In a few months, Schenectady County will have a better idea of its carbon footprint.
The Schenectady County Environmental Advisory Committee recently heard a presentation from Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., on the County Energy and Climate Study, which is being conducted by VHB on behalf of SCEAC to help the County Legislature fulfill its Climate Smart Communities Pledge adopted in 2009.
The study will inventory greenhouse gas emissions and establish goals for the county and local municipalities to reduce carbon emissions. Federal stimulus funding was obtained by SCEAC to hire VHB to conduct the study.
Kim Lundgren, senior project manager at VHB, said the company has many connections already established in the state and will be able to provide avenues to pursue outside funding.
“We are thrilled to be working with Schenectady County and all of you on this exciting project,” said Lundgren. “My staff and my team have been working with local governments on climate change protection, green house gas inventories, sustainability … for over 10 years.”
Green house gasses started to be inventoried in July and the count is expected to be completed around the middle of December. Once the data is released to the public, at least two meetings are planned to be held to solicit input on the Climate Action Plan, which is scheduled to be completed in May of 2012. The Climate Action Plan has to be completed by that time in order to obtain NYSERDA funding awarded to the county.
The county’s timing to focus on green efforts is good, said Lundgren, because of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent push to have greener communities. She added being able to apply a regional approach could also help obtain funding from the state to pursue projects.
“I think the timing is great … because the state and Gov. Cuomo have really pushed forward this greener and cleaner communities program,” she said.
The strategy on how to best engage the public, businesses and government officials was discussed during the Monday, Sept. 19, meeting.
“We really like to bring as many people to the table at the beginning as possible,” said Lundgren. “The idea is that we are going to engage folks early on so that they will gain a little ownership.”
Representatives from VHB said they want to develop a plan that doesn’t just sit on the shelf, but gets acted upon and implemented, but some SCEAC members were more worried about just getting the CAP completed first.
“We are really looking at a very comprehensive effort to not only quantify … but really work with all of you in your community on implementations and recommendations,” said Lundgren.
Mary Werner, chairwoman of SCEAC, highlighted some of the efforts the county has made toward reducing energy usage. In 2008, she said there were six resolutions dealing with energy conservation. The Climate Smart Communities pledged being adopted by the County Legislature, along with some municipalities, and she said it is an important step.
The study will be able to gather more precise data on county facilities and operations than residential and business operations. Information also could be broken up by zip codes to help determine a localized feel on usage.
“There are also additional studies that we could do. We are doing a survey that is going out this week for the employees of Schenectady County,” said Lundgren, referencing a transportation study. “It will be interesting to see just from the government perspective where those employees are coming in from.”
