Sustainable Cities Institute - Pilot City Program

NLC's Sustainability Team Welcomes SCI

vasudevan@nlc.org (RVasudevan) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:58:40 +0000

As one of the leading paradigms of our time, the concept of sustainability has in recent years become increasingly popular within the mainstream – from business communities, to households, and of particular note, cities. Given its nebulous charge, however -- to strategically balance economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental protection in such a manner that each enhances the other-- it is no surprise that too often, the path leading from the conceptual to the actual can quickly become a bewildering process at best (an abstract ideology, prone to misinterpretations at worst). For cities interested in learning more about the issues or implementing direct actions that will have long-term impacts on their communities, the need for practical, timely, and trusted resources is critical. The challenge therefore for city sustainability leaders often becomes not one of finding information, but rather in sorting through it to identify the tools, ideas, and strategies that they can take back to their communities.

The National League of Cities’ Sustainability Program was developed in part to help cities navigate through the important (but increasingly ‘loud’) landscape of sustainability and is thrilled to now be the home of the Sustainable Cities Institute (SCI). A dynamic online platform, SCI offers a convenient “one-stop shop” of practical and reliable resources to help cities and city leaders get started with and continually advance sustainability initiatives. The comprehensive nature of the site presents us with a unique opportunity to demonstrate important linkages across various sustainability topic areas, while also delving into greater depth on each. The SCI site and the range of carefully vetted resources on it-- including city profiles, case studies, model legislation, and reports-- offers something for all users interested in promoting locally-led sustainability, from a leader who wants a better understanding of what it means for a city to be sustainable, to a sustainability officer looking to learn from peers, address new issue areas and continually strengthen their efforts.

Since 2009, NLC has witnessed this tool develop into a carefully vetted “go- to” resource on city sustainability. Our hope is that moving forward, its reputation will only grow as an increasing number of elected leaders, city staff, and sustainability professionals turn to SCI as a means to boost the sustainability work that their own city is doing; to learn from best practices around the country; and to network with their peers.

In the coming months, NLC staff will work closely with city leaders and staff engaged in sustainability, partners that have been critical to the ongoing development of the site, and site users to conduct an in-depth assessment of current resources and identify ways to further develop this exciting resource.

As an SCI user, we value your feedback. Please email us at sustainability@nlc.org if you would like to be involved in this assessment process; if you have a sustainability story from your city that you would like to share; or if you have any questions or feedback about the site itself. We look forward to continuing this journey with you!

-NLC’s Sustainability Team

The Greening of the Real Estate Industry

lcolley@southface.org (Lauren Colley) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:18:38 +0000

By Edward T. McMahon

Nothing demonstrates the disconnect between politicians and the marketplace more than the current debate about climate change and U.S. energy policy.

Before Christmas, Congress passed a measure barring the U.S. Department of Energy from enforcing a ban on incandescent lightbulbs. The original measure, passed in 2007 with bipartisan support and signed into law by President George W. Bush, required a switch to more energy-efficient bulbs beginning in January 2012. Following this directive, the U.S. lighting industry began to produce a wide array of new energy-efficient lightbulbs that save consumers money (almost $90 per year) and have gained market share.

But in late 2011, when Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators attacked the ban on incandescent lightbulbs as an infringement on individual rights, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives rushed to overturn the Bush-era measure.

Ironically, the leading opponent of the House action was not the environmental community, but rather the lighting industry, which had spent years shifting its research and production from incandescent bulbs to more efficient halogen, compact fluorescent, and LED bulbs.

"American manufacturers have invested millions of dollars in transitioning to energy-efficient lighting," says Joseph Higbee, spokesman for theNational Electrical Manufacturers Association, an industry group. "Delay in enforcement undermines these investments and creates regulatory uncertainty."

Enjoy more of this article at Urban Land.

Ed McMahon is a Senior Resident Fellow and the Charles E. Fraser Chair on Sustainable Development at the Urban Land Institute. Mr. McMahon also serves on the Sustainable Cities Institute Advisory Board.

Help us to help you!

lcolley@southface.org (Lauren Colley) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:30:29 +0000

SCI is seeking your valuable input on how it can better serve its growing community. Would you please take a few minutes to complete a brief survey?

Clicking on the link below will take you to the questionnaire. The survey should take no more than 5 minutes of your time. However, if you are unable to complete the questionnaire in one sitting, exit and use the link to return to it at a later time. Your responses will be saved for you, and will be kept confidential.

Click here to being the survey.

Thanks in advance for your input,

The SCI Team

EPA Releases Data Carbon Emitters

lcolley@southface.org (Lauren Colley) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:18:49 +0000

The Fisk Generating Station in Pilsen is the second biggest greenhouse gas emitter in Chicago, after the Crawford power plant. Photo credit: Flickr (Swanksalot), Creative Commons Attribution.

By Center for Neighborhood Technology

Communities in the United States have a useful new data resource to help them with climate and sustainability planning. The U.S. EPA requires facilities emitting over 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually to report emissions, and it has just released 2010 reported data to the public.

The maps and charts at http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgdata/index.html can help a community identify large sources of emissions in their area. This is especially important in small communities, where a large emitter, such as a power plant or landfill that supplies the region, might make up the majority of the community’s greenhouse gas footprint.

Public access to these data is important for all stakeholders working to improve the sustainability of their communities. CNT plans to make use of these new data in its work supporting sustainable economic development in communities and supports the further public release of place-based data like this by government agencies.

Thank you from the SCI Team!

lcolley@southface.org (Lauren Colley) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:36:48 +0000

2011 has been an amazing year for the Sustainable Cities Institute--we've expanded resources provided on the website, seen great success in the City Program, and found an exciting new home with the National League of Cities.

We would not have realized half of this success without support from The Home Depot Foundation, the SCI Advisory Board, Urban Sustainability Directors Network, Center for Neighborhood Technology, ICLEI, a host of incredible content partners, and you, our valued members. Thanks to all for your guidance and invaluable input!

As proud as we are of this year's accomplishments, we're just as excited about 2012 as we strive to strengthen our support for sustainable cities. That said, keep your eyes open for the SCI 2011 Survey--we are anxious to hear from you so that we can better serve our growing community in 2012.

Until then, may your cities be increasingly green.

Happy New Year,

The SCI Team

The Gold Rush Cities of the Future

lcolley@southface.org (Lauren Colley) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:48:26 +0000

The magazine of the American Institute of Architects recently honored me with a feature in their Voices section. Voices has been loaded lately with stories like mine in which members are taking non-traditional career paths. As Program Manager, I was responsible for managing the creative process of building the virtual Sustainable Cities Institute---that much I knew. Managing websites, not so much.

I have received kudos for my comments in this feature: “..there are missed opportunities in sustainable design such as responses to the natural forces of sun, wind and rain…if we find our forms inside those systems we would have a more meaningful architecture”. In the world of sustainable building, there are many examples of certified buildings which use no less energy than their uncertified counterparts. This is a trap we need to avoid.

Metrics are of course an integral part of the Urban Sustainability movement, but measurement for measurement's sake gets us nowhere. Alternately, we need to get to “know-where”, and fast. Cities with robust sustainability movements are the gold rush cities of the future. They feel different. In selecting our pilots for the SCI City Program we reviewed applications from 34 cities, and thoroughly fact-checked the finalists. They are amazingly ahead of the game. Places not known for sustainability impressed us most. Charleston, South Carolina and Fayetteville, Arkansas ultimately received the coverted grants, but SCI was so impressed with Ann Arbor, Michigan and Salt Lake City, Utah's applications that we decided to partially funded their proposed projects. Likewise, the SCI Pilot City semi-finalists should not be overlooked. Cities such as Dubuque Iowa, Columbia, Missouri, and Savannah, Georgia all are making great strides, and their economies are showing the benefits of thinking sustainably.

These cities are responding to their unique challenges in creative ways, and as many sustainability professionals and organizations have found, there are few comparable benchmarks for cities. Like architecture that finds its meaning in its genius loci (spirit of place), meaningful sustainability is found in its response to unique conditions.

The amount of diverted waste, tons co2 equivalent saved, or gallons of water re-used are all important measures, but the most important is the measdure by which citizens step up and say “we can be better”.

BECC 2011: Key takeaways from USDN (Part 6 of 6)

lcolley@southface.org (Lauren Colley) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:29:58 +0000

By Alice Kennedy
To improve our knowledge base, I attended the Behavior, Energy, and Climate Change conference (BECC) in Washington, DC. There, I had the chance to hear from a wide variety of presenters (including Douglas McKenzie-Mohr and David Gershon) who represented the roles of government, private sector, and academics in the broad discussion of climate change. Just as our AmeriCorps members use the books above as tools, the BECC conference provided me with a massive toolbox of information that can be used in our quest to change the energy usage habits of Baltimore City employees, residents, schools, and businesses.

Changing behavior is not easy, as we all know. For some, the word “change” invokes immediate fear. In fact, personally, I had such a fear of change that it was the topic of my senior speech in high school. So, it is ironic that I now spend a majority of my time studying behavioral science and implementing programs specifically geared to influencing behavior change. I spent time on the train back to Baltimore reflecting on the point above, and asked myself the following questions: How do I communicate my own personal experience of learning to accept and embrace change? What behaviors do I still find hard to change? How do I use the tools at my disposal to break through the barriers of fear, and achieve social & behavioral change with the residents of Baltimore? What were the key points that resonated with me the most from BECC? What is the “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” (BHAG) that I want to achieve?

In answering these questions, and during my time of reflection, a common theme kept appearing. Very simply stated, it was youth, or children. I am more inclined to change my behaviors at home when my two year old daughter reminds me to turn lights and power strips off. A number of key points and resources that I added to my BECC toolbox came from the Wednesday afternoon lighting session “School Sustainability from Preschool to Post-Doc.”

