Tackling Climate Change IN Decatur This Environmental Sustainability Report details the new reality we’re in, highlights action the Decatur community is already taking, and offers ways you can get involved.
It’s here. Changing Climate change is here. The scientific community agrees that growing seasons in human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, is altering your garden. Hotter our atmosphere and climate at an unprecedented rate. The news of climate change focuses on western wildfires and summers. Prolonged melting ice caps. Still, impacts are being felt – and will continue droughts. Higher to be felt – here in Decatur. electricity bills. Human activity drives the changes in our climate. We can also Aspects of life in slow, stop and potentially reverse the problems we’re creating. Decatur are already Along the way, we can build healthier, more equitable, and under pressure. more resilient communities. Climate action will help us better handle future pandemics and economic downturns like the ones our nation currently faces.
CITY OF DECATUR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020 HOW’S THE LIFE IN THE CLIMATE OUT GREENHOUSE THERE? SLIGHT TEMPERATURE CHANGES MAKE BIG IMPACTS ON OUR CIVILIZATION KNOW THE DISTINCTION Life on Earth is made possible by the greenhouse effect. Like BETWEEN WEATHER AND a blanket trapping your body heat to keep you warm, the CLIMATE greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor Weather is the way the atmosphere – retain solar radiation reflected by the Earth and warm the behaves over short periods of time. globe. Without this retained solar energy, it’s likely there would Recently (as of April 24) Decatur’s weather be no life on this planet. Human activity, however, has increased has been rather windy. Two strong storm the atmospheric concentration of these greenhouse gases to a events have passed through the area. point where we are changing the Earth’s climate on a massive High daily temperatures have ranged from scale. about 56°F to 78°F. Our climate, though, Carbon dioxide is emitted primarily through the burning of is the accumulation of all those weather fossil fuels in transportation and electricity generation. CO2 has events, daily temperatures, precipitation reached an atmospheric concentration not seen for hundreds of totals and more, over long periods of time thousands of years. At 415 ppm (parts per million), atmospheric (typically more than 30 years). CO2 is significantly over the 350 ppm threshold that most When we talk about climate, we’re talking scientists agree to be the limit for “normal” climate functioning. about our average weather. Understanding These additions of carbon dioxide, methane (which is released this distinction is key to understanding largely by agriculture), and the other greenhouse gases have just how our climate. It helps us anticipate resulted in an estimated warming of 1°C from preindustrial (pre- average weather patterns next year and 30 1800s) levels. While this may not seem like much, even slight years from now. changes in average temperatures over long periods of time can have large impacts on human society and our environment.
THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT
Normal CO2 Rampant CO2 MORE HEAT ESCAPES INTO LESS HEAT SPACE ESCAPES INTO SPACE MORE HEAT LESS HEAT TRAPPED IN TRAPPED IN ATMOSPHERE ATMOSPHERE
SOLAR SOLAR RADIATION RE-RADIATED RE-RADIATED RADIATION HEAT HEAT
2 | TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE IN DECATUR | decaturga.com/bc-esb THROW SOME SHADE – IT’S GETTING HOT IN HERE CLIMATE CHANGE of stepping outside shoeless onto the AND THE URBAN HEAT pavement during the summer. Dark surfaces like asphalt absorb the solar As Decatur warms ISLAND EFFECT energy released by the sun and can from both global Decatur is going to get warmer. By reach temperatures as much as 50 how much depends on several things, degrees Fahrenheit higher than that and the local climate including what we do here at home. of the surrounding air. At the same change created by Over the past 30 years, Decatur has time dark surfaces are being added, averaged around 20 days annually vegetation is being removed and the how we develop, the with temperatures above 95 degrees ground is being sealed by impervious health impacts Fahrenheit. Projections show that surface, reducing the cooling effects will multiply. number increasing to around 45 days of evapotranspiration. per year by midcentury (2018 National This phenomenon is called the See the next Climate Assessment). Extreme Urban Heat Island Effect. Experts pages for steps heat, the leading cause of weather- like Brian Stone of the Georgia Tech we can take related death in the United States, is Climate Institute refer to it as local something that has an outsized effect climate change. Cities, which are to reduce our heat on the most vulnerable among us, accumulations of pavement and island temperature, from the very young and elderly to buildings, absorb solar energy during those without adequate housing and the day and release it over the late cool our city, and air conditioning. afternoon and early evening. During provide shade. Research shows that developed urban those times, cities can be up to 10 areas can warm at rates two to three degrees warmer than surrounding times the global average. Why? Think rural areas.
ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) 460 440 Normal CO2 Rampant CO2 420 NOW 400 MORE HEAT ESCAPES INTO 380 LESS HEAT 360 SPACE ESCAPES INTO SPACE 340 1950 MORE HEAT 320 For millennia, atmospheric carbon dioxide had never been above this line LESS HEAT TRAPPED IN 300 LEVEL TRAPPED IN ATMOSPHERE 280 ATMOSPHERE 260
LEVEL (parts per million) LEVEL 240 2 SOLAR SOLAR 220 CO RADIATION RE-RADIATED RE-RADIATED RADIATION 200 HEAT HEAT 180 160 800,000 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 YEARS BEFORE TODAY (0 = 1950)
NASA, The relentless rise of carbon dioxide”
Sustainability Report 2020 | 3 TREES AND STREAMS OFFSET SWELTERING SUMMER TEMPS
Eighty percent of all Americans live in channelization, and storage basins, Last year was the hottest on record urban areas. As density increases, so others – including Decatur – are for Georgia and this year is already do impervious surfaces – more streets, creating green drainage systems to on course to bring even greater parking lots, rooftops and driveways manage stormwater more efficiently. sweltering temperatures.. Studies – causing drainage problems to This prevents flooding, improves water suggest that a well-vegetated stream intensify. While many cities treat runoff quality, and reduces the heat island buffer can reduce temperatures up to with conventional piping, stream effect on city temperatures. 10 degrees during hot summer days.
The shade of a single tree can provide welcome relief from the hot summer sun. But when that single tree is part of a small forest, it creates a profound cooling effect.” — Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, March 25, 2019
CREATE A THERMAL to its floodplain slows down water microclimate. They also help our city flow to reduce erosion; allows water maintain its 40 percent tree canopy REFUGE IN YOUR to percolate into the ground; and target. OWN BACKYARD provides habitats for wildlife, including Additional measures a homeowner can birds, bees, amphibians, and fish. take for a “cooler” summer include With more than 80 percent of trees If every Decatur landowner whose installing rain gardens and/or green and streams in private ownership in property includes a natural stream roofs, and planting more shrubs, trees, Decatur, many residents can create plants and maintains trees along the and under-story vegetation. Visit “thermal refuges” in their own stream corridor, they help create www.sustainableprinceton.org/yard for backyards. A natural stream connected a linear urban forest with a cooler more information.
4 | TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE IN DECATUR | decaturga.com/bc-esb Think Outside that Little Box day. Electricity usage matters because TACKLE CLIMATE electricity from a mix of resources, power generation accounts for roughly including company-owned power a third of our economy’s total green- CHANGE AT THE plants, power purchased from other house gas emissions each year (Source: producers, and demand-side manage- ELECTRIC METER EIA). Below, see several ways Decatur ment programs. As the figure on the As Decatur residents look for ways to residents can tackle climate change at next page shows, natural gas and coal reduce our individual carbon footprints, the electric meter. one place to begin is at the little box account for about 70 percent of the on the side of our homes. It measures How is our electricity produced? Here energy resources we use. Carbon-free how much electricity we consume each in Decatur, Georgia Power supplies renewable energy such as solar power more
ROOFTOP SOLAR PANELS RENEWABLE ENERGY Imagine producing your own carbon-free elec- CERTIFICATES (RECS) tricity, while saving money on your monthly A REC supports investment in renewable energy projects power bill. You can, thanks to important policy by selling credits based on units of electricity produced changes at the state level that have spurred by wind farms, solar installations, or other clean energy the rapid growth of Georgia’s solar industry projects. RECs are bought and sold separate from the and lowered panel and installation costs. electricity itself, so you can claim credit for this green Georgia Power also has programs that com- energy even if you buy electricity from local utilities. pensate homeowners for excess solar power Large companies rely on RECs as a practical and cost- sent to the electric grid. Homeowners can effective strategy to meet their clean energy goals. purchase rooftop solar systems as a group Decatur residents can purchase RECs through the through Solarize Decatur-DeKalb 2.0, reduc- Georgia Power Simple Solar program that matches up to ing installation costs and 100 percent of your monthly electricity usage with REC speeding up the permitting purchases from solar projects around the state. Another process. See page 7 for option is to contract with third more information. parties such as Arcadia that match monthly energy usage with REC purchases from wind farms around the country. COMMUNITY SOLAR Interested in solar power, but unable to install your own rooftop system? Subscription-based ENERGY EFFICIENCY community solar programs provide shares for The cheapest and most effective ways to reduce your purchase of the electricity produced from a electricity usage are in your hands: home weatherization local solar project at a fixed monthly fee. This projects; switching to LED lightbulbs; heating and cooling share then appears on your monthly power bill system maintenance; replacing old appliances with Energy as a credit against your electricity consump- Star appliances; and programmable thermostats. A home tion. Community solar programs are a great energy audit can help you identify the best opportunities way to support local renew- for cost and energy savings. Check out Georgia Power’s able energy development Home Energy Improvement Plan, which offers a range while also reducing your of rebates and other incentives for qualified carbon efficiency measures. footprint.
Sustainability Report 2020 | 55 Tackle Climate Change at the Electric Meter continued CLIMATE ACTION Climate action generally falls into two complementary RENEWABLES 8% categories. HYDROELECTRIC 5% DEMAND-SIDE 5% OIL 3% MITIGATION efforts ADAPTATION efforts reduce or eliminate the help prepare communities greenhouse gas emissions for the climate impacts that that cause climate change. are coming.
