Case Study: Regional Collaboration on Green Building and Climate Change in the National Capital Regi

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Case Study Regional Collaboration on Green
Building and Climate Change in the National
Capital Region
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

• Presented to
• National Association of Local Government
  Environmental Professionals
• 2007 Summit for Local Governments
• May 3, 2007

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Overview

• What is the Metropolitan Washington Council of
  Governments (COG)?
• Green Building Initiative
• Climate Change Initiative
• Observations

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What is COG?

• COG is a regional organization of Washington area
  local governments.
• COG is composed of 21 local governments
  surrounding our nation's capital
• 250 elected officials in total
• 135 staff in 3 departments transportation,
  environment, human services/planning/public safety

Population 5 million
plus area members of the Maryland and Virginia
legislatures, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House
of Representatives.
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COGs Mission

• To enhance the quality of life and competitive
  advantages of the Washington metropolitan region
  in the global economy by
• Providing a forum for consensus building and
  policy-making
• Implementing intergovernmental policies, plans,
  and programs
• Supporting the region as expert information
  resource.

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COGs Environmental Programs

• Chesapeake Bay, Potomac, Anacostia Restoration
• Urban Stormwater
• Wastewater
• Drinking Water
• Quality, Quantity
• Water Quality Modeling/Monitoring
• Water Security

• Air Quality
• Energy
• Green Building
• Climate Change
• Green Infrastructure
• Recycling/Solid Waste
• Aircraft Noise
• Environmental Outreach Clean Air Partners, Wise
  Water, Go Recycle, Healthy Lawns/Clean Water

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COGs Green Building Initiative
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What is Green Building?

• Design and construction practices that
  significantly reduce or eliminate the negative
  impact of buildings on the environment and
  occupants in five broad areas
• Sustainable site planning
• Safeguarding water and water efficiency
• Energy efficiency and renewable energy
• Conservation of materials and resources
• Indoor environmental quality

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COGs Green Building Program

• Intergovernmental Green Building Working Group
  started 2005 -- Peer review/information sharing
• Became affiliated with COG 11/05
• Organized Regional Conference 9/29/06
• COG Board Chair identifies Green Building as area
  of focus for COG as outgrowth of Strategic Energy
  Plan in June, 2006
• COG Board seeks Regional Green Building Policy
  passes R55-06 on Nov. 8, 2006

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Why Green Building in the COG region?

• By 2030, the Washington Metropolitan Region will
  gain 1.6 million residents and 1.2 million jobs
• Potential increase of 20 or more in
• Energy consumption
• Impervious surfaces, loss of tree cover
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Water needed for water supply, wastewater
  requiring treatment
• Raw materials for buildings
• Solid waste/construction debris
• Potential for major regional environmental stress
  - green building can help alleviate
• Strong local government interest in growing
  green

• Opportunity By 2035, 75 of building stock
  nationally will be new or replaced

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COG Board Action Passed Resolution R55-06 --
Nov. 8, 2006

• Coordinated Green Building practices in region
• COG members encouraged to use Green Building in
  government buildings and to adopt policies for
  private sector development
• Adopts Intergovernmental Green Building Group
  (IGBG) as standing technical committee
• IGBG will prepare report on
• Options and recommendations to develop and adopt
  regional Green Building guidelines
• Options and recommendations to measure regional
  progress

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COG Green Building Report - Interim
Recommendation Topics

• Policy implementation
• Coordination and Collaboration
• Education and Outreach
• Green Market Innovation
• Monitoring and Evaluation

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COG Green Building ReportSample Regional
Recommendations

• Respond to regional environmental issues
• Support market transformation/partner with
  private sector
• Recognize relationship between buildings and
  climate change
• Evaluate feasibility and benefits of a regional
  LEED system
• Develop a regional green building information
  system to collect data and monitor progress
• Implement a Green Building Partners Program
• Member at one of four levels
• Honoree 3 strategies
• Member 4-7 strategies
• Partner 8-10 strategies
• Vanguard 10 strategies

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COG Green Building ReportSample Local Government
Recommendations

• Government should lead by example
• Establish or strengthen green building programs
  at local level
• Identify LEED as the current green building
  rating system
• Develop guidelines for building types
• Local government buildings
• Private development
• Schools
• Homes

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COG Climate Change Initiative
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Impetus

• COG-member initiatives
• Arlington, District of Columbia, Fairfax County,
  Montgomery County
• Chief Administrative Officer Collaboration
• Shift in National Policy Climate
• Conference of Mayors initiatives
• An Inconvenient Truth
• Congressional Changes
• Supreme Court Decision

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Regional Actions

• On March 14, 2007, the COG Board of Directors
  adopted its 2007 Policy Focus and Priorities
• Regional Focus on Climate Change
• On April 11, 2007, COGs 50th Anniversary, the
  COG Board of Directors adopted R31-07
• Resolution Supporting Development of COG Climate
  Change Initiative
• Calls for building on existing COG programs and
  local government actions to reduce emissions of
  greenhouse gases in the Washington metropolitan
  region

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COG Climate Change Initiative

• Establishes Steering Committee to
• Catalogue current activities
• Prepare inventory propose baseline and potential
  reduction goals/targets
• ID best practices and method to measure progress
• Examine local climate change impacts
• Evaluate carbon offset fund
• Recommend climate change policies
• And
• Recommend any need for a long-term
  organizational structure for COGs Climate
  Change initiative.

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Some Observations on Regional Collaboration re
COG Green Building and Climate Change Initiatives

• Long-standing history of successful regional
  collaboration
• Initiative by COG local government members
• Individual leadership actions
• Peer Pressure
• Impacts of National/International Trends
• In-place technical support staff
• Available resources

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For Further Information

• Stuart A. Freudberg
• Director, Environmental Programs
• Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
• 777 North Capitol St., NE, Suite 300
• Washington, DC 20002
• Telephone [phone]
• e-mail sfreudberg_at_mwcog.org