It was during this session that we learned about the Kukui Cup program out of Hawaii. We reviewed the role that gamification plays in engaging students in educational activities, as well as how a social bonus adds to participation. Findings from the Kukui Cup have shown that more than 40% of the real world energy savings were mirrored in the online virtual world of game play. In an era where online games such as Farmville and Angry Birds rule the computer screens of our youth, it makes sense that turning energy savings into an online game would work, not just for college students but for kindergarteners and middle school students, as well.

Presenters from Oberlin College reminded us that “normal people don’t care about kWhs”, and for me, the term “normal people” includes everyone from 2 years of age to 90 years old. We have seen this repeatedly when talking with residents participating in the Baltimore Energy Challenge (BEC). In the past, we have only thought to change language to talk about dollars and cents, not kWhs. At Oberlin, they took this further, and created an animated character to trigger socio-emotional systems and spur behavior change.

Carleen Cullen, founder of the organization Cool the Earth, spoke about her call to action after watching “An Inconvenient Truth” during a date night with her husband. She left the theatre knowing that she had to do something, and created a child-driven model for behavior change. Involving a school community in a school wide play addressing climate change, and engaging the students in returning “Action Coupons”, they have found an approach that works. She specifically spoke to “giving kids the tools they need”, and how they can use those tools to reach their parents. She also focused on overcoming barriers to using climate change language in the program. It was her acknowledgment and story about “just doing it”, and not being afraid of communicating climate change science, that has given me the reassurance to do the same here in Baltimore.

These sessions, as well as so many others from BECC, broadened my vision of how to effect change in Baltimore and support a sustainable, livable community. By engaging, educating, and empowering the youth of our city, we will see change. If we create a toolbox for our youth that is fun, personalized, connected to nature, and with concrete actions, they will have what they need to motivate their parents, engage their peers, and lead the charge to create a sustainable Baltimore.

Alice Kennedy is the Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Baltimore. The City of Baltimore launched the Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge (BNEC) in 2009. It has become a trusted community resource that advances conservation education of Baltimore residents by teaching, training, and consulting. Learn more at Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge.

BECC 2011: Key takeaways from USDN (Part 5 of 6)

lcolley@southface.org (Lauren Colley) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:24:27 +0000

By Jonathan Parfrey
Something weird happened at Dulles International Airport on my way home to Los Angeles. Although the United flight was completely booked and we were crammed like sardines – which wasn’t unusual – the weird part started as the plane moved out of the gate and then trudged to a remote spot on the tarmac and stopped. The jet’s engines were running but the plane wasn’t moving. The pilot finally came on the intercom and announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, due to the extreme winds in Los Angeles the ground crew added extra fuel. Unfortunately, they loaded 1500 lbs. too much and we’re too heavy to take off. We’re going to have to sit here awhile, run the engines and burn off the fuel. So sit tight.” Forty minutes later we were aloft. *

This unusual event – this waste of fuel and accompanying venting of greenhouse gasses – was richly ironic as I was returning home from a national conference entitled Behavior, Energy and Climate Change. Sponsored by California energy companies, this innovative conference offers an array of proven ways to help the public voluntarily reduce their use of fossil fuel. I was attending as a guest of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, a gathering of the nation’s leading sustainability managers, and the Surdna Foundation.

I serve as a commissioner at the nation’s largest municipal utility, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Although Los Angeles is famous for its film industry and sunny beaches, the city is equally known for its clogged freeways, endless sprawl and smog. To outside observers, bringing sustainability to Los Angeles appears an impossible task.

Yet, in recent years, Los Angeles has made great strides. Today, LA’s air is 60% cleaner than it was in 1970. In the last five years, the Port of Los Angeles, also the nation’s largest, cut air contaminants by 50%. Today, 20% of LA’s electricity comes from renewable power. Angelenos use 20% less water today than they did a mere two years ago. And Angelenos recently approved $40 billion dollars in new rail lines – soon a light-rail train will run forty-plus miles from Azusa to the sea.**

Los Angeles still has a long way to go. Our public is sadly unaware of the coming monumental impacts of climate change. Consequently, there is no sense of urgency. Environmentally beneficial behavior has become a lovely private option but is not viewed as a necessity.

LA’s current energy efficiency program is anemic at best. While California’s investor-owned utilities have demonstrably reduced energy use by 1.3% per year, Los Angeles stands at a lackluster .6% reduction per year, and recently introduced program that meekly seeks a .85% decrease per year.

As a policymaker, looking for ways to reduce energy use, I welcomed the lessons offered at the Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) conference. The best lessons were on ways to build a new sense of urgency on climate change and reduce energy use.

Among the highlights:

David Gershon offered a strategy to form “eco teams” where neighbors and friends educate one another and then hold one another accountable in reducing GHG.
Anne Maree Dowd of Australia’s CSIRO organization (their National Academy of Sciences) offered a “kitchen table” approach where neighbors use CSIRO’s curriculum to discuss the science of climate change. Very promising!
Chris Jones of UC Berkeley unveiled the CoolCalifornia competition. This State of California program maintains the best carbon calculator in the world.
Marsha Walton of NYSERDA reviewed that descriptions about local climate impacts markedly changed behavior.
The smartest advice on climate communication came from Ed Maibach of George Mason University who pointed to studies that indicate that advocates must “show climate effects in concrete ways,” we need to “show local effects,” that “abstraction is anathema to climate change,” and “experiential trumps analytical every time.”

The BECC conference supplied great ideas that will inform the City of Los Angeles as it develops its new Climate Change Adaptation Plan.

So, too, the Urban Sustainability Directors Network’s user groups on Fostering Behavior Change and Climate Change Adaptation may come to use BECC ideas on how to publicize local anticipated climate impacts as a means of generating public support. An added bonus, creating a new sense of urgency may result in getting new dollars sent to cash-starved environmental agencies.

* Jet fuel is calculated at 21.095 pounds of CO2 per gallon. United’s little accident of over-loading 1500 lbs of jet fuel comes out to about 14.3 metric tons of CO2, the carbon equivalent of driving my Prius for 55,690 miles, more than twice round the planet. This doesn’t include the flight itself.

** It’s also interesting to note that three of the world’s leading climate associations are headquartered in Los Angeles: C40, R20 and Climate Action Reserve. Arguably the world’s most influential policymaker on climate change is an Angeleno: Mary Nichols, chair of California Air Resources Board.

Jonathan Parfrey is Commissioner, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

BECC 2011: Key takeaways from USDN (Part 4 of 6)

lcolley@southface.org (Lauren Colley) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:32:47 +0000

Conference leaders recommend "Making it Fun" by using tactics like 'Georgia Power Dogs'.

By Lisa Orr

When it comes to conferences, I always get the most value from presentations about concrete program implementation and in this respect BECC 2011 did not disappoint! I learned about several impressive residential and corporate social engagement programs as well as valuable online resources that provided verification for the path we are on, but most importantly, tools, insights and strategies for program improvement. For example, we have just begun to pilot a new “Navigator” role for volunteers to help program participants stay engaged, find the resources they need, and make progress. It was interesting to see how this concept was used throughout several programs, from paid Energy Advisors in Boulder’s Energy Smart program, to the incorporation of memories of “your favorite camp counselor” in Wisconsin’s Cool Choices program.

For readers who may be engaging in similar residential or employee engagement programming, you might want to check out some of these programs shared at BECC:

Residential:

Energy Smart, Boulder, CO
Saving Green, Austin, TX
EnergyMark, CSIRO, AU
Practically Green (on-line tool for both residential and corporate engagement):

Employee Engagement for Greening Residences & Businesses:

Ecomagination Treasure Hunts, EDF & GE
Make an Impact, C2ES (Alcoa, Entergy, Bank of America)
Cool Choices, WI
Practically Green

Research Communication & Trusted Messengers: It was also inspiring to see how much research is being done in the field of behavior change, energy and climate change. When most researchers, by necessity, are focused on ensuring their results are published in prestigious scientific journals, it makes me wonder if or how research results ever make it to the policy and decision makers who need it. Is this well known by everyone but me? If not, I think this challenge in itself is worth studying. What is the best way for the scientific community to directly, or indirectly, inform policy and decision makers and who is making sure that this is happening? Trusted messengers are an important component of behavior change programs. How do we identify, inform, or create trusted messengers for our national and local policy and decision makers? Have we tested what works and what doesn’t?

Making it Fun: BECC leaders did a good job modeling the “Making It Fun” component of behavior change programming. While I missed Kathy Kuntz’ “Games for the Win” session, Bill Leblanc (E Source), Rick Diamond (LBNL), and Gene Rodrigues (SCE) kept us laughing and on our toes. Here are a few fun and idea-inspiring videos shared by Bill LeBlanc:

Bill LeBlanc’s (esource.com) Power Walking videos (like Jay Leno’s Jaywalking series)
Humorous Chesapeake Club Crab Ads
Nissan Polar Bear Thank You ad
Georgia Power Dogs interactive website – really cute dogs lead you to energy savings; some Georgia Power Dogs ads (I couldn’t find the best one Bill shared on dog energy auditors):

- Sniffing Out Energy Waste

- Sniffing out Laundry Energy Waste

- Phantom Energy Loss

- Energy Star

Bottle lights video

And a few of my own favorites:

- Wind energy

- Green House Gas Emissions - Australian

I am very grateful for Julia Parzan, USDN, and the Surdna Foundation for making my participation in BECC possible! I got a lot out of each presentation and benefitted greatly from networking.

Lisa Orr is the Sustainability Program Coordinator for Frederick County, Maryland. The County’s Sustainability Office is implementing the Green Homes Challenge, a residential behavior change initiative that promotes and tracks behavior change in energy efficiency and conservation, green living practices and the use or renewable energy. Learn more at Sustainable Frederick County.

