energy efficiency

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Affordable Apartments Get Green Certification — The 36-unit Macedonian apartment complex in Green Valley has become the first EarthCraft-certified new multifamily building in Arlington and the most energy-efficient EarthCraft building in Northern Virginia. The affordable apartments, at 2229 Shirlington Road, received the green building certification thanks to a special central heating and cooling system, foam insulation and other high-efficiency components. The building is a partnership between affordable housing nonprofit AHC Inc. and the Macedonia Baptist Church. [AHC Inc.]

Jail to Host Mother’s Day Event — The Arlington Sheriff’s Office will be hosting its bi-annual Incarcerated Mother’s Holiday Program at the county lockup Monday night, one day after Mother’s Day. From 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., female inmates will get the chance to have a “contact visit” with their children within the jail. The event will feature a card exchange, dinner and bonding time. “The program is designed to strengthen and encourage mothers to have positive relationships with their minor children to help lessen the impact and effects of separation,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.

New Site Fixes and Features — We made some fixes and added some features to the site overnight. Among the changes: the comment problem we described yesterday has been resolved, we’ve added new fields to your user profiles, and the forums are now operational. Note that there are still some bugs to be worked out with the forums and with user profiles, especially for Internet Explorer users. Please let us know what you think of the changes in the comments.

Energy Plan Sets Ambitious Goals With Few Local Mandates

By ARLnow.com

A draft copy of Arlington’s Community Energy Plan sets the ambitious goal of reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions from 13.4 metric tons per county resident today to 3 metric tons per resident by 2050. Getting there, however, will almost entirely rely on factors outside of the county’s regulatory control.

Residents and businesses will not be “required” by the county to do much of anything under the plan, which is now being finalized by the county’s Community Energy and Sustainability Task Force. Most of the savings are expected to come in the form of voluntary gains in building efficiency and from new federal and state mandates.

The plan calls for homes and commercial buildings undergoing “major renovation” past 2015 to be 30 and 50 percent more efficient, respectively, than current structures. By 2050, the efficiency standards will increase to 50 percent for homes and 70 percent for commercial buildings, compared to current averages.

While such requirements could eventually be built into Virginia’s building code, state law prevents Arlington from enacting requirements unilaterally.

“The recommendations we have here are essentially in recognition that we are in a Dillon Rule state,” said Richard Dooley, the county’s project manager for the Community Energy Plan. Barring action from the state, Dooley says the county will encourage adoption of its recommendations by “mak[ing] sure these things make good economic sense.”

The county will promote the energy cost savings of efficiency gains, Dooley said. Arlington will create a database of federal, state, foundation and local incentives for energy efficiency projects, making it easier for homeowners and business owners to find incentives that apply to them.

Another task force recommendation is to encourage Arlington homeowners to install renewable heating systems, including solar and geothermal water heaters.

“At least 50 percent of domestic hot water needs and 20 percent of space and pool heating needs should be provided by these renewable sources,” the draft report states. So far, the actual means for achieving the goal are not specified.

Among the other task force recommendations:

  • The creation of a net-zero energy “scale project” consisting of “a small mixed-use neighborhood at least 100 homes built to energy standards outlined by the Passive House Institute.”
  • A reduction of vehicle miles traveled by “developing walkable mixed-use neighborhoods” and encouraging “cylcing, walking, public transit and vehicle pooling.”
  • The creation of steam plants in high-density neighborhoods. The plants would provide a central source “heating, cooling, and hot water services” in areas like Crystal City/Pentagon City, Rosslyn/Courthouse, Ballston/Virginia Square and parts of Columbia Pike.
  • Increased use of solar panels on public and private buildings.
  • Increased use of biofuels.
  • “Supporting… federal efforts” to increase vehicle fuel efficiency standards.
  • Encouraging building owners to display “Energy Performance Labels” in building lobbies.
  • Providing public education and training about energy efficiency.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Zimmerman Talks Metro — County board member Chris Zimmerman, who recently announced that he was stepping down from the WMATA Board of Directors, has given what may be his first comprehensive interview since his surprise announcement last week. Zimmerman echoed his stance that Metro needs more funding to survive, and is at the mercy of “external” forces. “These are not things that are going to be fixed by a magical general manager,” Zimmerman said. “They’re not going to be fixed by any configuration of the board of directors.” More from We Love DC.

APS Students Give Back — A new “Snapshots” video from the county’s educational TV channel takes a look at how Arlington Public School students are giving back for the holidays.

Henry Elementary Student Wins WaPo Contest — Kate Lanman, a second grader at Arlington’s Patrick Henry Elementary school, has won the Washington Post’s annual holiday wrapping papers contest. Lanman, 7, will be featured on the cover of the Post’s weekend section tomorrow. More from the Washington Post.

Jail Gets Energy Star Label — The Arlington County Justice Center — which includes the jail and the courthouse — has become the first county building to be awarded an Energy Star designation. The Justice Center completed an energy efficiency overhaul in 2009. More from Arlington County.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

December Leaf Collection Schedule Released — The county’s second round of vacuum leaf collection through neighborhoods is now scheduled to begin on Dec. 4 and end on Dec. 24. More from the Dept. of Environmental Services.

