The City of Houston’s Path

Toward Sustainable Growth

City of Houston
September 2009 1
 Outcome of Existing Initiatives

The City of Houston has reduced its kwh use by 5.8% from 2004
through 2008 even as services have expanded

•Population growth at 1.9% per annum

•Regional GDP growth of 5.08% per annum (contrasted with a
1.1% annual kwh growth from 1998 – 2003)

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Framework for Sustainability

Buildings: Reduce energy consumption per square foot through increased energy
efficiency measures
Transportation: Migrate to more fuel efficient, cleaner vehicles, fleets across our
region
Infrastructure: Increase energy productivity utilization and long-term reliability
for major infrastructure
•LED Traffic Lights
•Combine Heat and Power
Energy Supplies: Embrace renewable energy sources to provide reliable, secure
power for our region leveraging
•Wind resources
•Solar resources
Environmental Stewardship:
•Divert waste flow away from landfills to recycling paths
•Improve water and air quality across the region
•Plant a million trees
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Defining Sustainable Growth Initiatives
Segment Programs for Change
Buildings Building codes
Green Building standards
Energy efficiency work
Transportation Hybrid vehicles
Flexible work hours
Infrastructure Traffic Signal LEDs
Combined Heat & Power
Sewer Collection System
Grass Root Change Houston Green Expo
CFL campaigns
Energy Supplies and Renewable Power
Environment Million Trees Plant
Woody Waste Recycling
Benzene Reduction Plan
Surface Water Quality 4
 More Stringent Building Codes

Comprehensive upgrade of the city’s building codes to make Houston a leader in

energy efficiency for new construction and major renovations.

• ASHRAE 90.1 2004 plus local amendments for commercial construction

• Latest standard with software compliance support
• Increased energy efficiency amendments: cool roofs, efficient lighting
• Approved by City Council; code in effect August 1, 2008

• IECC 2006 plus additional energy efficiency steps for residential construction
• 15% increase in energy efficiency (Energy Star standard for homes)
• Approved by City Council; code to go into effect 10/09

• Enhancing City’s Code enforcement to support code transformation

• Summer workshops on new code; increased staff and training
• Green building resource center to help educate builders and owners
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 Residential Energy Efficiency Program

Implement a “neighborhood by neighborhood” energy efficiency program targeted

at low income, hard to reach homeowners to reduce kwh consumption.

• Approximately 7,000 homes weatherized across 12 different neighborhoods

• Participation rates approach 50%; home owner satisfaction high
• 12 – 18% “weather adjusted” kwh reduction; high as 20% over summer months
• Efficient implementation model; contractors go house to house
• Agencies in Action program for more comprehensive retrofits including appliance
replacements (old refrigerators recycled)
• City administered program funded by Transmission & Distribution company, TIRZ
funds and Affordable Housing funds
• Working with Clinton Climate Initiative and REPs to develop mass market program
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Embracing Renewable Energy Sources

Large scale purchases of Renewable Power delivered to City of Houston facilities via
long term contracts.

• COH is to purchase 2 billion kwh (50 MW of power) as of July 1, 2009 from Texas
Wind Farms, at a fixed wholesale price of 7.5 cents / kwh to be delivered over the
next 5 years.
• This will supply 32% of our annual requirements for electrical load.
• The EPA ranks the City of Houston as the number one municipality in terms of the
amount of renewable energy purchased.
• Top 10 of all firms including public and private sector (including such firms as
Intel, WholeFoods)
• Texas leading the nation in Wind power deployment. Nearly 8000 MW of installed
capacity. Represents ~6-7% of state’s power generation. CREZ should enable
18,000 MW

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Solar Initiatives

Accelerating deployment of solar power in the Houston region

• The City is finalizing a long term power purchase agreement for a 10 MW solar
plant with NRG; purchasing power at a blended cost of 8.2 cents per kilowatt-hour

• Small scale demonstration sites: City code enforcement, City Hall Annex, SPARC
Park at Tinsley Elementary school and Discovery Green Park

• 100 kW solar system for the George R Brown Convention Center funded by
Houston Endowment ($850K), BP ($100K), and CenterPoint ($50K).

•Total of 160 kW of solar power installed on City facilities

• In final negotiations for a 10 MW utility scale solar farm in the Houston
area to serve local load.

