• The measurement and tracking procedures that must be put in place to gather data enable analysis of energy, water, waste, and purchases. These data are in turn accessible for making decisions on capital expenses, retrofits, and programs. Sustainability reporting prompts continual improvement and better data management, which in return improves business performance, operational efficiency and cost savings.
  • Sustainability reporting helps to attract capital from green investors by identifying new markets and business opportunities and demonstrates the long-term, sustainable financial value of an organization.
• It's a good practice to shut off the engine when your vehicle is going to be stopped for more than:   (a)   10 seconds,  (b)   10 minutes , (c)   30 minutes.  (A) More than 10 seconds of idling can use more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it.

LOCAL COMPANY EXAMPLES

• Pasta Piatti.  While shopping for a new delivery/utility vehicle for the 2010 summer season, our company and staff researched many different vehicles.  An electric low speed vehicle or neighborhood electric vehicle seemed a great fit for us and our community.  The fuel savings in the first year will pay for the vehicle and all necessary maintenance.  As well, the green house gas emissions are zero on this all electric 120 volt plug in vehicle.  We have had a reduction in electric utilities this year due to some other small equipment changes making conservation in this tough economy a great place to make a little extra money. Give us a beep when you see us around town in our Red Zap Utility Vehicle.  Savings in fuel and maintenance from the previous year are estimated at $4500.
  • Amy’s Kitchen, Facing a price increase for shrink wrap, looked at alternatives and found newer thinner films that have same strength as thicker.  Thinner less material, cost drops, ½ weight per roll, easier to apply by personnel, less waste- every pallet is using ½ as much shrink wrap by weight.   Estimated cost saving for 1 year 8K

   

  LARGE COMPANY EXAMPLES

  • M&S launched Plan A in 2007, making 100 commitments to tackle key challenges on climate change, waste, sustainable raw materials, "fair partnership" and health over five years. They expected to invest £200 million to achieve these goals but Plan A broke even early and added £50 million to the bottom line in 2009/10, according to their latest "How We Do Business" report.  M&S isn't the only leading company to have found a business case for sustainability. General Electric has spent $5 billion on R&D in the first five years of ecomagination, however the program to develop the clean technologies of the future has already generated revenues of $70 billion.
    • Defense technology company Raytheon has long pursued environmental initiatives. In 1998, the company started setting goals to reduce waste. Several years later, it focused on cutting energy consumption. Last year, the company launched the first phase of a massive, companywide sustainable IT project, affecting its 73,000 employees spread out around the globe among six business units.  In the first year alone, the company has reaped $11.5 million in savings from its green initiatives and anticipates far more savings in upcoming years at it builds on its green IT strategy. Of this, $2.7 million resulted directly from server-related energy savings. Moreover, Raytheon was able to avoid building a new datacenter, despite a 25 percent growth in capacity demand, a direct result of its virtualization efforts. Another $250,000 in savings came from the progress on desktop power management, while $1.5 million in savings stemmed from printer-related savings. The remaining savings were a result of reducing server lease expenses, facilities footprint costs, and datacenter labor.  From an environmental standpoint, Raytheon was able to meet its seven-year goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33 percent a year early, due to the reductions in energy use.

     

    CITY SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS TO SAVE MONEY

    • Portsmouth, NH population of approximately (20,000) completed its citywide Master Plan in 2005, Over the last four years, the City Council and the City Manager and his staff have actively committed to making sustainability happen—policy choices, the infrastructure decisions and approaches to providing City services all reflect their commitment to meeting sustainability goals:
      • Library In just two years, the new “green” Portsmouth Public Library has achieved substantial energy savings despite being more than twice the size of its former home, thanks to its design. The Library, New Hampshire’s first municipal building to receive the prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, has been recognized for its design and construction in the areas of energy conservation, recycling, materials selection, and daylight and views. Even though the new building is 116 percent larger than the old facility and open more often, the amount of natural gas used to heat it decreased by 66.7 percent, or $20,000, in the first full year of operation. Despite being twice the size, electricity consumption was only up 50 percent from the former site.
        • Garage lighting
In February 2009, the City replaced the lighting in the High-Hanover Parking Garage with 275 compact fluorescent fixtures, which is expected to reduce energy consumption by 25%. As a result, the City anticipates saving estimated $21,000 annually.
      • About two years ago Montebello, CA switched to an onboard recycling system from OilGuard, Vista, Calif. Employing technology used in the medical field by kidney dialysis machines, the filter diverts a small stream (about 5 to 7 percent) of the engine oil through the core, then returns it to the main oil flow. It is capable of filtering out particles below 3 microns in size, as opposed to the 30- to 40-micron range for conventional factory filters.  Since converting to the system, Cavazos's staff changes oil and filters every 12,000 miles, an interval he says is conservative and could be extended by another 6,000 miles with no adverse effects. Because of a dramatic reduction in engine failures and less money spent on oil and filters, "We're probably saving thousands of dollars per year," Cavazos says.
        • An Anti-idling policy adopted by city of Cleveland, Ohio. For every two minutes a car is idling, it uses about the same amount of fuel it takes to go about one mile. Research indicates that the average person idles their car five to 10 minutes a day. Idling creates pollution and wastes valuable resources. An anti-idling policy  mandates city employees to turn off their vehicles to save money and reduce emissions. With a fleet of 4,900 vehicles and $5.4 million annual gas and diesel bills, the city expects the new anti-idling policy will save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

         

         

        ASHLAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION PROPOSED 2012-2013 CITY COUNCIL GOAL -– SUSTAINABILITY PLANNING--

        GOAL

        Develop a concise Ashland City and Community Sustainability Action Plan.

         

        TASKS

        1.       Create a baseline inventory of the Comprehensive Plan and select city services as well as plans and practices that relate to them.

        2.       Identify what the city of Ashland is currently doing to conserve environmental, social, and economical resources.  Include current sustainability practices in Ashland, and the partially completed City of Ashland/Southern Oregon University Greenhouse Gas inventory. 

        3.       Using the baseline as a point of reference, identify gaps (e.g.  food security, climate change implications, and waste reduction).

        4.       Prioritize the order in which the comprehensive plan chapters, city services, associated plans and practices, and gaps will be addressed, and develop concise sustainability action items associated with each.

        5.       For each action item, develop sustainability performance measure(s), recommended timeframes to implement, and estimated impacts (environmental/social/economic) for each sustainability action item.

        6.       Present to City Council for Approval.

         

        MEANS TO IMPLEMENT

        A City appointed citizen ad-hoc committee or task force, with limited duration, that is comprised of members of interested commissions and established committees.  This ad-hoc committee will provide recommendations to the City Council with minimal City Staff work and maximum citizen work.  The amount of City Staff work will be at the discretion of the City Administrator.

         

        WHO WE ARE

        In alignment with Goal #1 of the 2010-2011 Ashland Conservation Commission, a “Sustainability Planning*” team was commissioned.  This team is comprised of committee members and citizens who conducted extensive research and analyzed nine Oregon cities that are implementing sustainability plans. Examples of these findings, the team’s assessment, and other reference materials are available as a link on the Conservation Commission Goals page, under Goal 1:   Page.asp?NavID=13602  .

         

        * The Conservation Commission July 28, 2010 letter to the Mayor and City Council defined sustainability as "Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs; including protecting the environment, developing a healthy economy, and ensuring social equality" (follows 1987 UN WECD definition of sustainability).