Envision

Adams Morgan: Environment and Sustainability

Our overarching mission in the Environment and Sustainability working group is to ensure that residents and businesses in the neighborhood have a clear understanding of their relationship with the underlying environmental assets of the neighborhood and the District at large. We seek to: Transfer knowledge/awareness of place and natural environment to businesses and residents. Build a platform for continued long-term growth and discussion as a community. Become a neighborhood that identifies itself as being environmentally progressive. Fix whats broken (tree health, water runoff, erosion, waste, awareness, weatherization) and revitalize underused spaces as community assets.

We have aligned our baseline data for the neighborhood with the goals and targets laid out in the Sustainable DC plan, released in February 2013 in six categories.1 The Sustainable DC goals are in a bulleted list at the beginning of each section below.

ENERGY & BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Goals: Cut citywide energy use by 50%. Increase the use of renewable energy to make up 50% of the Districts energy supply. Reduce annual power outages to between 0 and 2 events of less than 100 minutes per year. Retrofit 100% of existing commercial and multi-family buildings to achieve net-zero energy standards (meaning that the building generates enough energy from renewable sources to offset its own energy use). Meet net-zero energy use standards with all new construction projects.

Overall Energy Use

While we cant track the amount of energy used within our ANC boundaries, we do know how much energy was used overall in the zip code 20009, as Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) receives these numbers in reports from Pepco and Washington Gas Energy Services (WGES) each year. Customers in 20009 accounted for 2.45% of citywide natural gas use and 3.6% of citywide electricity use in 2012.2
1 2

http://sustainable-dc.org https://ncrportal.mwcog.org/sites/surveys/climate/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2Fsite s%2Fsurveys%2Fclimate%2FShared%20Documents%2FUtility%20Data%20Request%2FZIP- Level%20Data&View={249AE023-2823-48BB-9118-481AEF8B40CE}

Figure 1: Natural Gas used within 20009 boundaries in 2012 Zip Code 20009 Commercial Master-metered Industrial Residential # of Meters 10942 891 287 12 9,752 Therms 10,452,470.7 4,495,565.8 1,493,453.2 1,180,796.0 3,282,655.7

Figure 2: Electricity used within 20009 boundaries in 2012 Zip Code 20009 Master-metered non- government commercial Non-master-metered government commercial Non-master-metered government residential Non-master-metered non- government commercial Non-master-metered non- government residential # of Meters 25,558 102 43 1 2,497 22,915 kWh 389,649,118 28464254 37045037 4582 178605342 145529903

Building Efficiency
Private buildings over 50,000 sq ft and public buildings over 10,000 sq ft are required to track and report their annual energy and water use using EPA's Portfolio Manager tracking tool. This requirement is a result of DCs Green Building Act of 2006. As buildings account for 75% of the District's energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, tracking our major buildings' energy use and finding a way to incentivize reductions could make a significant environmental impact. There are currently 21 private buildings in Adams Morgan that were required to submit benchmarking data by April 1, 2013 (see Figure 1). A list of buildings over 50K sq ft will be released shortly, and these buildings will be required to submit benchmarking data by 2014. Smaller buildings over 10,000 sq ft are also able to use the tool, and we would encourage all such buildings in Adams Morgan to do so. Requirements and instructions for using the benchmarking tool are outlined on the District's website: http://green.dc.gov/energybenchmarking.

Of the government buildings that have reported their energy use for 2012, the following are in Adams Morgan: Figure 3: Benchmarking data for government buildings in Adams Morgan
Current Weather Normalized Source Energy Intensity (kBtu/Sq. Ft.) 186.2

Facility Name Engine Company #21 Engine Company #9 Adams Elementary Marie Reed Elementary 3rd District HQ