BECC 2011: Key takeaways from USDN (Part 3 of 6)

lcolley@southface.org (Lauren Colley) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:34:27 +0000

By Nicole Woodman
The Flagstaff Sustainability Program serves the Flagstaff community and the municipal organization as a catalyst for economic, environmental, and social sustainability through policy development, project implementation, leadership and education. Behavior change is the most important component of our work. Our success relies on behavior change across all sectors and at all stages of development; whether it be the individual community member, municipal employee or elected official changing driving habits, approving a new policy, or implementing new procedures.

Two current initiatives that embody the value of behavior change are our Municipal Sustainability Plan and Residential Energy Retrofit Program. The Municipal Plan is an 80% action based and 20% policy driven efficiency and adaptive plan for the organization. The Residential Energy Retrofit program provides energy efficiency upgrades in the residential sector and behavior change education.

I had a number of “a-ha” moments, the most poignant of which were:

Climate Denial Session: Research has shown that threats to sense of identity lead to action. Guilt, fear and helplessness are drivers of apathy. A strategy for action is to create a sense of possibility and sense of community. I suggest taking this a step further and incorporate identity. For Flagstaff we need to reframe the climate change context and create identity around our adaptation initiatives.
World Views, Lifestyles, Attitudes and Pocketbooks Session: Behavior economics reveals the logic of social action. In regards to energy efficiency retrofits we should reframe the typical DSM approach to foster behavior change. For example, “house” can be considered in more than one landscape:

- House as a commodity - "Show me the money"

- House as identity "I do this because I'm green"

- House as social platform "I do this for comfort"

- House as a social value expression “I do this as an expression of ethos”

Promoting behavior change within this context may be the ingredient for scalable long-term impact. Designing communication and education around this principle can allow for broader and deeper participation. Since our program began we targeted the low income sector with the greatest need. Messaging has revolved around saving energy. Participation by income bracket reveals that we are missing the mid-income levels; so saving energy, health and comfort are not triggering action.

I am bringing back tools that I believe will be particularly useful in our Residential Energy Retrofit Program. While we have achieved success with our program we have experienced apathy in program participation and post retrofit behavior change. I’m intrigued by incorporating new filters for our planning efforts.

Nicole Woodman is the Sustainability Manager for The City of Flagstaff, Arizona, and a core member of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network.

The Bidding Wars are Over

betsy@sustainabilityinstitutesc.org (bkleinfelder) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:24:46 +0000

When we started to test our selected Impact Project Houses, we wanted to re-create the natural order of the local labor market by putting all 200 jobs out to bid on a case-by-case basis. Not all 200 at the same time mind you, but a few every week or every other week as the work load allowed. Starting with 3 Energy Advocates in our network, we assumed that if everyone one could do 4-6 jobs per month; we would end up testing all the houses by May 31, 2012.

It was a good assumption, but to paraphrase, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. There were many complications with the process. It was time consuming on our end to prepare and manage each bid, keep advocates on schedule and communicate with participants. Advocates were scrambling to be in the office preparing bids and completing reports while servicing the jobs they already had and spending time in the field. Several obviously stopped considering the size and needs of the houses and started bidding flat rates on each job, thinking it would speed up the process, but not considering that it could complicate things on the back end when they found the costs of the job to be outside their set price.

By late November of last year, it was obvious that things had to change. Besides the difficulty of managing the process on both ends, we had some feedback that the lack of constant jobs made it difficult for advocates to anticipate their needs down the road- they never knew how much work they would have each week.

We took the time to evaluate the situation and determined that bulk contracts would be a more efficient method of distributing the work. Our advocates agreed and in January we signed agreements with two companies to each get a set number of jobs for an agreed upon price and to have the payments distributed in thirds- one third up front, the other half way through the process and the final upon completion. While this process is helping jobs get done faster and is moving much more smoothly, we are still disappointed in one aspect; none of the advocates are currently willing to hire additional employees or expand their practice as we had hoped. We are keeping our fingers crossed that as they get more comfortable with the new process they will be more comfortable taking risks in their personnel levels and be willing to make more hires and expand the job market.

Share and Share Alike

betsy@sustainabilityinstitutesc.org (bkleinfelder) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:47:45 +0000

During the course of the Impact Project we have primarily focused our outreach efforts on the local community here in Charleston – getting people involved as volunteer participants of a home energy assessment, and engaged in the exciting world of home energy efficiency.

Now that we are well under way with the 200 energy assessments to be performed through the Impact Project (65 completed to date), we have information and experience to share and, thus, have decided to change our outreach efforts to focus on telling industry peers, green building professionals and other communities about our work. We are seeking opportunities to give presentations, participate in conferences, and nominate the Impact Project for awards to highlight and get the word out about our work and experience.

A goal of the Sustainable Cities Institute with the Pilot Cities program was to grant projects that could catalyze a greater sustainability initiative on the community level, as well as produce lessons learned and resources to inform other communities’ sustainability efforts. By sharing our work and findings through the ‘conference circuit’ (as we say), we hope to jump start that sharing process, get regional players interested in what we are doing here in Charleston, as well as get some input as to what is going on in other places and learn from them concurrently.

Communication is Key

betsy@sustainabilityinstitutesc.org (bkleinfelder) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:58:55 +0000

We’ve previously mentioned how important communication is in the Impact Project, and as we continue to work with our participants, we’ve come to realize just how big of a factor effective communication really is. Our project has a lot of moving parts, communicating with residents, setting up workshops, scheduling assessments and retrofits and monitoring QA on all work being done. Because of all of these aspects, it is more time consuming than we anticipated getting participants from beginning to end. Without effective communication it is easy for these people to feel that they have been lost in the shuffle.

But it goes both ways, as much as we are responsible for reaching out to our participants, they must also be responsible for moving themselves forward in the process by submitting household information, utility data and attending a workshop. We have found that while some participants are eagerly awaiting their assessment and are ready to beat down our door to get it; most participants need multiple touches to prompt them to act. Many people did not realize that they would need to take multiple steps and supply various pieces of information before any work can be done. It has been a constant game of reminding people what they have and haven’t turned in and where they are in the process.

It is unclear how much of a factor this commitment is in people’s decisions to continue on in the project. We have had feedback from some that due to work and personal commitments, they just don’t have the time, and we have worked with them to make it as accessible as possible. We also have over 15 people who have simply not responded to our calls for participation and will have to be dropped from the project.

The lesson that this has taught us is to be sure that the participants understand that they will be asked to actively participate in this process, not simply sign up and sit back and wait. Also be sure that ample time is built in for customer service. This ranges from helping people set up an online account with their utility company, to explaining the process of the energy assessment and scheduling workshops. While some hand holding will be necessary, in some ways it only enhances the project, we know our participants life stories at this point, can tell you who works which days and how many kids they have. In the end it enriches the project and helps generate a better experience for all.

Historic Structures Class Success

betsy@sustainabilityinstitutesc.org (bkleinfelder) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:13:07 +0000

Training our workforce to properly test and retrofit historic buildings for energy efficiency is one of the primary goals of the Impact Project, and last week we were able to take a major step in making it happen by holding our Energy Efficiency Improvements for Historic Structures in Warm and Humid Climates class.

The class was attended by seven energy advocates and contractors who came from all across the region and was taught over a period of four days at our local technical college, Trident Tech. Our students all came from a building science background and all have their BPI BA. We had hoped to have more members of the Historic Preservation community attend, and had advertized to them, but had no luck this time.

In order to effectively teach both preservation and building science, we used two instructors, each with experience teaching in their respective fields, with additional contributions from our own building science staff as needed. This ended up being a great way to go, the students gained a lot from hearing first hand experiences that each had had dealing with the unique characteristics of historic buildings and how they had approached maintaining and updating them.

While the classroom experience was valuable, all agreed that the best part of the class was the field study that was done on the last day. We were able to access an empty, about-to-be-renovated, 10,000 square foot house, built in 1789. It was full of great examples of what can be found in our local historic houses, a variety of rafter types, a crawl space with evidence of multiple types of early electrical and plumbing configurations, and a kitchen building that was joined to the main house with a mysterious foundation set up.

We were also able to use our 1880’s office building to test out using multiple point blower doors. Most advocates had never used multiple point blower doors, but many historic houses are so leaky that they will not be able to be pressurized using one fan, so this was an essential point to learn. They did a great job with it and were able to quickly understand how to run the tests.

Overall the class went well and we got feedback from the students that it was helpful and informative. Of course, those of us who were involved in writing the curriculum could see minor flaws, typos and room for edits and improvements and we are looking forward to getting together next week to tweak things and make sure the class will be ready for another run some day.

Messaging What Matters

betsy@sustainabilityinstitutesc.org (bkleinfelder) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:50:18 +0000

One of the goals of the Impact Project is to teach people how their houses work in terms of energy efficiency and to motivate them to take action to improve their efficiency as needed. The energy assessment is only the first step in this process. Once the assessment is complete the energy advocate sends a detailed report to the client telling them of what can be done to improve their house’s energy efficiency. Our hope is that once they receive the report, these participants will be motivated by the findings to take action. In order for that to happen, the reports need to be compelling and effective in relaying somewhat foreign information such as thickness of insulation, types of weather stripping and duct work.

We are currently trying to determine how to format the reports to effectively transmit this information in a motivating way. Our first version of the reports was straightforward, text heavy explanations of what needed to be done with a cover letter giving a summary of the findings. After receiving the reports, participants were sent an online survey, which asked how well they understood the report and if they were going to take action. Our first few surveys revealed that some people were confused by the technical reports and didn’t know how or where to start making improvements.

We took this feedback and formulated a new report with a stronger visual focus, showing people how much money and energy they could save by following the recommendations (see the above image for an example). This graph made for a much more compelling understanding of how the house could be improved and while we haven’t sent too many of them out yet, the feedback seems to be positive.

