The PSB goes platinum!

Salt Lake City Public Safety Building Achieves LEED Platinum Rating

SALT LAKE CITY –Mayor Ralph Becker gathered with Sustainability Director Vicki Bennett, Garth Shaw of GSBS Architects, David Hart of MOCA Systems and representatives from Salt Lake Police and Fire to celebrate the recent LEED Platinum designation for the Public Safety Building.

Platinum is the highest LEED certification available, making the Public Safety Building only the ninth building in the state to achieve this coveted rating.

“The LEED Platinum designation is the culmination of our efforts to design and build a state-of-the-art Public Safety Building that has become a model for other cities across the country,” says Mayor Ralph Becker. “The project showcases Salt Lake City’s leadership to reduce our carbon emissions while enhancing city services.”

In addition to achieving a LEED Platinum rating, the Salt Lake City Public Safety Building was designed to be net zero, meaning it generates as much energy as it consumes. To achieve net zero, the project employed energy efficient building practices, employee engagement on energy use, and renewable energy generation through rooftop solar and an offsite solar farm.

To learn more about the Public Safety Building, click here!

Happy Holidays! From SLCgreen

We’ve had a wonderful 2015, and look forward to an eventful 2016!

Consider Creating an Emergency Air Quality Implementation Plan

Be prepared for poor air quality in Salt Lake City, create an Action Plan!

Breathe Utah has a great Emergency Air Quality Implementation Plan toolkit to help you create your own action plan for bad air days. Enacting a plan can help reduce the number of red air days and improve our community’s health. Utahns are known for emergency preparedness, so why not have an emergency air quality plan in place?

Know in advance when the air quality will be unhealthy;
Plan how to avoid or reduce driving on those days to lessen the health impacts of air pollution on our community;
- Take public transit, carpool, telecommute, trip-chain, walk or bike!
Test the plan in advance to work out any problems before the red or yellow air days are upon us;
Share with others that you have made this plan to inspire them to create their own; and,
Finally, act on your plan, because now you will have a plan in place and will know exactly what to do when the air quality deteriorates.

Thanks Breathe Utah! Visit their website for more details.

Green Holiday Ideas

Here are some tips for a more sustainable holiday season.

Gifts Use recycled wrapping paper! Get creative and make your own with old maps, newspaper, photographs, or paper bags. Here are some more fun ideas!

Give experiences instead of material items. Think a visit to a museum, garden, or aviary, or a ski pass, a yoga or cooking class, a gift certificate to a spa or a ticket to a ballet or sporting event. Or consider donating to an organization on behalf of someone. Make gifts or buy gifts made of recycled materials. If you are going to buy gifts, support local businesses including our e2 businesses which are both local and green!

Food Make sustainable food choices like buying from local growers. Stock up on holiday staples at this weekend’s Winter Market Saturday from 10:00am-2:00pm at the Rio Grande Train Depot.

Incorporate vegan dishes into your holiday traditions. Be creative with leftovers and reduce food waste. Also, use reusable tableware and be sure to recycle glass and cans.

Decorations Here are some fun decorating ideas: String popcorn and cranberries together to make festive decor. Make paper chains with recycled newspapers or magazines and homemade ornaments out of recycled holiday cards. Cut bows from shrubs and trees in your yard and make a homemade wreath. After the holidays, if you have a tree, please put it in the brown compost can.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

[Free Event] Our Melting Ice: Climate Disruption and Energy Choice

Our Melting Ice: Climate Disruption and Energy Choice
Thursday, January 7, 2016 at 7 pm
Salt Lake City Main Library Auditorium – 210 East 400 South
Free, Public Event!

Join us for a climate change speaker panel and screening on Thursday, January 7th. University of Utah Professor Summer Rupper will share experiences from traveling and researching remote, melting parts of our planet. Professor Rupper will be joined by a local organizer from Sierra Club, Lindsay Beebe, who will talk about energy choices in Utah and their connection to public health and climate change.

We’ll start the evening with a 60-minute screening of Episode 4 of the Emmy-award winning series Years of Living Dangerously. This will be followed by a 30-minute panel with our local experts. Episode 4 of the series focuses on Arctic ice melt, energy choice and the faith-climate change nexus.

Speaker Bios
Professor Summer Rupper teaches a course on Snow and Ice and performs related research for the University of Utah. Professor Rupper’s research focuses on glaciers and ice sheets as recorders and indicators of climate change, and as freshwater resources. Recent and ongoing projects include quantifying glacier contributions to water resources, quantifying glacier sensitivity to climate change, reconstructing past climate using ice core data, and more. She has published over 20 peer reviewed publications in her field.

