 The Mayor’s Office of Sustainability is actively recruiting three new positions:
- The Green Economy Coordinator will develop and implement innovative programs that promote green jobs, sustainable consumption, waste and pollution reduction, and circular business practices, contributing to the city's environmental, social, and economic goals.
- The Green Infrastructure Coordinator will coordinate the development of programs, policies, and projects to advance green buildings and infrastructure in Louisville.
- The Grants Coordinator will support the Office of Sustainability to research and apply for grants.
The application deadline for all three positions is November 13.
Louisville Metro Government has received an award of $400,000 through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Buildings Upgrade Prize. This competitive grant, awarded to approximately 40 applicants across the United States, will support and scale programs that advance energy efficiency and clean energy in affordable housing.
The Buildings Upgrade Prize provides more than $22 million in cash prizes and technical assistance to support the transformation of existing U.S. buildings into more energy-efficient and clean energy-ready homes, commercial spaces, and communities. The Mayor’s Office of Sustainability applied for the Buildings Upgrade Prize with the support of the Metropolitan Housing Coalition and Kentuckians for The Commonwealth earlier this year.
Read more about the Buildings Upgrade Prize and plan to upgrade and install energy-efficient technology in affordable housing units.
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 The Office of Sustainability has submitted an application for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Solar For All grant. This proposal, for $150 million, has been developed with the support of over 50 partner organizations to leverage private financing for equitable residential solar energy initiatives in 7 urban counties including the Louisville area, Lexington, and Bowling Green as well as 54 counties in the Appalachian region of Eastern Kentucky (61 counties total).
The proposal is a unique urban-rural collaboration that harnesses the best that urban and rural Kentucky have to offer in service of residents grappling with high energy burden and environmental injustices. The proposed project will serve 63% of the state-wide population of low-income and disadvantaged communities (LIDCs) identified by the Climate and Environmental Justice Screening Tool (CEJST).
Solar For All, a part of the EPA’s historic Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, is a highly competitive, once in a generation opportunity to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions, equitable household savings for energy burdened families, and achieve market transformation. If Louisville’s proposal wins, this will be a transformative opportunity for the state. Awards are expected to be announced by July 2024.
Earlier this month, Mayor Greenberg unveiled My Louisville Home, a draft Comprehensive Housing Strategy that aims to create and preserve 15,000 affordable housing units. Integrating sustainability in affordable housing is a key priority, and sustainability features currently included comprise of efforts to build denser housing, update building standards towards more energy efficient solar-ready standards, increase the availability of green finance through the creation of a green bank, and more.
Read more and submit feedback before Friday, November 3 at louisvilleky.gov/housing/my-louisville-home.
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Mayor Craig Greenberg released his administration’s legislative priorities on October 18. Some statements that will impact Louisville's sustainability goals include:
- $20 million in annual credits for five years to spur the development of multi-family affordable housing and housing for first-time home buyers
- $50 million to the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, at least $20 million of which will be used to build affordable housing for first-time home buyers
- $42 million Metro Parks & Recreation Capital needs
- $30 million to spur conversions of downtown office buildings to residential and other non-office (hotels, retail, entertainment) uses
- $26 million Ohio Riverfront Investment Strategy
- $35 million of additional, one-time grant funds for the planning and construction of transportation and other infrastructure improvements needed to support smart growth in the less densely populated portions of Louisville
Read more about the Greenberg administration's prioritizes and download the full agenda.
Louisville Metro Government’s Department of Fleet & Facilities introduces their new Energy Analyst, Spencer Ruggles, to the team!
Spencer Ruggles is excited to help the Louisville Metro Government figure out ways to reduce energy consumption, curb carbon emissions, and cut its expenditures on utilities. He graduated from Centre College with a degree in Financial Economics and from Saint Louis University with a degree in Sustainability. He previously worked as a Rate Analyst for the Michigan Public Service Commission in Lansing, MI. He also worked as an Energy Specialist for Cenergistic under contract with the University of Kentucky where he helped implement energy conservation measures in research, hospital, and academic facilities. Most recently, he's worked as a Sustainability Specialist at Cushman & Wakefield on an account with Humana to help the company develop emissions reduction and waste diversion programs and practices.