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 DOE Solar America City Initiative
Establish a sustainable infrastructure for Houston led by an Advisory Council with
representatives from COH, academia, endowment, and private sector. BP Solar
providing $200,000 in panels as matching funds to DOE grant.

• Solar neighborhood program: Building 10 “near zero energy” homes in the Houston
Hope neighborhoods that include 1-2 kw rooftop solar.

•Workforce: Green Curriculum established at the HCC including solar and energy
efficiency
• K-12 Programs: Demonstration site at SPARC Park (Tinsley Elementary School),
working with HISD to integrate solar
• Public Outreach: Houston Solar web-site; City of Houston partnering with HREG to
host Solar Home Tour on October 3, 2009. www.solarhoustontx.org

• Advanced Meter Deployment in region, enables peak shaving applications like solar.

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Energy Savings Performance Work

Significantly reduce energy consumption at City facilities by 20-30% with no

upfront capital by financing through utility savings.

• City of Houston one of the first to contract large scale energy efficiency work:
• 262 facilities, 7.1 million sq ft under consideration
• Office buildings, libraries, multi-service centers, police stations, fire stations,
health centers
• Siemens and TAC selected as ESCOs
• Building audits, energy efficiency work, measurement/verification
• Audit work underway at 3 million sq ft
•Implementation of energy conservation measures of 1.6 million sq ft underway.

• Financing driven by lower utility bills available to remove up-front capital costs

• Center Point energy efficiency incentives available

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 Green Building Program

Accelerate market transformation of Green Building through leadership, showcases,

and private sector partnership.
• Mayor’s Resolution, passed in June 2004, requiring all new City buildings and major
renovation to be LEED certified (28 buildings, representing over 1 M sq ft LEED
projects underway)

o Looscan Library is the City’s first LEED Certified building

• Mayor’s Green Building Advisory Committee to showcase LEED buildings in private

sector

• Houston Hope homes built to Energy Star standard. 10 near zero energy homes.

• LEED Quick Start to expedite permitting; graduated fee rebates with LEED certification

• Over 70% of the new Class A commercial office buildings (over 50K sq ft in size)
designing for LEED classification (6 M sq ft committed), nearly half of the residential
new homes built are Energy Star. 11
Energy Efficient LED Traffic Lights

Replace traffic light signals at all 2400 intersections within the city with energy
efficient LEDs.

• 1,500 intersections completed at end of August 2009; with expectation of

completing remaining intersections by end of fiscal year (June 30, 2010)

•90% reduction in electricity use by new traffic light LEDs; last significantly longer
(7 years versus 1 year)

• Saves the City $10K/day or $3.6M a year in electricity costs

• Upgrading heads from 8 inch to 12 inch as part of process

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 Fuel Efficient, Clean Vehicles

Lead the way for Houston to migrate to hybrid vehicles with dramatic increases in
fuel efficiency and cleaner emissions.

• City’s goal to have 50% of non-emergency, administrative fleet (2800 vehicles)

by 2010. Currently have 683 hybrids in our fleet (mostly Prius, some Ford
Escapes).

• The City has reduced fleet fuel consumption from 9.4 million gallons in 2005 to
8.8 million gallons in 2009.

• METRO is purchasing 100 hybrid buses a year through 2011 for a total of 449
hybrid buses. Currently 142 in fleet by end of 2008.
• Working with HAS and partners to migrate to clean fuel fleets at airport.

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Combined Heat and Power Solutions

Implement CHP solutions at City’s waste water treatment plants to increase energy
utilization & reduce overall grid delivered kwh consumption.

• Feasibility study carried out by HARC for 69th Street Waste Water treatment plant
showed 14% return on investment with 7 year payback. Decision to focus effort at
Almeda Sims which is in the process of major facility upgrade.
• Preliminary engineering development (including environmental permit analysis)
kicked off at Almeda Sims Waste Water treatment plant for CHP solution. FY10
CIP includes a $10 million line item appropriations for project.
• Use a Design-Build development process for engineering and construction project.