As we move forward we plan to continue to edit the report format until we find one that works well for all, motivates efficiency improvements, and is reliable for contractors coming in to do the work. We are truly thankful for our participants and their commitment to giving us this feedback and know that with their help we’ll work to make the Impact Project and CharlestonWISE successful programs.

SPENDING and SAVING so far

betsy@sustainabilityinstitutesc.org (bkleinfelder) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:12:50 +0000

200 Charleston households were selected to participant in the Impact Project as a reprehensive field sample of Charleston’s SFR housing stocks. We used U.S. Census data for the City and Charleston County Assessors data to match participants selected against the characteristics and proportions of Charleston’s homes (including, age, size, location, fuel sources, as well as occupancy, household income).

Of the 200 homes we are now putting through the motions of their own home energy assessment, we have collected energy consumption histories/data on 65. We did a quick analysis of the average energy bill among our participants for 2010. And the results are….The average energy bill in 2010 for our participants was $212.00, with months ranging from an average of around $80 to $250. The average price per square foot of our participants’ energy bills is $.12. This means a 1700 sq ft house costs around $200 a month, (which is also the case stated by EIA for the state of South Carolina.)

The majority of the home energy assessments completed under the Impact Project so far, recommend improvements that provide a better than 20% efficiency increase, over $300 in annual savings, and are less than 10 year return on investment.

The assessments are also highlighting the impact of small, do-it-yourself, changes like switching out low flow water fixtures, CFL lights, connecting all households electronics to surge protectors and turning them off off off when not in use (including: TV, stereo, DVD, cable box, computers…all of them), and setting back the temperature by just a few degrees when not at home. As well as advanced do-it-yourself measures like weather stripping all door leading to the exterior, wrapping your hot water heater, and weather stripping and insulating your attic access (unless in the garage). These changes can save the average Charleston resident at least 10% off their energy bill.

Spreading the Word

betsy@sustainabilityinstitutesc.org (bkleinfelder) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 16:43:41 +0000

A big thanks to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who recenlty published a write up about the Impact Project on their Preservation Nation blog. Please take a minute to read it over and learn more about how preservation and sustainability can work together.

Our First Retrofit!

betsy@sustainabilityinstitutesc.org (bkleinfelder) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:29:36 +0000

This week we did our first home energy retrofit.

The home was a 1300 sq ft, 2 story brick home with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, built in 1973 with an annual gas & electric bill of nearly $2300. Performance testing of the homed showed very high leakage rate through the building envelop – .95ACH which means 95% of indoor conditioned air would leak out ever hour – 13% duct leakage and poor insulation levels throughout – plus a broken (very old) 10 SEER HVAC system. This house became our first candidate to study the best practices ( in terms of home energy efficiency improvements) for what to do when it’s 100 degrees outside and your A/C dies.

The home energy assessment recommendations included reducing air leakage in the building envelop by 42%, reducing duct leakage to 6% or less and adding 12 inches (or R-38) of insulation in the attic and installing a new 13 SEER 3 ton HVAC unit. The projected (computer modeled) results of these improvements was shown to be a greater than 20% efficiency improvement, $450 annual savings, and, perhaps most impressive, the ability to reduce the size of the HVAC system from 4 tons to the 3 ton system – the house would be well sealed, well insulated and therefore easier (and cheaper) to heat and cool.

We are completing the test-out (to check our work) as I type, and patiently await the word that we hit our target numbers. We look forward to showing the real impact of the work as we track actual savings (both kWh and cost) over the next year. So until then stay tuned…and check out our Facebook page (CharlestonWISE Impact Project) for regular updates on our progress and success.

Measuring Our Homes

betsy@sustainabilityinstitutesc.org (bkleinfelder) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:22:24 +0000

Under the Impact Project we will perform energy audits on two hundred homes, of varying type, located throughout the City of Charleston which we will use to capture data about our existing housing stocks and better define best practices and most cost effective improvements for our marketplace. Fifty of those two hundred will also be retrofitted according to audit recommendations, and the real impact of improvements will be tracked over time – hence: The Impact Project. Our computer models of projected savings are good, but only actual work can help us gain a better picture of actual benefit.

The project’s approach to energy improvements is a “house as a system” approach. This approach emphasizes reducing air infiltration when necessary, upgrading insulation where cost effective and repairing or enhancing the air distribution system for maximum efficiency inside the building envelope. In addition, baseload reduction measures are integrated into each scope including: lighting, water heating, appliances, electronics and heating and air conditioning equipment improvements. Recommended improvements are modeled as packages leveraging the combined impact for total cost savings and efficiency improvements.

The 50 homes to receive retrofits will vary in need, and thus the improvement measures will too – half these homes will receive what we are calling basic energy improvements: air sealing, insulation and duct repair, plus base load demand reduction (energy efficient lighting, hot water tank wraps, smart strips etc.); a hand full will receive advanced improvements including the basic improvements plus ventilation and IAQ measures, and a few will even receive equipment replacement retrofits (lucky ducks) including new heating and cooling systems or water heaters. The variety of scope will allow us to be better informed about the best package of improvements for our housing stocks.

The assessments and retrofits will give us great data to share and learn from about best practices and real impacts of home energy efficiency improvements.

Wise Girls

betsy@sustainabilityinstitutesc.org (bkleinfelder) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:49:42 +0000

Please take a minute to read this great article written about The CharlestonWISE Impact Project featured in the Charleston City Paper. We are very excited to spread the word about our program and help Charlestonians learn more about energy efficiency!

Growing Together in a SNAP Community Garden

dlangford@southface.org (dlangford) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:14:22 +0000

According to www.snapgardens.org there are currently 46,449,850 people that depend on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/Food Stamps) benefits to supplement their nutritional requirements. As of January 2012, there are currently 28,008 people participating in the SNAP program in Washington County, AR, which gives it the highest SNAP participation rate in Arkansas. The Washington Co. Department of Human Services reports that this number is on the rise, as the department is currently experiencing the highest level of assistance applications in its history meaning that an all time record number of people are experiencing food insecurity in Northwest Arkansas.

Recently, Northwest Arkansas (NWA) has seen an increase in the demand for access to healthy, safe, nutritious and local foods. This demand is evident by:

The establishment and growth of many NWA farmers’ markets
The ranking of the Fayetteville Farmers’ Market as the 5th best farmers’ market in the U.S.A. by the American Farmland Trust
The upstart, growth and support of many small local farms in the NWA area
The creation of several non-profits whose missions include fighting hunger, childhood obesity, providing access to local foods and cultivating a sustainable local food network

There is also a grass roots initiative spreading within the NWA local foods movement to increase access to healthy, safe, nutritious and local foods for SNAP participants. Currently, all of the farmers’ markets in NW Arkansas now have machines in place to accept Electronic Benefits Transactions (EBT) so SNAP participants can use their EBT cards at the farmers’ markets. Also, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture has secured a Wal-Mart Foundation grant in the amount of $40,000 to provide SNAP participants with a dollar-for-dollar match for any benefits they choose to spend at a NWA farmers’ market in 2012. This program is called Farmers’ Market Double Dollars and will begin in May 2012 and run until all funds have been distributed.

On national scale, there is a new movement gaining momentum sparked by the re-discovery of a 1973 amendment to the Food Stamp Act, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), that makes it possible for all SNAP participants to purchase food producing plants and seeds with their SNAP benefits. This movement, called SNAP Gardens, started with a website, www.snapgardens.org, aimed at promoting the fact that SNAP benefits can be spent on food producing plants and seeds and encouraging SNAP participants to start gardens with the plants and seeds they purchase with their benefits.

The SNAP Gardens movement has found its way to Fayetteville, AR with the development of the nation’s first Community SNAP Garden. The Sustainable Cities Institute (SCI):Fayetteville, in partnership with Feed Fayetteville, is leasing a plot of land from the City of Fayetteville at the Walker Park Community Garden to develop a SNAP garden.

The Fayetteville Community SNAP Garden’s mission is: to create long-term food security for SNAP participants by providing the opportunity, resources and knowledge to grow their own safe, nutritious and local food in a community environment.

The Fayetteville Community SNAP Garden’s goal is: to work with community partners to build participation in and ownership of growing fresh food together with SNAP families, Walker Park Neighborhood residents and Fayetteville Senior Center visitors by facilitating regular community gardening hours, providing gardening supplies (tools, water, soil, etc.) and on-site gardening seminars.

The Fayetteville Community SNAP Garden’s objectives are to:

Raise awareness of SNAP participants that the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market accepts EBT.
Raise awareness that SNAP participants can receive a dollar-for-dollar match for SNAP benefits they spend at the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market.
Raise awareness that SNAP participants can spend their benefits on plants and seeds that grow food.
Direct SNAP participants to the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market to use their SNAP benefits and receive their matching funds.
Encourage SNAP participants to spend a portion of their matching funds on future food security.
Provide a space to grow food for SNAP participants that don’t have space at home.
Educate SNAP gardeners on organic gardening practices.
Educate SNAP gardeners on healthy food preparation.
Educate SNAP gardeners on healthy food preservation.
Build community.
Create a replicable model for Community SNAP Gardens.

The Fayetteville Community SNAP Garden is a multi-partner collaborative effort between SCI:Fayetteville, Feed Fayetteville, the City of Fayetteville, the National Center of Appropriate Technology, the Fayetteville Farmers’ Market, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, the Fayetteville Community Garden Coalition, the Arkansas Department of Human Services, SNAPgardens.org, AR Energy Corps/AmeriCorps, Washington County Head Start, Walker Park Community Garden, Seeds that Feed, the Fayetteville Senior Activity and Wellness Center and the Washington County Extension Service.