Address 1763 LANIER PLACE NW 1617 U STREET NW 2020 19TH STREET NW 2200 CHAMPLAIN STREET NW 1620 V STREET NW

Total Floor Space (Sq. Ft.) 12,800

ENERGY STAR Score N/A

Electricity Use 157,699

Gas Use (therms) 6,200

Current Total GHG Emissions (MtCO2e) 109.18

10,476

N/A

205.6

159,132

4,357

100.07

59,400

162,700

63* (temporary score) 4

143.4

479,058

25,402

366.60

221.8

3,470,257

44

1,676.95

38,852

N/A

276.00

840,177

15,912

490.60

Source: http://green.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ddoe/publication/attachments/DDOE- DGS_PublicBenchmarking_013113.pdf

Compared to schools nationwide, Marie Reed scored in the 4th percentile for energy efficiency. This is quite low, and there should be lots of room for improvement. H.D. Cooke Elementary School was not included in the benchmarking report. Buildings in the 75th percentile and higher are eligible for EnergyStar certification. Figure 4: Adams Morgan buildings over 100K sq ft
973,414 519,484 421,800 236,646 272,449 276,092 439,502 1919 CONNECTICUT AV 1875 CONNECTICUT AV NW 1825 CONNECTICUT AV NW 2101 - 2201 CONNECTICUT AV NW 1600 BEEKMAN PL NW 2400 16TH ST NW 2480 16TH ST CJUF II DESTINATION HOTEL LLC UNIVERSAL BUILDING NORTH INC UNIVERSAL BUILDING INC 2101 CONNECTICUT AVENUE BEEKMAN PLACE CONDO ENVOY ASSOCIATES LTD PTSP DORCHESTER HOUSE ASSOCIATES LLC

 277,426 187,707 198,381 174,971 127,257 122,062 116,748 130,541 120,650 118,686 116,689 114,441 104,040 120,823

1629 COLUMBIA RD NW 1884 COLUMBIA RD NW 2853 ONTARIO RD NW 1650 HARVARD ST NW 1954 COLUMBIA RD NW 2022 COLUMBIA RD NW 2032 BELMONT RD NW 1900 KALORAMA PL 1841 COLUMBIA RD NW 1661 CRESCENT PL NW 1641 - 1681 KALORAMA RD NW 1707 COLUMBIA RD NW 1673 COLUMBIA RD NW 1801 CLYDESDALE PL NW

PARK PLAZA APTS II LLC ADAMS-MORGAN ASSOCIATES ONTARIO OWNERS INC HARVARD HALL LLC DAVID HORNSTEIN THE WYOMING HOUSE VALLEY VISTA CONDOMINIUM KALORAMA PLACE UIP 1841 COLUMBIA ROAD LLC 1661 CRESCENT PLACE NW INC JEMAL'S CITADEL LLC NATIONAL SAVINGS & TRUST COMPANY NATIONAL SAVINGS & TRUST COMPANY TRUSTEES SAXONY COOPERATIVE APARTMENTS INC

Fuel contamination
Fuel stored in underground containers can a source of groundwater and soil contamination. There are three open Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites in Adams Morgan, as of August 2012. 6/20/1996 2/11/1993 3/6/1991 2329 Champlain St L.P. Chevron DPW Other 2329 Champlain Street., NW 1 Soil/GW 1 Soil/GW 1 Soil/GW

Gas 1827 Adams Mill Rd, NW Station DC Govt 1630 V Street, NW

Renewables
Wind Within the 20009 zip code, we know we have at least 80 businesses and over 141 residents that support wind power. In Adams Morgan specifically, we know we have 34 businesses along the 18th St corridor and 6 local nonprofits participating in a community power purchase agreement for wind power. Joella Mosely, with New Green Industries, reports that, since beginning in 2011, we've generated over $1,500,000 in savings and business revenue for community members, and converted about 15,000,000 kWh or 8,346 tons of CO2. This savings is equivalent to: Solar While there are 36 solar installations in the 20009 zip code, we believe that only 8 are within the boundaries of ANC 1C at the present time. In DC overall, there are 667 solar installations. DC Sun is a local solar cooperative network that can be a resource for single-family homes or large apartment buildings that want to investigate solar installations. They can issue a Request for Proposal on behalf of large buildings and solicit bids from area installers for a system. They can then help the building review the bids and select an installer that will meet their needs. An alternative to owning solar panels is to lease, which is possible to do through Solar City. Unfortunately, Solar City does not work with either condominiums or apartment buildings. Solar Thermal There are 37 solar thermal installations in DC at this time. Two buildings in Adams Morgan have installed solar thermal arrays to reduce electricity used to heat water: Park Tower, 2440 16th St NW 1825 Vernon St NW Removing 1604.22 cars from the road for a year Eliminating 1105.49 homes' electricity for a year Saving 43.58 railcars' worth of coal, or Turning off 0.001797 coal plants for a year.

