. + adds 9,000 sf new space to rent/sell/tax.(60%
- 15,000 sf of one story building. more for new building of 24,000 sf)
- cost of renovation/redevelopment does not + lowers per square foot construction $.
earn enough to pay for itself. + creates positive cash flow for owner.
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 14
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15. Why
measure?
“If you cannot measure it,
you cannot improve it."
— Lord Kelvin
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 15
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16. #2b: GHG emissions steps
Five-Milestone Methodology
Five-Milestone Methodology
Leadership
Commitment
Milestone 1
Inventory
Emissions
Milestone 2
Establish Target
Milestone 5 Milestone 3
Monitor/Evaluate Develop Climate
Progress Action Plan
Milestone 4
Implement Climate
Action Plan !!!"#$%&#'()"*+,
www.icleiusa.org
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17. #2b: GHG emissions inventory
www.icleiusa.org
•110 hours of staff time to complete the emissions inventory
using ICLEI method for governmental operations (using 2007 data from
village records).
•Some surprises:
•Water delivery is most costly service
•(30% of total energy bill) and 3rd biggest emission source.
•Electric power is really expensive
•and has gone up steeply since 2007 (even for NYPA customers).
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 17
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18. #2b: GHG report in 1 sentence
In 2007 Village of Croton-on-Hudson
•spent ~$521,000 on energy
•emitted ~1,515 tonnes of CO2e emissions
•consumed~17.8 billion Btus from all fuels.
Background info on energy costs:
•Since 2005, energy overall expenses rose ~20% to 2007.
•Since 2007, all fuels have become even more expensive.
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 18
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19. #2b: what’s our tonnes? (table)
Summary Report: 2007 Village government greenhouse gas emissions by sector
(tonnes & MMBtu)
Sectors CO2 N2O CH4 Total gases CO2eq Energy Cost
(tonnes) (kg) (kg) (tonnes) (%) (MMBtu) ($)
Buildings and Facilities 522 3 43 524 35% 6,525 $ 148,552
Fleet (Vehicle+Transit combined) 412 12 10 414 27% 5,700 $ 126,894
Water Delivery Facilities 368 3 20 369 24% 3,583 $ 149,560
Streetlights & Traffic Signals 184 1 8 185 12% 1,698 $ 88,791
Wastewater Facilities 23 0 1 23 2% 252 $ 9,269
Total 1,513 18 82 1,515 100% 17,757 $ 523,066
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 19
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20. #2b: what’s our tonnes? pie chart
2007 greenhouse gas emissions by sector (%)
Wastewater Facilities
2%
$9,269
Streetlights & Traffic Signals
12%
$88,791
Buildings & Facilities The total cost of the energy consumed by each sector
35%
is displayed, together with the percent of the overall
$148,552
Water Delivery Facilities greenhouse gas emissions the energy consumption
24% for that sector produced. We sorted these by largest
$ 149,560 to smallest emission source, with building and
facilities as the #1 emitting sector. Notice that if we
sort by largest to smallest cost, water delivery would
Fleet (vehicle + transit)
27% be #1 most expensive sector, followed by buildings
$126,894 and facilities. (data is from table in prior slide)
www.crotononhudson-ny.gov Lessons from GHG Emissions Baseline Inventory: Communities & Climate Action (Fall 2009) 20
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