In an effort to promote SNAP gardens on a larger scale, this partnership is focusing on all gardens targeting low-income families in the south Fayetteville area including community gardens at the Jefferson Adult Education Center, the Washington County Head Start and LifeSource International.

The SNAP communal garden plot is being provided free of charge to any SNAP participants to use as communal garden space, up to 10 participants total. As a communal garden space, there are no separations of individual plots for individual gardeners to maintain themselves. Instead the entire space will be grown as a community that shares in the effort to care for and maintain the garden space. Should the number of gardener applicants exceed 10 families, applicants will be directed to other community gardens in the area.

SCI:Fayetteville will provide a Master Planting Plan that specifies what should be planted where and will also provide a schedule of working hours when a representative will be stationed at the garden to assist participants in planting. This plan is not intended to be a restriction on plantings, but is more used to organize the space to achieve maximum production and ensure proper crop rotation for next year.

SNAP gardeners that want to use their SNAP benefits to purchase plants and seeds to grow in the garden can bring their purchases to the garden during the scheduled work hours and will be assisted with planting. Any individually purchased plantings will be tagged with the individual participants name and reserved for their harvest only. The remaining garden space will be planted with seeds and plants donated by SCI:Fayetteville, the harvest of which will be shared amongst all SNAP participants active in the garden during harvest time.

One-quarter of the SCI:Fayetteville community plot will be reserved for the Chef and staff at the Fayetteville Senior Center to plant and use for meals they serve. The Chef at the Senior Center has also volunteered to lead healthy cooking classes structured around the actual vegetables being harvested in the garden at the Senior Center commercial kitchen.

There have also been two community volunteers step forward to film the growth of the SNAP Garden. They are currently exploring the idea of documenting a SNAP families experience in learning to grow their own food and tracking their food from seed to table.

The SNAP Garden movement is an exciting emerging story that aligns closely with the sustainability goals SCI for south Fayetteville. Establishing a community garden is one way to leave a lasting mark on the Walker Park Neighborhood that will persist long after the SCI:Fayetteville program has concluded. Growing food is a proven way to provide food security and empowerment, especially in this time of economic stress where nothing seems to be guaranteed.

For more information about SNAP Gardens and the Fayetteville Community SNAP Garden please visit www.snapgardens.org and www.snapgardens.org/fayetteville.

Contributed by Dustin Langford

Low Impact Development - Fayetteville Drainage Criteria Manual

dlangford@southface.org (dlangford) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:38:42 +0000

The City of Fayetteville’s Engineering Division staff provides technical review and support for all development within the City including reviews for compliance with the City’s storm water runoff standards through use of the City’s Drainage Criteria Manual. The current Drainage Criteria Manual was developed in January 1995 and revised in 1998. Since then its concepts and design procedures have become out of date and are not compatible with Low Impact Development principals.

The Fayetteville selected FTN Associates and their project team which includes AMEC Earth and Environmental, Inc., the Low Impact Design Center, Inc., and EB LandWorks to develop a complete revision of Fayetteville’s Drainage Criteria Manual.

Currently the project team is focusing on the chapter dedicated to Low Impact Development (LID). Practices covered in the chapter include using site planning to conserve natural features and resources, minimizing soil compaction, managing stormwater close to the source, and reducing and disconnecting impervious surfaces.

A method is provided to calculate the decreased stormwater volume expected from LID practices. This decrease in runoff volume can be equated to a reduction in stormwater pollution. The runoff reduction achieved can also be translated into a potential decreased volume of storage necessary to meet flood storage requirements.

Methods to reduce runoff volume are presented as Green Stormwater Practices (GSPs) and are included in an extensive appendices providing guidance to property owners and designers for the design, installation, and maintenance of GSPs. Selection criteria is provided for the effectiveness of GSPs in meeting stormwater management objectives (ex. Bioretention can be effective for volume reduction) and land use suitability (ex. Green Roofs are suited for schools and commercial uses but not generally single family residential). These practices may be used with new development or re-development projects and are typically used in combination with traditional stormwater management techniques to develop a comprehensive stormwater management plan.

City staff and stakeholders have reviewed and made comments to the LID Chapter. The project team will produce the revised draft of the LID Chapter in mid April. The LID Chapter will be piloted through the project the Houses at Willow Bend’s drainage design. The entire manual is scheduled for completion by fall of this year.

Contributed by Sarah Wrede, City of Fayetteville Stormwater Engineer & Floodplain Administrator.

Sustainable Cities Institute Team Summit in Atlanta

dlangford@southface.org (dlangford) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:36:25 +0000

The first year of the Sustainable Cities Institute initiative in Fayetteville has been a ringing success and each of the cities represented within the initial award came together for some great brainstorming and to mark the end of the first year of the Home Depot Foundation’s Sustainable Cities Pilot program. Teams from across the nation have been working hard on their program initiatives, but haven’t had an opportunity to assemble as a collective group and learn about parallel efforts in partner cities. For this reason, city teams were invited to attend an all-team summit at Southface headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

This gathering was an opportunity to bring the city teams together and let each: tell their story on how they developed their initiatives, report on progress made in achieving program goals and share lessons learned over the course 2011. It was also nice nice to finally put some names with some faces and further develop professional relationships with sustainability leaders across the nation.

Pilot City finalists Salt Lake City, Utah and Ann Arbor, Michigan and Pilot City winners Charleston, South Carolina and Fayetteville, Arkansas convened with national partners from Southface, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, JP Consulting and the SCI Advisory Board for an all-day intensive conference on January 31st preceded by a meet-and-greet dinner the night before.

The ultimate goal for the City Program is to institutionalize sustainable infrastructure, but cities have different needs and with that, different methods for achieving this goal. During the conference each team presented an overview of their work during the first year of the Home Depot Foundation grant funding, followed by a Q&A session.

Cities Fayetteville and Ann Arbor presented broader project initiatives focused on land use policy and initiatives, while cities Salt Lake and Charleston presented projects whose efforts were focused on rehabilitation and revitalization on the ground level. It was interesting to see how many similarities there are between the programs - for example, it was discovered that both Fayetteville and Charleston effectively utilize Energy Corps/Americorps programs in their city initiatives, which is a great lesson for other cities that are looking for ways to get things done for their sustainability goals while simultaneously creating and promoting green economy jobs. Check out www.energycorps.org for more information on this great program.

One big take away from the presentations and Q&A sessions was that each city saw success in institutionalizing sustainability goals by engaging the community. Community engagement efforts were targeted at creating community buy-in, which in several cases lead to the unexpected formation of community partnerships that helped to garner additional support and solidify sustainability initiatives.

For example, Ann Arbor is a city with 26 different city plans and 226 correlating goals, resolutions, ordinances and policies, but the City lacks a unified vision of sustainability or a department to encapsulate and implement their plans. By taking the time to survey city staff and present a list of the 226 goals to city commissioners, they were able to hold a joint commission meeting that aided in reorganizing the 26 city plans into four planning categories. By engaging city staff and independent commissions in the process of developing these categories, Ann Arbor was able to create buy-in to the reorganization process, which helped streamline the approval process and garner support for using the new categories to form public community forums.

The all-team summit was a very engaging endeavor that was so beneficial for education and networking it left us all wanting more. Towards the end of the day there were already talks of scheduling another all team summit towards the end of 2012 to reconvene as a national group of sustainably oriented cities.

This summit highlighted the importance of social equity in achieving sustainability goals. We recognize that it is only through the support of our partnerships and social networks that we were able to accomplish any of our goals in 2011. We appreciate the opportunity that Southface provided in hosting the all-team summit and look forward to utilizing the connections we made during the conference to aid in achieving our goals for 2012.

Written by Dustin Langford & Melissa Terry

SCI:Fayetteville Team Joins the 2012 Southern Sustainable Agriculture Conference

dlangford@southface.org (dlangford) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:26:27 +0000

Approximately 1300 people came from all over the southern states to attend the annual Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) Conference with over 50 urban agriculture enthusiasts from NW Arkansas making the trip. Around 25% of all attendees hailed from the state of Arkansas, increasing visibility and recognition to the natural state’s agricultural infrastructure and network of sustainable growers.

This year we were lucky enough to have SSAWG hold their annual conference in Little Rock, Arkansas - just a few short hours drive south from Fayetteville. The conference was held January 20th and 21st at the Peabody Hotel with preconference activities taking place on the 18th and 19th.

“Southern SAWG’s mission is to empower and inspire farmers, individuals, and communities in the South to create an agricultural system that is ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just, and humane. Because sustainable solutions depend on the involvement of the entire community, Southern SAWG is committed to including all persons in the South without bias.” (Source: www.ssawg.org)

Attendees were offered a diverse grouping of pre-conference field trips, intensive mini-courses, general conference practical sessions and various opportunities to network amongst peers. With so many options for learning and networking provided at the conference, it was often hard to decide what to attend.

Field trips were taken to tour local farms, ranches and gardens like the Heifer Vegetable CSA and Dunbar Middle School Garden. Mini-courses covered a diverse range of topics from bee keeping to vermiculture to farm finance. The practical sessions supplied attendees with information on “organic and sustainable production and marketing information for commercial horticultural and livestock producers, enterprise management lessons, farm policy education and community food systems development information.”

The overarching theme for the conference was the priority of sustainable urban agriculture in developing healthy and secure community food systems. Keynote speaker, Will Allen, supported urban agriculture during a session where he spoke to a packed house about creating and developing Growing Power, “a national nonprofit organization and land trust supporting people from diverse backgrounds, and the environments in which they live, by helping to provide equal access to healthy, high-quality, safe and affordable food for people in all communities. This mission is implemented by providing hands-on training, on-the-ground demonstration, outreach and technical assistance through the development of Community Food Systems that help people grow, process, market and distribute food in a sustainable manner.” (Source: growingpower.org)

Growing Power has several urban farms in neighborhoods in Milwaukee and Chicago as well as other farms in rural settings where it’s more appropriate to raise livestock. Growing Power employes over 100 people and offers 60 internships through their various farm efforts. Mr. Allen shared that in 2012 Growing Power will be hiring an additional 150 people, more than doubling their current workforce, which is an amazing feat made possible by Mr. Allen’s dedication to paying workers and not bank loans for tractors and farm machinery.

