At the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Board of Directors meeting, area leaders presented the 2023 Climate and Energy Leadership Awards to the City of Rockville’s Flood Resiliency Program, Alexandria City Public Schools’ School Bus Electrification Project, and Montgomery County Green Bank’s Largest Solar Project on an Affordable Multifamily Property Project.
The awards recognize local actions that help contribute to the COG regional goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and support efforts to advance equity in historically underserved neighborhoods.
The awards were announced by COG Climate, Energy, and Environment Policy Committee Member and Fairfax County Supervisor Penny Gross and COG Air and Climate Public Advisory Committee Vice Chair Julie Kimmel.
“I am thrilled to acknowledge the remarkable efforts that our region continues to make to ensure we meet our greenhouse gas emission targets,” said Supervisor Gross. "I look forward to seeing our local governments and partners continue to innovate and deliver programs that are creating a more sustainable future for all of our residents."
“With these three vital projects, the communities we are recognizing with these awards have gained valuable new tools to effectively reduce air pollution, floods, and metropolitan Washington’s carbon footprint,” said Kimmel.
Government Sector Award: City of Rockville Flood Resiliency Program
Rockville is experiencing more intense rain events and as a result there has been an increase in drainage complaints. In 2019, the city began providing homeowners with support, which focused on water quality best management practices and rebates for rain barrels, trees, native plants, permeable pavers retrofit, and pavement removal.
In FY 2023, the city appropriated $1.8 million for a new Flood Resiliency Project in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to plan for and mitigate flood impacts caused by climate change. The Master Plan will identify the issues caused by these increasing number of larger intensity and shorter duration storm events and develop potential solutions, including a project implementation plan to improve flood resilience throughout the city.
For the program, the City reached out to the Twinbrook community which is the location of several flood issues and is very diverse and has the highest concentration of Hispanic and Latino population among other census tracts in the city. Public engagement occurs in several forms to address post-storm recovery as well as long-term engagement on flood resiliency programs and planning efforts. Initial efforts include creating a flood relief website, an online impacts survey in English and Spanish, and counseling support.
Non-governmental Organization Sector Award: Montgomery County Green Bank - Largest Solar Project on an Affordable Multifamily Property in Montgomery County
With funding from the Montgomery County Green Bank, in partnership with the Virginia Community Capital and the New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation, Seneca Village Apartments will install new energy-efficient roofs with reflective coating and a 2.18 MW rooftop solar array. The $11.4 million project is the largest rooftop solar project on an affordable multifamily property in Montgomery County, MD.
Located in an Equity Emphasis Area, Seneca Village Apartments is a 684-unit affordable multifamily property in Gaithersburg, MD. Ninety percent of the of the units have affordable rent at 60% of the area median income. The property will save 2,583,535 kWh in energy, generate more than $300,000 in annual savings, and mitigate 2,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide GHG emissions per year. Over 850 residents of the community will save an amount equivalent to one month’s worth of utility bills per year.
Educational Institution Sector Award: Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) School Bus Electrification Project
Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) has promoted environmentally-friendly and sustainability efforts over the past several years with the building of schools that include solar panels, eco-friendly designs, and net-zero principles. In 2021, the ACPS Office of Pupil Transportation and Fleet Management (PTFM) partnered with Dominion Energy’s Electric School Buses Program to lead the charge in clean energy with the purchase of five electric school buses (EVs) as part of a unique public-private partnership.
In 2022, ACPS was awarded grant funds to purchase ten more electric school buses from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). These electric buses replaced ten older diesel buses to continue to help ACPS reduce its carbon footprint and the greenhouse gases that impact the community and environment. For the 2022-2023 school year, ACPS PTFM assigned all five of its EV buses to provide transportation services to students living in boundaries of five of its eight Title 1 schools. For the 2023-2024 school year, PTFM will also assign the newest EV buses to the other three Title 1 schools to continue to promote equitable practices in providing transportation services to impacted communities.
Through these partnerships, PTFM has brought the total number of electric buses and charging stations to 15 each. The 15 EV buses represent 12% of the 125 school buses in the fleet. Upon final delivery of the remaining buses, ACPS will have the second largest EV fleet in Virginia and the third largest on the East Coast behind Fairfax County, VA and Montgomery County, MD.
To learn more about the award recipients and their innovative programs, visit the COG website, linked below.
MORE: COG's Climate and Energy Leadership Awards