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On Earth Day, Mayor Greenberg received a letter signed by 90+ citizens urging his administration to act expeditiously to slow climate change. In response, Mayor Greenberg committed to publicly sharing monthly updates on the city's efforts as we embark on the task of slowing climate change, particularly in the power generation and transportation sectors, per the citizens' letter. These regular progress updates will be shared in this section of this monthly newsletter from the Office of Sustainability.
Energy and Power Generation:
- Since 2021, new energy management strategies have been implemented to track and reduce energy use within Louisville Metro Government (LMG), including setback scheduling, utility billing analysis, and building optimization efforts. Due to the combined efforts across several departments, LMG has now exceeded $2,000,000 of utility cost avoidance since the start of the energy program! These savings are being leveraged through the Energy Innovation Fund to finance energy capital projects that accelerate progress towards LMG’s energy goals. In total, 11 energy projects have been funded in LMG buildings, which include 8 full-building LED lighting conversions, 2 ventilation and economization projects, and 1 building that is being added to our building automation and controls system. The savings from these projects are anticipated to produce a quick return on investment and will ultimately help finance additional energy improvements.
Cool Roof Incentive Program:
- There are currently 316 participants enrolled in the program.
- Since the start of the program, there has been over 1 million square feet of cool roof installed - that's the equivalent of about 20 football fields!
- Review the latest information about cool roofs in Louisville on the Cool Roof Incentive Program Dashboard
Transportation
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Louisville Metro Public Works Transportation Division, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and consulting firm Gresham Smith recently kicked off a Safe Routes to School initiative for Louisville. Safe Routes to School is an approach used across the country to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety in school zones. The first phase of the project is a planning study for schools in Justice40 areas, Census Tracts designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as “Transportation Disadvantaged.” The plan will include recommendations on infrastructure, policies, and programs that encourage active, sustainable transportation. For more information, visit the Louisville Safe Routes to School website.
Air Quality
- The Air Pollution Control District invites businesses to sign-up to be Air Quality Action Partners to improve air quality in Louisville. In 2022, 23 businesses voluntarily took action to reduce air pollution and in 2023, 29 have already signed up to participate.
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The APCD has announced a new series of Clearing The Air Community Workshops, which provide the community with an inside look at the work of Louisville's local air pollution control agency and an opportunity to interact with the professionals tasked with protecting Louisville's air. Learn more and register for the new workshop series.
In order to continue and expand on the above momentum, the Mayor's proposed FY24 budget includes additional staffing for the Office of Sustainability, funding for electric vehicle charging stations and electrification of fleet, tree planting, sidewalk repairs, planning for a Department of Transportation, and more.
DOE’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity is administering the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS. The bonus credit provides a 10 or 20 percentage point increase to the investment tax credit for qualified solar and wind energy facilities with a maximum net output of less than five megawatts (AC). DOE will review applications and make recommendations to the IRS, which will allocate to up to 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of eligible solar and wind capacity per year.
- Would you like to help local restaurants discover ways to reduce their plastic waste? Beyond Plastics Louisville has created a short customer survey to gather data on use of disposable plastics by local restaurants. The data will be used to guide the next steps in a local campaign to reduce plastic waste.
- This year's PFAS Awareness Event featured a screening of the film "Burned: Protecting the Protectors" which documented research finding that PFAS chemicals have been linked to cancer, the leading cause of firefighter death. The Office of Sustainability had the privilege to attend this event and honor the service of Kentucky firefighters.
- Canadian Solar building new $800M solar cell manufacturing facility in Southeast Indiana (via The Lane Report)
- EPA completes cleanup of man-made explosives at Highview home (via Louisville Public Media)
- The race for land: As Louisville sprawl marches east, land trusts, developers compete (via Courier Journal)
- Statement on Federal Funding for the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (via Ohio Valley River Institute)
- Kentucky among the most vulnerable states to climate change impacts, according to new research (via Kentucky Lantern)
- Kentucky has the second fastest growing clean energy sector in the U.S. (via Louisville Public Media)
- 'We don't operate like that': LG&E and KU sound the alarm on door-to-door scam (features Louisville Metro Government Office of Sustainability via WHAS11)
- The Ohio River’s reputation isn’t great. Meet the Kentucky native determined to change it (via Louisville Public Media)
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