Another highlight of the conference was learning about Arkansas’ participation in the national Food Corps program through the Delta Garden Study (DGS), which measures the impact of school gardens on childhood obesity, school bonding, and academic achievement in middle school children in Arkansas. Food Corps service members are currently positioned at rural schools in the eastern half of Arkansas to help develop school gardens, implement the DGS educational curriculum, and conduct outreach to local communities. While the program is currently restricted to the eastern delta region of Arkansas, discussions are taking place to bring the program to NW Arkansas and Fayetteville!

The SSAWG annual conference was a highly successful event that not only provided an inspiring and educational experience, but also served as a rallying point for sustainable agriculture supporters in NWA to unite around common passions, interests and projects occurring in our region. SSAWG attendees from NWA were motivated to reconvene after the conference for a round table debrief to make introductions and begin discussions about current sustainable agriculture programs and initiatives occurring in the region, of which there are many.

Cultivating a local food system is an exciting emerging story for Fayetteville with all the potential in the world to assist our community in becoming more sustainable. We are excited to see what the future holds, and how SCI:Fayetteville can be involved in the process of working with organizational partners like Feed Fayetteville to re-establish a local, secure and sustainable food network in our community.

Written by Dustin Langford & Melissa Terry

Cottage Housing Development as a Tool for Affordable Housing

dlangford@southface.org (dlangford) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:36:55 +0000

Cottage Housing Developments are gaining popularity across the U.S. as an effective tool in promoting urban infill within existing neighborhoods.

This trend is sparked by an increasing demand for small and affordable single-family housing stock by an expanding and diverse demographic. Defined by their smaller than average square footage, Cottage Housing is a development model where higher density, single-family homes are designed in a cluster format and oriented toward a central common open space rather than streets.

Coordinated design plans and smaller unit sizes allow Cottage Housing Developments to achieve densities that are higher than typical single-family neighborhoods. These densities are similar to that of attached row housing, but have less impact on connected residential areas due to their smaller building footprints.

Cottage Housing Developments strive to maintain visual and pedestrian relationships with their surroundings by blending into existing neighborhood form and scale and by orienting homes so that windows, doors and porches face human activity on the common green. This orientation also promotes community interaction and safety.

Although the average U.S. household size is decreasing, single-family housing still remains the preferred housing type. Cottage Housing Developments offer an alternative housing opportunity that responds to changing household demographics, lifestyles and housing needs.

Cottage Housing provides an affordable, single-family housing environment by maintaining detached units with small private yard space combined with reduced cost and maintenance attributes of attached housing.

The City of Fayetteville formally adopted a Cottage Housing Ordinance at their December 6, 2011 City Council meeting. The passage of this ordinance was a proposed action item in the City Plan 2030 update, which was adopted by the City Council in 2011. Specifically, the Cottage Housing Ordinance addresses the following City Plan 2030 goals:

Goal 1 - We will make appropriate infill and revitalization our highest priorities.

Goal 2 - We will discourage suburban sprawl.

Goal 6 - We will create attainable housing.

Additionally, by allowing the creation of housing lots that are not required to have street frontage, the City is offering a powerful incentive for infill development so long as proposed Cottage Housing Development (CHD) projects meet strict design requirements. The following is a list of the important standards and regulations:

CHD’s are permitted as a use by right in multi-family zoning districts and as conditional use in all single-family zoning districts.
Review process dependent on the size and scale of the project – small projects processed as Site Improvement Plans – large projects < 1 acre processed as LSD.
Minimum of 4 Cottage Housing units and a maximum of 12 cottage housing units in a CHD.
Minimum separation of 1,000 linear feet between CHD’s located in the same neighborhood.
CHD in Multi-family zoning districts limited to the density of the underlying zoning district – CHD’s in single family zoning districts restricted to no more than two times the underlying density allowed.
There are no regulations in regard to Lot Width Minimum, Lot Area Minimum and Land Area per Dwelling Unit and the property may be set up by either a condominium or fee simple ownership regime.
Building setbacks are set by the underlying zoning district – with the exception that separation requirements in-between structures are a minimum of 10 feet.
Cottages limited to a maximum of 1,100 sq. ft.
Cottages shall be oriented towards the street or around a common open space.
A minimum of 300 sq. ft. of common open space and 250 sq. ft. of private open space is required for each cottage.
Adequate and appropriate parking shall be provided for each cottage.
Fire Department access is required for all structures – Sprinkler systems are required for cottages located 150 ft. or greater form the designated Fire Dept. access area.
All CHD’s are required to obtain a drainage permit and perform any drainage study’s or detention requirements according to UDC Ch. 170: Stormwater Management, Drainage and Erosion Control.
Solid Waste service should primarily be residential in nature (trash carts and recycling bins), exceptions may be allowed for CHD’s located in primarily commercial areas of the City.
Architectural standards apply to all structures within a CHD in order to ensure quality design and compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood.

The adoption of the Cottage Housing Ordinance is a major step forward for the City of Fayetteville in achieving its City Plan 2030 goals. This ordinance is also beneficial to our SCI:Fayetteville affordable housing project, Houses at Willow Bend, as it allows Cottage Housing units to be incorporated into the Master Plan. Utilizing Cottage Housing in the design of Willow Bend allows the development to achieve a higher density of units and a greater diversity of housing types for target residents to choose from.

Willow Bend is currently in Phase II of its schedule, which includes the production of the site Master Plan and a presentation to the neighbors in the Walker Park Neighborhood.

Community by Design (CBD), Willow Bend’s design consultant, has been working steadily on the site design with much to show for their efforts. Three conceptual site plans have been produced for the Willow Bend site. By weighing the opportunities and constraints of each plan, CBD has been able to merge the best ideas into a fourth and final concept plan, which will be the working foundation for the Master Plan. These conceptual plans can be viewed on the SCI:Fayetteville public Wiki site here.

The passage of the Cottage Housing Ordinance is one of three progressive planning policies that have been passed by the Fayetteville City Council in current Fayetteville Mayor, Lioneld Jordan’s term. The other two ordinances (Low Impact Development and Stream Side Protection) are also pivotal in the evolution of sustainable community development in Fayetteville.

Written by Dustin Langford, Leif Olson & Melissa Terry

Image source: http://pocket-neighborhoods.net

LID Technical Manual Kick-Off Meeting

dlangford@southface.org (dlangford) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:39:24 +0000

On October 24th the City of Fayetteville Engineering Division and FTN Associates held a kick-off meeting to begin work on the new Low Impact Development (LID) section of the City’s Drainage Criteria Manual.

The meeting took the format of an input session where stakeholders were invited to give feedback on what they saw as key concerns with the current Drainage Manual and their desires for the new manual.

Twenty people were present including City staff, FTN project team representatives and several local contractors, developers and designers. The meeting was informal by nature with City staff leading an open discussion amongst peers and taking detailed notes on the key points of discussion to be referenced by the City and FTN as they begin their work on developing the new Drainage Manual.

The discussion proved to be very productive and covered several topics. A few highlights are listed below. Please be advised that these are the concerns/desires expressed by the stakeholders who attended the meeting and don’t necessarily reflect the final content of the manual.

Planning

The City’s 2030 plan encourages infill and discourages sprawl. The new Manual should be consistent with encouraging infill and discouraging sprawl.
The Manual should encourage a transect-based approach to design.

Site Planning

Developers should get credit for not stripping a site of vegetation and topsoil.
The new Manual should count trees towards stormwater mitigation and account for newly planted trees maturing over time.

LID Elements

The Manual needs to encourage disconnected impervious areas as a good design tool to maximize sheet flow over pervious areas and ground infiltration.
The Manual could recommend a specific ratio for amended soils and how to prevent compacting amended soils during construction.
Simple details that are easy to use and are more likely to be cost effective would be beneficial.
The cost of implementing LID design components compared to standard stormwater management is a major concern.

Constrained Sites

Flexibility or an altogether different set of criteria is needed for smaller infill sites that have easement or right-of-way constraints.

Construction

The higher level of construction observation required for LID components increases short-term costs.
Who will be overseeing and certifying the LID components during and after construction?
Enforcement at construction sites, by the City, could help ensure that LID systems are installed correctly.

Administrative Process

The Manual should be clear on the process for variances and administratively approved changes.
Providing more flexibility in the new manual than the current manual will ensure that the best solution can be reached.

All of the issues/concerns/desires addressed by the stakeholders at this initial meeting should prove beneficial for the City and FTN as they move forward in their effort to produce a new Drainage Criteria Manual, one that’s rooted in lessons learned from past experience and that plans for the future.

As part of the ongoing process in developing the new Drainage Criteria Manual, the City and FTN will be distributing draft copies to the stakeholders present at the first meeting (and any others, upon request) via email to get feedback on its effectiveness.

Our partners in leadership with The Houses at Willow Bend have been designing to be a demonstration site for the LID section of the new Manual since the beginning of the SCI: Fayetteville Pilot City Program. To assist PfBH and CBD in their effort to incorporate LID into the Willow Bend site design, the City and FTN have committed to produce a draft of the LID chapter first.

We look forward to seeing this first draft on December 19th and the feedback it generates from the stakeholders about how the LID protocol will be demonstrated within the Willow Bend Site Plan. The new Drainage Manual and LID chapter have been in the works for some time now and it’s exciting time to be in Fayetteville as we see final products starting to come to fruition.