Skyline Innovations does commercial solar thermal water installations - depending upon building infrastructure. Their main clients are large apartment and condominium buildings. They do not work with single-family homes but can put customers in touch with those companies who do.

Reliability
Most of our power lines in Adams Morgan are underground. As a result, we dont often lose power during storm emergencies.

WATER
Goals: Make 100% of District waterways fishable and swimmable. Use 75% of the landscape to capture rainwater for filtration or reuse. Decrease total water use by 40%.

Pollutants and Storm Water Runoff

Adams Morgan lies on a boundary line between two watersheds Rock Creek and the Washington Metropolitan watershed. Adams Morgan is also within the boundaries of DCs Combined Sewage Overflow system, meaning that during heavy rains, when storm sewers become too full, sewage is mixed in and released into these watersheds. This makes it particularly important in Adams Morgan to do what we can to reduce storm water runoff by capturing rainfall with bioswales, rain gardens, green roofs, or rain barrels. We can also mitigate storm water runoff by replacing impervious surfaces with permeable pavement or plants. To date, only one house in Adams Morgan has participated in the RiverSmart Homes program by installing a rain barrel. An erosion control project was undertaken in Kalorama Park to control excessive stormwater runoff from slopes and hard surfaces within the park in 2010-2011, but was unsuccessful. The DC Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of General Services are now working to fund repairs and have posted a page on their website to track developments in the project. 3 Pesticides are another common water pollutant. Recently, DC passed a pesticide reform act that requires Integrated Pest Management and limits use of synthetic pesticides on all government, school, and childcare facility grounds. This is primarily to limit human exposure to toxics, but will also serve to reduce the amount of pesticides that wash off of those grounds into nearby bodies of water. We encourage adoption of integrated pest management or organic approaches for all parks and green spaces in Adams Morgan.

http://dpr.dc.gov/page/kalorama-park-erosion-control

Watersheds

Decreasing Water Use

Water use is included in the benchmarking requirements for large buildings established by DCs Green Building Act of 2006. We expect that tracking water use and making the information publicly available will help build awareness and encourage behavior change.

WASTE
Goals: Send zero solid waste to landfills per year and reduce total waste generation by 15%. Reuse 20% of all construction and demolition waste. Achieve a total waste diversion rate (recycling, composting, and conversion) of 80%.

Disposal Responsibility
Waste is handled both by the Department of Public Works and by private haulers in DC. All residences with three or fewer units are covered by city collection and are offered recycling and landfill services. District-wide, DPW handles 103,00 residences. All businesses, schools, churches, and residences with four or more units are required to contract with private waste and recycling haulers. Recycling is a required service, but each hauler may collect different materials. According to DPW: Items that the District requires commercial properties to recycle The District regulates recycling bottles, cans and paper in all businesses. Glass, metal, paper, corrugated cardboard and narrow-necked plastic bottles must be separated and containerized independently of other solid waste. Enforcement actions that can be taken if a commercial property does not recycle A commercial property can be fined for failing to comply with the recycling regulations. The fines range from $200 for a first offense to $1500 for the third violation of the same regulation within 60 days. Because there are so many buildings in Adams Morgan that are required to contract with private haulers, its a large task to account for all companies working in Adams Morgan. We do know there are at least 11 companies collecting from restaurants and businesses on the East side of 18th Street, along with 4 different grease collectors. Of the 11, only 6 are on the list of commercial haulers registered with DPW. The consequence of having so many different companies serving one street is increased traffic in the alleyways, and increased fuel use by those haulers. Legal requirements for commercial waste disposal and recycling can be found here, along with a list of authorized haulers: http://dpw.dc.gov/service/commercial-recycling

