Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News

As Ed Daley, ICMA President and city manager of Hopewell, Va., put it during an April 22 ICMA hosted- webcast, "Improving the energy efficiency of our own operations is only part of what we, as local government leaders, can do to better our environment and economy, and build sustainable communities. We are in a unique position to lead by example, educate our citizens about the benefits of energy efficiency, and motivate private sector organizations to make energy efficiency improvements."

During the webcast, entitled Leading Your Community and Saving Money, Energy, and the Environment, Susan Scott, Deputy County Manager, Sarasota County, Fla., described energy efficiency programs that the county is implementing as a part of its "Roadmap to Sustainability". These programs include:

* 2006 Change a Light campaign in which 1,037 county employees pledged to save energy, preventing 467,550 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
* Partnership with Florida Power & Light for the largest solar array in Florida, a 250 kW solar operation located at Sarasota County’s Rothenbach Park, a former landfill. This solar facility, built to support FPL’s Sunshine Energy green power pricing program, is expected to prevent more than 680,000 pounds of CO2 emissions each year.
* Requirement that all new county construction and renovation must be 50 percent more energy efficient than standard code requirements.

Unfortunately, delaying energy efficiency projects and opportunities can be very expensive. The Cash Flow Opportunity (CFO) Calculator, a tool offered by the US EPA ENERGY STAR, can help quantify the cost of delaying investment in upgrades by addressing three critical questions: how much new energy efficiency equipment can be purchased from the anticipated savings; should this equipment purchase be financed now, or is it better to wait and use cash from a future budget; and is money being lost by waiting for a lower interest rate? The CFO Calculator is designed so that managers who are not financial specialists can use it to make informed decisions, yet it is sophisticated enough to satisfy financial decision-makers. Learn how this tool helps model financing alternatives through sensitivity analysis.

All of the materials used during the webcast are available in the ICMA Resource Center.

For more information on ICMA’s energy program, contact Barbara Yuhas at byuhas@icma.org. For further information on U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR® Programs visit www.energystar.gov or contact Kudret Utebay at kutebay@cadmusgroup.com.

International City/County Management Association (ICMA) www.icma.org
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