Written by Dustin Langford & Melissa Terry

3rd Party Certification for Affordability, Energy Efficiency and LID

dlangford@southface.org (dlangford) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:28:34 +0000

The word replicable means to possess the ability to be duplicated, copied, reproduced or repeated. As a SCI Pilot City, Fayetteville is dedicated to ensuring that all of our projects are not only sustainable, but also replicable for those who come after us.

One way to achieve our replicability goal for the Houses at Willow Bend is to pursue a green development certification from a third party verification program. These programs establish criteria that all projects applying for certification must meet. Administering standard criteria that can be applied to multiple and varying projects promotes replicability.

It is the opinion of our Fayetteville Advisory Board that attaining a third party verification certificate is a confirmed method for producing a replicable project as well as publicly demonstrating that sustainability goals for Willow Bend have been accomplished.

Three target areas we are focused on achieving and providing replicable models are:

Perpetual Affordability for multiple generations of homeowners;
Energy Efficiency of the homes so that they are not only for sale at an attainable price point but are also affordable residences in which to dwell;
Low-Impact Development is only a concept until it’s applied…the Houses at Willow Bend is a perfect test case for the City of Fayetteville’s recentlyapproved Low-Impact Development ordinance.

In order to determine the best fit for Willow Bend, a thorough analysis of potential verification programs was conducted by a Partners for Better Housing board member (Laura Chioldi) and our SCI Project Assistant (Dustin Langford).

Laura and Dustin were asked to look at four potential programs and analyze them based on their merits and drawbacks and make a recommendation to the PfBH Development Committee on which certification was most suitable for the Willow Bend Project to pursue.

The four programs analyzed were:

Below are brief summaries of the analysis of each verification program. These summaries are the opinions of the two volunteer analysts and apply solely to their application to the Willow Bend site. These summaries are excerpts from a more complete analysis document that can be found here.

LEED ND

LEED ND (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development) is probably the most well-known and well-utilized program. It was co-developed by the US Green Building Council, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Congress for New Urbanism and has been used as a foundation for several other sustainable rating systems including the other programs analyzed here.

The program is based on a point system divided into three main categories: Smart Location and Linkage, Neighborhood Pattern & Design, and Green Infrastructure & Buildings. There are four levels of certification, based on points earned.

LEED ND takes a broad approach to neighborhood development with a strong focus on transportation and regional connectivity. This emphasis on Smart Growth aligns well for infill development in dense urban areas, but doesn’t align well for the Willow Bend project, as it would probably not be able to achieve all of the prerequisite points for smart location, compact development, mixed use and walkable streets due to site constraints.

LEED ND can also be quite costly and time consuming as it requires a significant amount of paper work that can demand using an outside consultant to complete. This isn’t advantageous for PfBH, a non-profit developer run by volunteers.

NAHB Land Development

This program is heavily based on the foundation of LEED ND, but is designed for projects that can occur in a variety of locations – urban to rural, flat to rolling terrain – as well as a variety of housing types and markets. This aligns better with the Willow Bend scope of work as it consists of only single-family detached housing, no mixed use, as per the surrounding neighbors request.

The program criteria include categories for site planning that respects local landscape and topography with allowances for street patterns that minimize grading, excavation and disrupting steep slopes. This aligns well with Willow Bend’s vision and goals and accommodates for many of the site constraints as well.

Overall this certification was a better fit for Willow Bend than LEED ND with the biggest disadvantage coming from the additional cost attaining the certification entails.

EarthCraft Communities

The EarthCraft certification program is intended to “assist land developers and local government agencies to create sustainable, market-rate and affordable housing communities.” The criteria focus on low impact development, walkable design & community connectivity, transit-ready density, storm water management, and access to open space.

These criteria align well with the vision and goals of Willow Bend and allow for projects to follow an urban grid design or a conservation cluster design. This system does not incorporate differing levels of certification; a development is either certified or not. This simplified format was attractive to PfBH as it would require less paperwork while eliminating some of the confusion multitier systems can create.

PfBH was impressed with EarthCraft’s commitment to Community Engagement, dedicating an entire point category to the topic, as well as the amount of administrative assistance provided by means of regular site visits, facilitating charrettes and trainings for residents, property managers, builders & realtors.

EarthCraft was seen as a nice fit for the Willow Bend project with few drawbacks. Had it not been for the last program analyzed, EarthCraft would have been the most appropriate choice.

Enterprise Green Communities

The Enterprise Foundation has over 25 years of experience with green homes and affordable communities. Their Green Communities site verification program has been around since 2004 and like the other programs researched by PfBH, has strong roots in LEED ND.

The Green Communities criteria focus on using environmentally sustainable materials, reduction of negative environmental impacts, increased energy efficiency, designs and materials that safeguard residents health, and smart locations providing access to services and public transportation. All criteria align well with the Willow Bend scope of work, vision and goals.

The biggest difference between Enterprise and the other programs is that Enterprise is restricted to affordable housing projects only. In order to be accepted into the program, 80% of the project’s total housing must meet Enterprise’s definition of affordable housing, which is consistent with Willow Bend’s own definition of affordable housing.

Once accepted into the program, the Enterprise Foundation covers all certification fees, which is a great benefit for PfBH. The certification process is a simple two-step process. The first step is to fill out an on-line application that can be completed without outside consultation prior to construction. The second step is a site visit to verify the project after construction.

Furthermore, Enterprise does not have multiple levels of certification. Like EarthCraft, projects are either certified or not, which presumably makes the system simpler and easier to navigate.

This ease of application is very appealing since it doesn’t require any additional fees or consulting services that could prove prohibitive to a non-profit run by volunteers, like PfBH. Though the waiver of certification fees is a big advantage of Enterprise, PfBH feel like the program is the best fit for Willow Bend regardless of the cost.

While Willow Bend as a green infill site meets many of the criteria for smart location mandated by the other programs reviewed, it does have some unchangeable site restrictions that prevent it from achieving the full level required by systems like LEED ND.

Enterprise Green Communities criteria focuses more on the project site rather than the broader regional issues and connectivity consistent with some of the other programs. These topics are in no way ignored by Enterprise; simply, the system takes into account varying project site locations.

What’s Next?

The analysis of the four third party certification options and the resulting recommendation to pursue Enterprise was presented in full to the PfBH Development Committee, who gave their support to bring it before the full PfBH Board. The Board voted to pass a resolution in full support of pursuing an Enterprise Certification and asked Dustin and Laura to continue volunteering their time to further evaluate the Enterprise Criteria and begin the online application form, to which they both agreed.

PfBH has asked their project contractor, Community by Design, to evaluate the Enterprise Criteria to determine if there is any additional work created through the application process not specified in PfBH/CBD contract. With SCI project staff and P4BH board members willing to do most of the work involved in applying for the certification, hopefully this will not be a concern and not an add cost.

As far as moving forward on pursuing Enterprise Certification, the first step in the process is to call a project team meeting consisting of the client, contractors, designers and engineers to establish a plan demonstrating how the team will achieve certification.

We look forward to the kick off of this meeting and are eager to utilize the structure a third party verification program provides in planning and constructing our affordable housing project.

SCI Brings the Urban Land Institute to Fayetteville

dlangford@southface.org (dlangford) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:20:45 +0000

The Sustainable Cities Institute brought the Implementing Sustainable Development in Your Community - Workshops for Local Public Officials to Fayetteville on September 20th. Facilitated by the Urban Land Institute, this workshop was an all-day, intensive learning session for city/regional officials and other community stakeholders seeking to foster:

Leadership in a regional context
Integrated problem solving strategies
Public/private collaboration
Peer-to-peer learning

The workshop was offered through the ULI’s Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use whose mission is “… to encourage and support excellence in decision making by providing public officials with access to information, best practices, peer networks and other resources. The Rose Center seeks to foster creative, efficient, practical and sustainable land use policies.”

The Fayetteville workshop kicked off early on a Tuesday morning with an inspiring introduction to sustainable land use by Senior ULI Resident Fellow, Ed McMahon. The first and primary goal of any discussion about sustainability is defining what that means and why it’s important and our 50 workshop attendees heard Mr. McMahon really pin down the importance of sustainable planning in the present and how it relates to the major topics of Climate Change, Energy, Infrastructure, Population Growth, Land Use and Global Competition.

According to Mr. McMahon the most important key to successful planning is a shared vision as a starting point…what does the planning process hope to achieve?

Consistent long-term implementation
Long-term capital planning
New tools and incentives
Education and collaboration
Public-private partnerships

From there the workshop got down to business as Kathy Blaha, President of Kathy Blaha Consulting, spoke about the role of local government in creating and implementing sustainability plans. Ms. Blaha segued from Mr. McMahon’s introduction by drilling down into specific detail on how local government policies shape sustainable development by:

Developing a shared community vision
Shaping value oriented development with policy and plans
Supporting regional leadership
Establishing effective public-private cooperation
Changing municipal operations
Measuring progress

After lunch, a panel of local speakers discussed some of the current initiatives underway in NW Arkansas regarding sustainable development and long-range planning.

Steve Luoni, from the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, spoke about the importance of storm water management and their work creating a Low Impact Development Manual Design Guide, a booklet whose merits just earned an ASLA award.

Jeremy Pate, City of Fayetteville Development Services Director, spoke about his experiences working to implement sustainable policy on a municipal level.

Jake Newell and Todd Jacobs, from Jacobs + Newell Company, spoke about their experiences in the green construction industry and how they’ve successfully carved out a niche for building, marketing and selling green homes in an extremely tight local housing market.

After the panel, the focus shifted towards exploring the various resources that can be influenced by the Public Sector like:

Site selection/land use
Transportation
Energy
Water
Materials & waste
Impacts on carbon

Of particular interest was a link Ms. Blaha drew between land use, community behavior and resource consumption and how by simply being selective on where we build we can achieve sustainability goals across the board.