Lindsay Beebe is the Sierra Club Organizing Representative for the Utah Beyond Coal Campaign. She works with volunteer leaders, partner organizations, and decision makers to promote a just transition away from coal-fired power and towards a clean, renewable energy future. Current campaigns include protecting Utah national parks from coal-fired pollution aka ‘regional haze’, supporting the roll-out of the Clean Power Plan in Utah, and watch-dogging anti-renewable energy policy proposals.

Visit our website for more information.

Snow Storm Tree Branch Clean Up in Salt Lake City

Posted 12/16/2015 following the record-breaking snowstorm in Salt Lake City

The heavy wet snow that fell during this week’s storm has resulted in substantial tree damage throughout the entire City. Since the storm event, City crews have been hard at work removing downed trees and tree limbs from roadways, driveways, and heavily used pedestrian areas.

At this time, Salt Lake City Urban Forestry and contracted pruning crews are transitioning into a city-wide, block by block, effort to collect the thousands of medium to large sized branches that have fallen from trees within Salt Lake City parks and in our park strips along City streets. During these branch pickup operations, these ground crews will also be identifying broken branches (which are still hanging in trees) to be removed by subsequent aerial work crews.

The City is committed to completing this cleanup effort as quickly and safely as possible. However, given the quantity and spread of tree damage, branch pick up operations will continue well into next week.

As additional tree branch breakage is always possible, the Salt Lake City Urban Forestry Program is urging City residents to exercise awareness and caution when they find themselves in close proximity to trees during their day to day activities.

Please contact the Salt Lake City Urban Forestry office at (801) 972-7818 with any questions regarding the cleanup effort, and to report tree limbs blocking roads or driveways.

SLCgreen Releases 2015 State of Sustainability Report

For the first time ever, Salt Lake City Green has released a State of Sustainability Report. 2015: State of Sustainability in Salt Lake City is an overview of Salt Lake City’s hardworking Sustainability Division, which began in 2008.

The Sustainability Division (otherwise known as Salt Lake City Green, or SLCgreen) aims to preserve and improve our built and natural environments and provide people with information on sustainability issues affecting Salt Lake City. The Division of Sustainability develops goals and strategies to protect our natural resources, reduce pollution, slow climate change, and establish a path toward greater resiliency and vitality for all aspects of our community.

2015: State of Sustainability in Salt Lake City covers the core areas of the division, from air quality, climate change, energy and food to curbside recycling, garbage, compost and glass.

We’re excited to give you a look at what we’ve accomplished to date, and what we’re proud to be working on!

Explore the State of Sustainability. Download the report (PDF).

Feedback? Email us at SLCgreen@slcgov.com.

We’re excited for another fantastic year — see you in 2016!

Salt Lake City Statement on Historic COP21 Agreement

Update: RadioActive producer Lara Jones visits with Mayor Becker on KRCL 90.9FM about what he saw at the COP21 climate conference, and specifically, the role American cities will play in addressing climate change. Listen here!

Mayor Becker Releases Statement following COP21 Agreement

Mayor Becker in Paris

“On Saturday, the world came together to agree on an accountable, transparent approach to address climate change. I commend President Obama and other leaders for achieving this historic, milestone accord that provides a path to success. For me, it was an honor and a privilege to be a part of this widely collaborative and inclusive process.

Cities have played a prominent role leading up to the Paris talks and will be needed even more as we implement the goals established in the COP21 agreement. U.S. communities had the largest delegation among the 400 cities participating in Paris. Through the Compact of Mayors, a growing number of mayors and our partners established goals, plans and actions in an accountable, transparent process that will allow us to show everyone how we are going to achieve success in reducing our carbon emissions.

Now, we must take the steps with our public and private partners to dramatically decrease carbon emissions through comprehensive actions. Clean, affordable energy in our community development and transportation systems are at the heart of a successful future. Cities are the key to giving our kids the safe, healthy environment they deserve.”

Community electric cars come to University of Utah

Exciting news from our friends at the University of Utah today! They have announced a new bulk purchase program that offers steep discounts on an array of electric vehicles. Read on for details – SLCgreen

The University of Utah is the first university in the country to sponsor a community-level electric vehicle purchase program that includes discounts on multiple makes and models.

U Community Drive Electric offers members of the U community, including faculty, staff, students, alumni and campus guests in Salt Lake, Summit, Weber, Tooele, Utah and Davis counties, the opportunity to purchase or lease electric vehicles at a discount of 5 percent to 20 percent off of MSRP. The limited-time program launches today, Dec. 14, and runs through Dec. 31, 2015.

