Climate Action Plan to Cut City’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2012
Mayor John Hickenlooper recently announced significant
sustainability milestones as part of his ongoing challenge to
Denver residents and City employees to dramatically reduce
Denver’s vulnerability to
climate change.
The Mayor was joined by members of the
Greenprint Denver Advisory Council and City employees, Wednesday, October 24
th when he adopted the Council’s
Climate Action Plan and announced certification of the
Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building as a
LEED Gold Existing Building. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a nationally recognized standard for sustainable development.
“The Climate Action Plan will guide Denver’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while creating jobs and improving public health,” Hickenlooper said. “We commend the Greenprint Advisory Council for their innovative and collaborative approach in developing the plan, and we thank them for their tireless efforts to promote sustainability in our community.”
“The LEED Gold certification is a tremendous honor for the City, our employees and our community partners,” Hickenlooper added. “It’s an important designation that recognizes our collective commitment to sustainability. This remarkable building now symbolizes that commitment and all that can be achieved when we establish ambitious sustainability goals and work together to achieve them.”
Hickenlooper formally adopted Denver’s Climate Action Plan, a series of steps intended to reduce the City’s per capita greenhouse gas emissions 10 percent by 2012. The announcement is the culmination of more than a year’s work by the 33-member Greenprint Advisory Council, which studied best practices from across the country to determine the top ten opportunities to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
“With adoption of the Climate Action Plan, our real work as a community begins,” Hickenlooper added. “If there is only a three percent chance that 95 percent of the world’s top scientists are right about the consequences of climate change, we all have a responsibility to act now. Denver remains committed to leading by example.”
The mayor also signed Executive Order 123, which contains the City’s first municipal green building policy, formalizes a comprehensive sustainability policy and creates an Office of Greenprint Denver, ensuring that future Denver leaders have the necessary tools to institute cost-effective sustainable practices.
The green building policy requires all City facilities to be constructed and maintained according to sustainable principles. To highlight this commitment, the City unveiled a plaque commemorating certification of the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) Gold standard.
“We are proud of the LEED Gold certification achieved by the Webb Building, and we see this as just the beginning of our sustainability efforts,” said Kevin Patterson, manager of General Services. “Our goal is to maintain all of our City facilities in an energy efficient and sustainable manner. Sustainability is not just a buzzword; it is an integral part of our decision making process.”
LEED-EB is a high-performance building rating system developed and administered by the
U.S. Green Building Council that provides guidance on operations and maintenance for existing buildings. LEED-EB evaluates criteria related to building location, exterior maintenance, water and energy efficiency, material and resource use, indoor environmental quality and occupancy comfort, and sustainability innovations. There are only four LEED-EB Gold certified buildings in
Denver and 24 nationwide.
“Certification of the Webb Building clearly shows the City government’s commitment to this vision of sustainability,” said Michele Weingarden, director of Greenprint Denver. “We appreciate all the employees in the Webb Building who embraced the Greenprint Denver challenge and integrated recycling and energy efficiency into their daily operations.”