Holiday Events Aplenty — The Sun Gazette has a list of 15 holiday-related events around Arlington in December.

Arlington Company Gets Big-Time Funding — OPower, a start-up energy services company based in Courthouse, has just received a $50 million investment by two venture capital firms. The company, which hosted a speech by President Obama in March, hopes to ramp up its research and development effort and hire 50 more people. More from Tech Crunch.

Fire Response at Spider Kelly’s — The fire department responded to Spider Kelly’s in Clarendon late last night for a report of a fire. Firefighters instead found light smoke and traced it back to a malfunctioning heating unit. No word yet on whether this will affect the popular night spot’s ability to open today.

Out of the Ashes, Developer to Build Ultra Energy Efficient Home

By ARLnow.com

The Barcroft neighborhood is going to be the home of the Washington area’s second passive house.

Passive house is an ultra energy efficient building style that’s becoming increasingly popular in Europe. There are only about 20 passive houses in the United States.

The eco-friendly house will be built on the site of yesterday’s spectacular made-for-TV controlled burn exercise. The small, condemned and now-charred home currently on the site will be torn down. Construction is expected to begin around December 1 and wrap up in the spring.

The project is being done on spec by the Burke-based developer Kinsey Properties.

Roger Lin, a managing partner at the firm, says the house will raise the bar for efficiency in environmentally-conscious Arlington.

“It’s highest standard in terms of performance-based green buildings,” he said. “They’re popping up all over the country now.”

Lin said the only other passive house in the DC area is in Bethesda.

Arlington to Launch “Green Games” Competition

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County is launching a friendly competition that will encourage commercial building owners and office tenants to reduce energy usage and increase efficiency.

The “Arlington Green Games” will begin next Tuesday (Oct. 19) with an opening ceremony in Rosslyn, complete with booths that will instruct competitors on ways to reduce energy consumption and cut down on emissions. The event will start at 11:00 a.m. on the 30th floor of 1000 Wilson Blvd.

The competition is being organized by Arlington’s Fresh AIRE program, which seeks to reduce carbon emissions in the county. Competitors will first benchmark their “current energy and sustainability practices,” then work to improve performance in those area.

The county has also launched a web site for the Green Games, featuring a registration form for building owners and office managers.

Green Home Claims Arlington’s First Gold Certification

By ARLnow.com

Given the potential for stringent new energy efficiency requirements for new and renovated homes in Arlington, you may be wondering what such a “green” house would look like.

The answer: something like this.

Local builder Arlington Designer Homes is showing off this custom-built house on North Underwood Street today, after it received Arlington’s first Gold-level Green Building Certification from the National Association of Home Builders.

According to the builder, this is only the sixth house in Virginia to receive Gold-level certification.

It’s 45 percent more energy efficient than a standard new home, thanks to a solar water heater, Energy Star appliances, and spray-in foam installation. It was built using environmentally-friendly construction techniques and is sealed from outside pollutants and allergens.

Family-owned Arlington Designer Homes says they’re now busy building two new green homes in Falls Church.

Energy Recommendations Include Renovation Restrictions

By ARLnow.com

A task force convened by the county board has released its list of preliminary recommendations for reducing carbon-based energy consumption in Arlington.

The ambitious and sometimes ambiguous recommendations range from tax incentives for energy efficiency to installing 160 megawatts worth of solar electricity generating capacity to migrating high density neighborhoods to district energy systems (centralized heating and cooling plants serving numerous buildings).

One recommendation that may receive particular resident scrutiny is a requirement that all new home renovations, starting in 2015, must prove a 30 percent gain in energy efficiency (over today’s average). Likewise, all new commercial building renovations must prove that the work will provide a 50 percent gain in efficiency.

As for new development, new houses will need to prove 30 percent higher efficiency than current code starting in 2015. On the commercial side, “new construction planning requests will also be expected to include a narrative regarding how they will meet the higher levels of efficiency. Incentives may be provided to developers in exchange for higher energy performance.

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County To Spend Stimulus Funds on LED Streetlights

By ARLnow.com

Arlington is devoting $500,000 in stimulus funds to convert old county-owned streetlights to energy-efficient LED streetlights, the county announced today.

Officials hope to replace 1,800 streetlights, or 40 percent of all county-owned lights, by the spring of 2011. The funds for the project will come from a federal energy efficiency and conservation grant.

After the initial push, the county will install 500 new streetlights per year. The conversion will take about six years to complete, and will produce a significant cost savings for the county.

The new lights are expected to cut energy consumption by about 60 percent and save more than $1 million per year, according to one estimate.

Even after the conversion, however, most streetlights in the county will be of the older, less energy-efficient variety. That’s because the vast majority of streetlights in Arlington are owned by Dominion Power. Dominion operates 11,700 lights under contract with the county, and those have not yet been scheduled for an upgrade.

“Arlington and Dominion are exploring options to improve the energy efficiency of those [streetlights] in the future,” the county said in a statement.