Car dealers are able to offer a discount because these types of community programs tend to generate more customers in close proximity during a specific timeframe. There are three participating car dealers: BMW of Murray, Larry H. Miller Ford Lincoln – Sandy and Tim Dahle Nissan of Murray.

There will be a community workshop with questions and answers, Thursday, Dec. 17, 6-7:30 p.m. at the University of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles Business Building on the 7th floor, 7170.

This program is part of the university’s goal to implement creative solutions to lessen its environmental impact and to improve conditions for the community and future generations. With almost 50 percent of Utah’s urban air pollution coming from tailpipe emissions, electric vehicles represent an important tool for improving air quality along the Wasatch Front.

“We are excited to support U community members’ access to emissions-reducing cars that will improve air quality,” said University of Utah Chief Sustainability Officer Amy Wildermuth.

To offer this incentive, the Sustainability Office is partnering with Utah Clean Energy, a nonprofit, public interest organization that works to drive the transition to a clean energy future. The program is enabled by a generous grant from Utah Clean Air Partnership, or UCAIR, which encourages businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations to invest in emissions-reducing and energy-efficient technologies.

“This is a terrific program recognizing the positive impact electric cars can have on air quality,” said UCAIR Director Ted Wilson. “I congratulate the University of Utah and Utah Clean Energy for forming a strong program making electric cars more economical to buy. Once owned, they are clean and simple with almost no maintenance. In other words, both economically smart and a fine contribution to better air.”

“The support of UCAIR is key to U Community Drive Electric,” said Wildermuth. “This unique opportunity will allow individuals to make a meaningful difference for our local community and will serve as a model to others for what is possible. Reducing tailpipe emissions is just one of the many ways we are working to improve local air quality. With UCAIR support and partnership with Utah Clean Energy, we hope to help make a significant contribution.”

In addition to increasing awareness about electric vehicles’ impact on Utah’s air quality, the organizers of U Drive Electric hope to connect the benefits of combining solar power with electric vehicles.

“Fully electric vehicles have no tailpipe,” said Utah Clean Energy Executive Director Sarah Wright. “They eliminate 99 percent of the smog-producing volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide emitted by gas-fueled cars in our airshed. And when powered by solar energy, they are truly pollution free.”

U Drive Electric will also include plug-in hybrids to provide an opportunity for people who require a longer-range option to participate in the program. Including these vehicles maximizes the choices for consumers, which will ultimately help even more community members reduce their pollution.

Participating community members will sign up for the program with Utah Clean Energy at www.udriveelectric.org. Once registered, participants work directly with any of the selected dealers to purchase the electric car of their choice. Participants must sign a contract before Dec. 31, 2015, to guarantee the discount.

For more information about the U Community Drive Electric program, visit www.udriveelectric.org.

About Sustainability at the University of Utah
The University of Utah is committed to integrating sustainability across all areas of the institution, including academics, operations and administration. Additionally, the university is supporting sustainability efforts and research under the Sustainability Office to better streamline initiatives and collaboration across campus.

About UCAIR
UCAIR is a statewide clean air partnership created to make it easier for individuals, businesses and communities to make small changes to improve Utah’s air quality. Every small change adds to a collective bigger step toward better health, a better economy and better overall quality of life for all of us.

About Utah Clean Energy
Utah Clean Energy is Utah’s leading expert public interest organization working to expand renewable energy and energy efficiency in a way that is beneficial not only for Utah’s environment and health, but also our economy and long-term energy security. Utah Clean Energy is committed to creating a future that ensures healthy, thriving communities for all, empowered and sustained by clean energies such as solar, wind and energy efficiency.

Council Passes New Business & Multi-Family Recycling Ordinance

Last night, the Salt Lake City Council passed the Business & Multi-Family Recycling Ordinance! The new ordinance will require large businesses and apartments (multi-family housing complexes) that produce 4+ cubic yards of waste per week to subscribe to recycling services from an authorized waste hauler. The ordinance also stipulates that recycling must be as easy to use as garbage service for tenants and customers.

This is an exciting step forward to reduce waste in Salt Lake City. Businesses and multi-family units produce 50% of all waste in the city, but only 10-15% of that waste is currently recycled. When widespread business and multi-family recycling goes into effect, more than 20,000 tons of material will be kept out of the landfill.

Once the ordinance is recorded (anticipated January 2016), waste haulers will have six months to become authorized. Businesses and multi-family complexes will have a full two years from the effective date to comply.

To learn more about the requirements of the ordinance, visit SLCgreen.com.