Green Matters: Richmond is Keeping Score

The City of Richmond is well on its way to meeting its goal of implementing fourteen of the twenty-one Urban Environmental Accords introduced in 2005 on World Environment Day by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, the United Nations Environmental Program, the University of California at Berkeley and a number of environmental groups.

The City of Richmond has partnered with the non-profit organization Solar Richmond to train local youths to install solar panels. This model program has received commendations from both the State and Federal levels. Photo courtesy of SolarRichmond.org

The City of Richmond signed on to the Accords in 2008, thereby pledging to implement as many of the suggested actions as possible by 2012, when the accords’ creators will reconvene to assess participating cities’ efforts.  At that time, a “green star” rating will be assigned to each city based on achievement.

The fourteen Accords committed to by the City of Richmond include a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions citywide by 2030, a 10 percent reduction in the city’s use of electricity during peak hours, a 10 percent reduction in untreated wastewater discharge, and protection of wildlife habitats from unsustainable development. Richmond has also committed to eliminating from municipal use each year one product, chemical or compound that poses a risk to human health.

To that ambitious end, the City of Richmond Environmental Sustainability Team (CREST) was created last September. Under the direction of the City Manager’s office, CREST, which consists of eight staff members representing various city agencies, including Planning and Building Services, Community Redevelopment Agency, Housing Authority, and Public Works, is developing practical strategies for quickly and efficiently implementing the committed-to Accords.

Ahead of the game

Four of the fourteen Accords had already been achieved by the time the City signed on in September.  One of those was the adoption of a municipal green building policy.  Under that policy, green building techniques must be employed for construction and renovation of municipal facilities—the idea is to lead future private construction efforts by example. 

Now, Richmond wishes to expand its focus to include all new construction, residential and commercial, within its city limits.  A pending ordinance backed by Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin would set a green standard to which all new buildings would be required to comply.  Permits would be granted based on a point system, with a certain number of points assigned to a given green element.  For instance, low-flow toilets are worth four points, and a solar water heater is worth ten points.  A minimum of fifty points is required to obtain a permit. 

Last month, the City Council gave the initial go-ahead to move forward with the ordinance.  Some minor changes are being made before the ordinance is presented for final approval.  Assuming it passes, Richmond will be the first city in Contra Costa County to set such a standard. If all goes as planned, the ordinance will go into effect on July 1.

Pushing ahead

Over the course of the last six months, CREST has been working diligently to help the city tackle the other items on its green “to do” list.  And much headway has been made.

Among its laundry list of environmentally conscious accomplishments to date (twenty-nine in all) is the completion of a community-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory.  A municipal inventory is nearly completed.  Last year, the City Council adopted by motion the greenhouse gas emissions targets established by AB32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

The City is also working with the Association of Bay Area Governments’ Energy Watch program to improve lighting efficiency in municipal buildings.  The City’s internal recycling program was beefed up, and a pilot composting program is currently being tested at City Hall and a handful of fire stations.  A marketing campaign geared toward luring green businesses to Richmond has also been initiated.

Richmond has been able to take a lot of cues from neighboring counties that signed on to the Accords prior to 2008, and tweak those counties’ efforts to best suit Richmond’s unique needs.  But Richmond is leading the way in some areas.

The RichmondBUILD program, which provides free solar panel installation training to lower-income residents, has won several awards and is considered a national model for public/private partnerships.  Now, the City intends to expand the program to include green construction and energy efficiency training.

Perhaps best demonstrating Richmond’s commitment to the goal of sustainable urban living are the ongoing green changes being made to its General Plan.  The plan establishes long-term development objectives, taking into account a wide range of factors, including mobility, conservation, parks and open spaces, public safety, education, arts and culture, and preservation of historic resources.

A constant work in progress, the plan has been updated to reflect the City’s ever-greener focus, in particular the focuses on green building techniques and environmentally sustainable urban planning and development.  The new-and-improved General Plan is set to be adopted by the City Council by the end of this year. “It’s literally filled with sustainable principles,” says Administrative Chief Janet Schneider.