•Applied for Department of Energy Grant to implement CHP technology at Almeda

Sims and 69th Street Waste Water Treatment Plant

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Wastewater Treatment Plants

Performance contracting at Wastewater Treatment Plants

• Over 30% of the electricity and natural gas purchased by the City of Houston is
used in the treatment of wastewater.
• Clinton Climate Initiative facilitated having four world class consulting engineering
firms analyze four tranches of wastewater treatment plants and make
recommendations as to what BMPs should be considered by the City in a
performance contract that guarantees reduced energy consumption, fixed construction
costs and measurement and verification of the savings.
• Project: Enter into performance contract(s) with ESCo(s) to obtain a guaranteed
energy savings at some or all of the City’s 39 wastewater treatment plants.
•Costs to be paid for with savings from reductions in energy usage.
•Lifetime of project: 15-20 years
•Frees up previously-budgeted Capital Improvement Plan dollars
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 Improving Sewer System

Implement a comprehensive sewer pipeline renewal plan for Houston

beginning in 2005 through 2015.

• Collection system comprised of 33.5M feet of gravity collection lines, 1.5M feet of
force lines, 420 lift stations, and 39 waste water treatment plants.
• Increased pipeline rehabilitation and replacement rates over 10-fold from the 1990s
from ~0.25% to 3.1% 2005 forward. Renewed 4M linear feet of pipe from FY05 to
FY08.
• Doubled pipe cleaning from goal of 2M feet to over 4M feet cleaned per year. Have
cleaned 17.5M linear feet from FY05 to FY08.
• Strengthened Ordinance including increased pump-out frequency (4 per year) of
interceptors (e.g., grease traps) and enforcement. Public education/outreach.
• Positive impact: 311 calls for System Stoppages decreased from 37,405 in FY03 to
25,017 in FY08. Actual Sanitary Sewage Overflow repairs decreased from
~400/month in FY05 to ~100/month in FY08.
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 Houston Green Expo
April 16-17 2009 Reliant Park

What is it: 10,000 in attendance Green is here today!

1st Regional Green Expo 24 consumer focused Green makes economic

Featuring certified green education sessions sense and is good for our
products and services environment
Nationally known speakers:
5 themes: David Freeman and Joseph Green products and services
Green Building Romm are available today
Energy Efficiency
Renewable Energy Free and open to the public Living and working a greener,
Alternative Transportation more sustainable lifestyle good
for us individually, our
Green Youth Zone businesses, our community,
our world

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 CFL Campaigns

Promote and accelerate the adoption of CFLs among Houston homeowners and
businesses.

• Door to door hand-out of 250,000 CFLs to Houston home owners via Mayor’s
Youth Summer Job Corp in partnership with Centerpoint
• 4 bulbs per house plus energy efficiency tips given to estimated 62,500 homes
across Houston
CenterPoint funding $670K for the effort including bulbs and administration costs
• “Power to People” web site to promote and educate public on energy efficiency
concepts

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 Million Trees Plus Planted Goal

Significantly increase the number of trees planted and sustained across the region
through a public – private partnership.

• Significant ramp up in tree plantings from 814 per year prior to 2003 to over 62,600
planted from 2004 through 2007 by City of Houston.
• City of Houston has planted approximately 120,000 trees from October 2008
through August, 2009.
•$750K in budget to water and maintain trees in 2009. 2000 medians identified for
plantings.
• Public – Private partnership includes Apache, Trees for Houston, Greater Houston
Partnership to achieve the Million Trees planted goal.
• TXDOT Houston plantings: $28.5M funding ($22.8M federal earmark and $5.7M
state matching) beginning in 2002. Planted 600K trees from 2002 through 2008.
130K trees contracted to be planted in 08/09. Additional 200K trees planned in
09/10. Total 930K trees planted in the Houston area.
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 Diversion of Waste from Area Landfills

Implement a City wide recycling program to divert woody waste and yard
waste from area landfills.
• Potential for diverting up to 150K tons per year or approximately 20% of our waste from
area landfills.

• Currently Renegotiating long term “Put or Pay” contracts with area landfills to enable even greater
diversion of waste from area landfills.

• Setting up mulching / composting facilities in each quadrant of the city to take and
process waste. Three quadrants completed and receiving material.

• Lower tipping fees of $12.45 per ton at mulching facility versus $32 per ton at
landfill results in overall annual savings of $2.0 Million to the City.

• Successful pilot of 47,000 homes conducted over past 6 months. 70% reduction in
landfilled material from pilot (these areas have high concentration of green waste).