Street Recycling Cans

As part of the streetscape renovation, new recycling bins were installed all along 18th Street, finally bringing public recycling to Adams Morgan! The Adams Morgan Partnerships Clean Team works to collect recycling from street cans. Cleaning services are provided by Ready, Willing and Working, a work-readiness program of the Capitol Hill BID.

TapIt
TapIt is a national program that highlights restaurants and businesses that will fill up visitors water bottles for free. This encourages use of reusable bottles as an alternative to plastic water bottles (which are often disposed of rather than recycled). There are 10 businesses participating in Adams Morgan.

Composting
We are still trying to determine the number of residents and businesses that compost in Adams Morgan. As of April 1, 2013 DPW will allow commercial haulers to use the Benning Road transfer station to drop off organics for composting.

FOOD
Goals: Put 20 additional acres of land under cultivation for growing food. Ensure 75% of residents live within mile of a community garden, farmers market, or healthy corner store. Produce or obtain 25% of food within a 100-mile radius.

Community Gardens
The only community garden in Adams Morgan is the one at Kalorama Park, with only 19 plots. Rules provide that gardeners may keep their plots for five years, but that can be extended for administrative work done for the garden. A lottery is held to allocate available garden plots in February of each year. There was previously a community garden in Walter Pierce Park. It was closed ostensibly for erosion control purposes, but in fact it was to preserve gravesites in the historic cemeteries on the site. Although a DC government map indicated it would reopen in 2007, that has not yet happened. There are also two small Common Good in the City plots in front of the Kalorama Recreation Center. The plans for the new soccer eld at Marie Reed Education Center also include small plots for school gardening. Other potential sites: HD Cooke Elementary School Rock Creek Park (area adjacent to south side of Duke Ellington bridge) Other federal sites at 16th/Columbia Rd, triangle park south of Kalorama Large residential buildings with rooftop potential

Farmers Markets
18th and Columbia Road, Saturdays 9AM - 1PM, April through December. Since 1973, the vendors include Licking Creek Bend Farm and Star Hollow Farm.

Groceries (local, sustainable, organic list)

Pleasant Pops 1781 Florida Ave NW 202/558-5224 Yes! Organic Market, 1825 Columbia Road, NW Cashions Eat Place 1819 Columbia Road, NW 202/797-1819 Pleasant Pops 1781 Florida Ave NW 202/558-5224 Organic North Sea Thai Restaurant 2479 18th Street, NW 202/332-7628 7-Eleven 1900 Wyoming Avenue, NW 7-Eleven 1755 Columbia Road, NW Harris Teeter 1631 Kalorama Road, NW Safeway 1747 Columbia Road, NW Argonne Market 1629 Columbia Road NW Home Food 2216 18th Street, NW Mr. T Grocery Store (aka Ts) 1795 Lanier Place, NW Santa Anna Grocery 1664 Columbia Road, NW Metro K Supermarket 1864 Columbia Road, NW

Restaurants (local, sustainable, organic list)

Groceries (conventional)

NATURE
Goals: Increase the acreage of wetlands along the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers by 50%. Cover 40% of the District with a healthy tree canopy. Provide parkland or natural space within a 10-minute walk of all residents. Casey Trees provided a satellite view of changes in the tree canopy over time; a tree canopy analysis identifying total coverage and opportunities where additional trees could be added; and, an additional over-head view of the specific opportunities for adding to the tree cover in schools and parks. According to these images, the available spaces for planting more trees are mostly in Adams Morgan's parks and schools. Kalorama Park offers real opportunities. The many public spaces without trees - like the plazas near 18th and Columbia Road - are another. Other opportunities are spread throughout residential areas, in the small yards throughout the neighborhood. Casey Trees has offered to plant trees wherever the community requested them. They said they often work with neighborhood groups to plant trees and then get permission from the DC government groups to do so. The tree cover images have been added to this document as an appendix.