Mr. McMahon concluded the workshop and opened the floor up for a lively discussion amongst the meeting attendees.

It’s quite apparent that Northwest Arkansas has tremendous potential to work together as a region to create sustainable communities that benefit us all. Obviously, this requires dedication and cooperation to bring about the changes necessary to achieve our sustainability goals. If we had to put the entire workshop in a nutshell, workshop attendees took away from our day a clear message that the longevity of sustainable communities begins with GREAT planning, teamwork and a passion for creating enduring policies that benefit our communities now and for generations to come.

Our sincere thanks goes out to the ULI Rose Center and SCI for putting this workshop together and bringing it to Fayetteville. The workshop created a lot of great follow-up conversations within the community and we’ve received nothing but positive feedback from the attendees. We really appreciate the opportunity to interact with and learn from talented and professional staff of the Urban Land Institute and Kathy Blaha...your time here was well spent!

Contributed by Dustin W. Langford & Melissa Terry

Trail Crossings, Funding & Benefits

dlangford@southface.org (dlangford) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:24:50 +0000

South Fayetteville Extension Update:

The City of Fayetteville has been working hard and making progress in finalizing the plans for the new Fayetteville Frisco Trail extension. This 0.82 mile trail will be a huge asset for south Fayetteville, in that it will connect an entire neighborhood to the existing trail spine. This provides Fayetteville residents better access to one of our oldest and largest City recreation areas, Walker Park.

The trail plans have gone through conceptual design to establish the alignment and a preliminary cost estimate. The alignment and cost estimates were submitted as a proposal to the NWA Regional Planning Authority and ALTA Planning & Design (regional trail consultant) for review.

The proposal came back slightly over budget due to some complicated crossings of a five-lane highway and the City Engineering Department has now revamped the conceptual design to get it within the budget range before final design work begins.

Safely crossing high-traffic streets and highways is a major issue when designing trails. The South Fayetteville Trail Extension must cross two five-lane highways (MLK Blvd and South School Ave/Hwy 71) to connect to Walker Park and on to the surrounding neighborhood. This complicated and potentially hazardous crossing scenario has been the primary factor in preventing the community from using Walker Park as a pedestrian or biking destination while also isolating the residents in that neighborhood.

The current plan to cross MLK Blvd is to install a new tunnel that would cross under the highway. The trail will then proceed south before curving back east and facing Hwy 71. In early stages of the design, the plan was to use the same under-crossing for Hwy 71 as we designed for MLK… however the existing drainage corridor under Hwy 71 does not provide enough clearance to install a new tunnel. So, that’s a no-go.

Another option explored was constructing a grade-separated pedestrian bridge that would span over Hwy 71. This plan seemed feasible since there is an existing embankment on one side of the proposed crossing that would lend itself to the construction of a bridge. However, bridges are quite expensive and including a bridge crossing in the trail design put the project significantly over budget. Definitely a no-go.

The latest option currently being explored is an at-grade crossing similar to one that currently exists on North Street, a mid-trail section street crossing. The difference is that the North Street crossing is a raised crosswalk, whereas the Arkansas Highway Department will not allow a raised crossing on Hwy. 71/School Ave. Consequently, the latest iteration of the crosswalk is at-grade with a refuge island in the middle (see image above). This option is certainly the least expensive, but also involves a slightly increased safety risk for pedestrians due to the high volume of traffic on Hwy 71/School Ave.

It’s no small secret that we Fayetteville residents highly value our trail system. Most of us appreciate the connectivity and recreational aspects of the trail, but I’ve started to wonder: How many of us truly appreciate some of the long-term benefits an integrated non-vehicular trail network provides?

Greenways and Riparian Conservation -

One great benefit that isn’t readily recognized is that trails preserve and protect our natural greenways. By placing trails alongside streams and through green corridors we bring attention to otherwise unnoticed areas of our city. This attention to the trails’ green surroundings helps reduce litter and pollution and creates ownership of valuable green spaces.

Plants and vegetation remove harmful pollutants from the atmosphere and produce oxygen. By preserving and protecting the vegetation in our green corridors we also improve the air we’re breathing every day.

More money in our local economy -

Trails also provide a vital transportation alternative to driving a vehicle. This does a number of beneficial things for our city. First, it reduces traffic and congestion, which in turn reduces the amount of time we spend in a vehicle each day.

The less time we spend in a vehicle the less money we spend on gas. Only $0.03 of every dollar spent on gas remains in our local economy. The less money we spend on gas means we’ll have more money to support our local economy. Fewer vehicles on the road also mean less wear and tear on our roadways, which saves us money on taxes designated for maintenance every year.

Community Health and Wellness -

Probably the most underrated benefits of having a trail network are the health benefits. Trails provide a great opportunity to get some exercise, whether it’s done as recreation or as transportation between destinations. Exercise has been proven to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, hypertension, Type II diabetes, colon cancer, depression and anxiety, and osteoporotic hip fractures. By promoting physical activity we can save money on un-necessary medical evaluations and procedures stemming from inactivity.

Increased Revenue & Property Values -

The last benefit, that everyone can relate to, is the economic benefit. Trail systems have been proven to promote growth along their alignments. This can be seen locally here in Fayetteville with the start of several businesses being established along the trail routes. Other businesses are now using their proximity to the trail network in their marketing strategies as well. Among some of my favorite trailside businesses are:

The Trailside Café that specializes in home-cooked style food and global teas.
Bike City, a non-profit organization that repairs and resells old bicycles donated by the community that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
Eco Modern Flats, the first LEED certified community development in Arkansas that actively markets its’ proximity to the trail to attract residents.
Tanglewood Branch Micro-Brewery is a new business preparing to open on the southern edge of the proposed trail expansion. They are including a map of the trail system on their walls and offering special discounts for pedestrians/cyclists.

Economic benefits don’t just stop at the business level. The National Association of Home Builders reports that residences in close proximity to trails see increased property values of 10%-20%. A study in Marion County, Indiana showed increased property values totaling $140M from proximity to trails.

Some research has recently been done that attempts to assess a monetary value to the perceived benefits of trails in energy savings, improved health, environmental protection and economic stimulation. A study conducted by the Trust for Public Land in 2010 concluded that for every dollar spent on greenway/trail development we get three dollars in returned benefits. So far Fayetteville’s trail system has seen approximately $6M in investment, a number that continues to grow, which should yield approximately $18M in return on investment (ROI).

Job Creation -

Another major benefit that investment in trails provides is the creation of jobs. A study done by the University of Massachusetts in 2011 found that trails create 46% more jobs per million invested than roadway only projects. It’s estimated that the NW Razorback Greenway will create 433 new jobs that couldn’t be more needed in this time of economic uncertainty.

Regional Connectivity -

The Frisco Trail extension being funded by SCI: Fayetteville and other private donors is only a small (0.82 mile) part of the entire Fayetteville network (currently 18.5 miles and growing), which is in turn a part of the much bigger NW Razorback Greenway. The NW Razorback Greenway will be a trail spine approximately 40 miles long that will connect Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville on a regional level.

Fayetteville is slightly ahead of the curve when it comes to investing in and constructing trails. The work we are doing on the ground here is serving as a demonstration for other cities in our region on how to invest in and construct their own section of the Greenway. The better we understand and demonstrate the true benefits of trails on our everyday lives, the bigger the impact we can have on becoming more than individual cities, but a thriving sustainable region.

For more resource information on the benefits of trails and details on trail happenings in our area, please visit our new Wiki Site.

Contributed by Dustin Langford & Melissa Terry.

NW Arkansas Regional Housing + Transportation Report

dlangford@southface.org (dlangford) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:10:46 +0000

There are several cost factors that contribute to affordable living such as: Housing, Transportation, Food and Energy. Of these, the largest and most costly categories are Housing and Transportation.

Because Housing and Transportation are such important factors in determining affordable living, The Home Depot Foundation’s Sustainable Cities Institute program managers at Southface contracted with the Center for Neighborhood Technology to develop a Housing + Transit (H + T) report for Northwest Arkansas.

The H + T report set out to answer one key question: “How can we ensure that our growth maximizes economic development, keeps the cost of living low, and brings prosperity for all who live and work herein Northwest Arkansas?”

The H + T report looks at current states conditions of housing, transportation, and job access in the 4 cities of Benton and Washington counties: Bentonville, Fayetteville, Springdale, and Rogers that make up the NW Arkansas region.

The report is supplemented by 23 interviews of business leaders, elected officials, municipal staff, and local advocates.

Some of the findings are:

Rent and ownership prices close to employment centers are affordable compared to the rest of the nation, but will soon be priced out of the middle income affordable range. This promotes drives workers living further away from their jobs where housing prices are cheaper, but in return drives up their ransportation costs and carbon footprint.
People are spending more money on transportation than on housing. A typical household in our region spends 29 cents of every dollar earned on transportation compared to 26 cents on housing. Combined, a typical household spends 55% of every dollar earned on housing and transportation. This figure is also on the rise as gas prices and property values increase.
NW Arkansas is behind our peer regions, like Huntsville, AL and Lexington, KY, because our high transportation costs offset our advantages in housing affordability.
Only 3 cents of every dollar spent on gas stays in our local economy. So when gas prices increase, so does the economic drain on our region, which stifles our economic development.

In the report CNT proposes three policy goals as solutions to their findings. They are:

Rethink regional mobility.
Align downtown investment into a regional vision.
Increase demand for walkability.

These goals are further elaborated on in the full report, which can be found here.

In conclusion, the H + T report is a very useful tool for us to use in keeping step with our goal of promoting affordable living in Fayetteville and NW Arkansas. We are very thankful to CNT for their hard work in producing this report as well as the Home Depot Foundation and the Sustainable Cities Institute for their gracious funding of this project.

Contributed by Dustin Langford and Melissa Terry.