• Largest recycling effort with green debris clean up post Hurricane Ike. Nearly 5.5 million cubic yards
collected and to be sent to compost, mulch, and other recycling applications. 20
 Diversion of Waste from Area Landfills

Implement a City wide recycling program to divert woody waste and yard
waste from area landfills.
• City-wide Tree Waste Program implemented January 2009.

•Potential for diverting up to 150K tons per year or approximately 20% of our waste from
area landfills.

• Currently Renegotiating long term “Put or Pay” contracts with area landfills to enable even greater
diversion of waste from area landfills.

• Setting up mulching / composting facilities in each quadrant of the city to take and
process waste. Three quadrants completed and receiving material.

• Lower tipping fees $12.45 (NW & SW), $7.70 (SE) per ton at mulching facility versus $32 per ton at
landfill results in overall annual savings of over $2.0 Million to the City.

• Largest recycling effort with green debris clean up post Hurricane Ike. Nearly 5.5 million cubic yards
collected and sent to compost, mulch, and other recycling applications.
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 Diversion of Waste from Area Landfills

Building Materials Reuse Warehouse

• Open and accepting material.

• Located at 9003 N. Main Stree

• Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm, closed 12pm-1pm each day.

•Builders, contractors, remodelers and the general public may all drop off reusable materials.

• Items are then made available to non-profit groups for re-use at no cost.

• For more information, www.houstonreuse.org

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 Diversion of Waste from Area Landfills

City Wide Bio-Bag Recycling Program

• Bio-Bags Recycling Program implementation January 2010.

• Biog-Bag meet ASTM D6400 Standards for compostable plastics

Manufactures:
US Compo Solutions / Biodegradable yard bag, Indaco / Bio-Solo bag
Jesco / Al-Pak bag, Poly America / Husky Eco-Guard bag/Ecosafe

• Potential Retailers who will market the bags:

Krogers, HEB, Target, Wal-Mart, Fiesta Markets, Ace Hardware

• Anticipate diverting up to 60,000 tons/year; disposal savings of approximately $2.0 Million.

•Disposal savings + bio bag grass sales diverted to city’s Recycling Fund to expand Automated Curbside
Recycling Program citywide.

• The Chapter 39 Ordinance – Solid Waste and Litter Control has been reviewed by the Regulatory Affairs
Committee and approved by City Council Agenda on 9/2/09. 23
Diversion of Waste from Area Landfills

Automated Recycling Program 60

50
• Increased % Participation

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• Increased Lbs. / Home

• 30
Glass Included Green Bin
Automated

• Serving 20,000 homes 20

• Grant Funded Pilot with Recycle Bank to begin 10

in November 2009
0
• 400 tons/month average diverted from area Participation Pounds /
% Home
landfills

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 Improving Houston’s Air Quality

A regional approach to reduce particularly harmful emissions such as

Benzene and 1,3-Butadiene.

• Scientific Task force on health effects of air pollution completed in 2006. Task
force
members include: Baylor College of Medicine, MD Anderson, Rice, UT Medical
Branch, UT School of Public Health. Scientific ranking of pollutants.
• Benzene Reduction Plan completed in 2007. Need for reduction validated by
regional business-led task force. Goal of a 50% reduction by the companies in the
plan at about 20 sites.
• 1,3-Butadiene reduction of 75% at Milby Park monitor from 2004-2008 resulting
from City of Houston legal action against TPC plant located 1/3 of a mile
from the monitor.

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Ensure Quality Water Supply for Region

Implement comprehensive Source Water Protection Program for surface

water bodies to ensure long-term quality of our water supplies.

• Installed and operate 20 solar powered lake circulators (Solar Bees®) to mix water near the
intake point of the Northeast Water Purification Plant. Installed and operate 3 real time water
quality monitors at Lake Houston sampling 6 water quality parameters, connected wirelessly to
the USGS and posted on their website.
• New ordinance in the works (revision of Chapter 23) to prohibit discharge into Lake
Houston from boats, houses, subdivisions, others.
• Partnership with the US Geological Services, $2.5M over 5 yrs, to study characteristics of Lake
Houston in response to pollutants. Impact monitoring.
• Public Outreach: Water Works Museum to open winter 2009. Schools and community
programs to engage public to raise awareness and educate.
• External stakeholder group to convene in September 2008 to develop a regional strategy and
implementation plan for quality upstream water sources. Immediate issues include
upstream sand mining, fertilizer run-offs.
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