ANC 1C Schools and Parks

H.D. Cooke Elementary School

Education Strengthens Families PCS (ESF)

Marie Reed Elementary School

Oyster-Adams Bilingual School (Adams)

Legend
ANC 1C (318.6 ac) Schools (5.5 ac) Parks (63.3 ac)
300 1,000 Meters Feet

Plantable Space (29 ac)

Canopy Coverage: 32%; 102 ac Possible Canopy: 41%; 131 ac Plantable Space: 9%; 29 ac

Map by MK Potts, Casey Trees Data from Casey Trees, UVMSAL Created March 2013

ANC 1C Land Cover

Legend
Tree Canopy Grass Bare Earth Water Building Road Other Pavement
300 1,000

Meters Feet

Canopy Coverage: 32%; 102 ac Possible Canopy: 41%; 131 ac Plantable Space: 9%; 29 ac

Map by MK Potts, Casey Trees Data from Casey Trees, UVMSAL Created March 2013

 TRANSPORTATION
Goals: Increase use of public transit to 50% of all commuter trips. Increase biking and walking to 25% of all commuter trips. Reduce commuter trips made by car or taxi to 25%. Eliminate all unhealthy air quality index days, including unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Adams Morgan is well served by public transportation, with 13 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority bus routes, one DC Circulator route, and 4 metro stops within walking distance. In addition, bike sharing and car sharing have become popular. There are 6 Capital Bikeshare stations in the neighborhood with 90 bikes. There are also 29 Zipcars with permanent parking spots throughout the neighborhood. Car2Go, the other local car sharing service, is popular in the area, but their cars do not have any permanent location. Washington Area Bicyclist Association and City Bikes are also great biking resources in the neighborhood.

Capital Bikeshare Locations

Zipcar Locations

HEALTH
Goals: Cut the citywide obesity rate by 50% Require all new housing projects in the District to meet Healthy by Design standards.

Lead-free Water
DC Water generally tests single-family homes (SFHs) with lead service pipes every month. They drop off a test kit, with instructions for the residents, and DC Water picks them up and tests the samples. The customers in SFHs collect their water first thing in the morning, after the water has

been sitting six hours. Action level for lead in drinking water is over 15 ppb lead. Large buildings - apartment buildings and some condos - generally do not use lead pipes so lead is not a problem. These large buildings usually have copper pipes. But if a commercial buildings owner would like to, he/she/they may test once per year. The requirement that the water be still for six hours makes the test difficult for large buildings with many residents. For those SFHs that do test high for lead, DC Water will come to the residence to do more intense testing in order to identify the source of the lead. By way of background, in the early 2000s, WASA (the name of DC Water in those days) changed the disinfectant from chlorine to chloramine in their water testing, causing lead from pipes to begin to leach into the water in dangerously high levels in thousands of DC households. In 2004, chloramine was discontinued as a disinfectant. According to DC Water: In 2004, the Washington Aqueduct began adding orthophosphate for corrosion control treatment and to reduce lead release in water. Orthophosphate is a tasteless, odorless, food-grade additive used to prevent pipe corrosion in the distribution system and in household plumbing. It works by forming a protective coating inside pipes and plumbing fixtures, that reduces the amount of lead released in water. The addition of orthophosphate has been effective in reducing lead levels in District households with lead service pipes and other household lead sources. At Congressional hearings in 2010 concerns were raised about 9,100 residences in the District. Also in 2010, the Center for Disease Control reported that 15,000 homes in the DC area might still have water supplies with dangerous levels of lead. Several of these homes were in Adams Morgan. DC Water encourages everyone with lead service lines to test and to use filters. Drinking water is lead-free prior to entering individual pipes.

Access to Park Space

We plan to conduct an analysis to see if there is park space within a 5 minute walk from all homes in Adams Morgan.