The City of Decatur is already acting on both fronts to tackle the NUCLEAR climate crisis, and its actions show how Decatur residents can get 10% NATURAL GAS involved. 46% City of Decatur Actions COAL 23% · High Performance Building Standard – approved in 2014, this ordinance requires all new and substantially renovated buildings to achieve green building certification, improving their energy DECATUR’S ENERGY MIX efficiency and reducing their GHG emissions
If you’d like this mix to be different, let your Public · Promoting Alternative Transportation – Decatur supports walking, Service Commissioners know, and vote for the biking, and public transportation to reduce transportation-related Public Service Commissioner who represents your values. Source: Georgia Power 2019 Integrated GHG emissions Resource Plan. Note: This figure represents the – Decatur owns and estimated total capacity of all energy resources · Public Greenspaces and Green Infrastructure available to serve Georgia Power’s retail customers supports a number of greenspaces in the city, helping reduce our during Summer 2019 Urban Heat Island Effect, improving our air quality, and reducing the impacts of flooding accounts for only 8 percent of this resource mix. Georgia Power has taken significant steps
forward including the retirement of some coal-fired power plants, the conversion of other coal-fired plants to run on less TAKE ACTION to your Public Service Commissioners carbon-intensive natural gas, and grow- Make your values known ing support for new solar power projects Get a home energy audit to save energy and money around the state. Looking ahead, Georgia Eat local and organic when possible, reduce food waste, and Power plans for continued investment in compost to reduce warming methane emissions (see page 4) solar power and other renewable re- sources, more coal plant retirements, and Create a climate-friendly yard with natives species and green the completion of two low-carbon nuclear infrastructure (see page 4) reactors. Remove English ivy and other invasive species to keep our tree canopy Yes, these measures will help reduce our functioning well carbon footprints. But the sad reality is Buy an electric vehicle and receive a federal tax credit that we need to do more, and quickly, to decarbonize our economy enough to avoid Purchase solar for your home and receive a federal tax credit the worst impacts of climate change. Work with businesses and schools to increase energy efficiency and The scale of this challenge requires bold solar power action at the federal and state levels. What Offset with RECs (see page 5) we do locally matters as well. See more examples at drawdown.org
6 | TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE IN DECATUR | decaturga.com/bc-esb FROM A LOCAL: A BUNGALOW STORY Renovation Results in Dramatic Heating and Cooling Efficiencies
In 2007, we decided to R-30 and added R-19 closed renovate our small two- cell foam under the floor. bedroom one-bath 1920s bungalow in Decatur by The closed cell foam under opening up the kitchen and the floor seemed to make the adding a second bathroom biggest difference. The floor and a screened porch. At felt much warmer during the the same time, we planned winter and kept out odors and to do several energy-effi- humidity from the crawl space. ciency upgrades. The two main upgrades were sealing Next we upgraded the HVAC and insulating the house to a high efficiency 96 percent better and upgrading the gas heater (in retrospect, I HVAC system to a newer would install a heat pump for higher-efficiency unit. the higher efficiency) and an 18 SEER AC unit with all new Sealing-and-insulation is the ductwork. The post-sealing low hanging fruit of efficien- blower door test showed cy upgrades. We selected measuring the negative pressure inside we’d sealed the leaks and Bird Family Insulation to do the sealing the house. also tested out the air sealing on the new and insulation work. First we needed to HVAC. We passed the test with flying get a baseline for our house by doing a This was quite a wake up call. Our house colors. Our power bill went from $250+ blower door test. This procedure involves was very leaky. The team running the test during the summer to around $100 a installing a large fan in an exterior door joked that “living in our house was not month currently and about the same with opening and blowing air out of the house much different from living outside it was our gas bill during the winter. Money well to create negative pressure inside the so leaky.” The insulation team proceeded spent and completely recouped by now! house. This allows leaks to be detected to seal the many leaks in our house, in the house by using a smoke pencil and upgrade the cellulose ceiling insulation to – Greg Coleson
SOLARIZE DECATUR-DEKALB REBOOTS Join with the Improved technologies, new community to products, lower costs get low-cost solar for your Solarize Decatur-DeKalb is back to give the residents of home Decatur and DeKalb County another chance to leverage the power of group purchasing to save on the cost of solar energy and other clean energy technologies.
This new program features exciting new solar technologies and clean energy products at lower costs than before, including modern, high-efficiency solar panels, battery storage systems such as the Tesla Powerwall, and EV charging stations for homes and businesses for decarbonizing your commute.
The more homes and businesses that sign up for solar, the less the solar costs. You can sign up for the community solar discount and still claim the federal tax credit for the solar installation. For more details and a free solar assessment go to solarcrowdsource.com/campaign/decatur-dekalb-2-0.
Sustainability Report 2020 | 7 ENERGY EFFICIENCY UPGRADES ON DECATUR HOME INCLUDE SOLAR PANELS
My family bought our home in 2012. workplaces, and communities. I was I now have the honor of serving as the Even though it was built in 2008, the main therefore aware of Solarize campaigns. director for the Kendeda Building for level’s wood floor had to be replaced. When Solarize Decatur-DeKalb launched Innovative Sustainable Design at Georgia Rather than ripping it out and throwing it in 2016, I jumped at the opportunity to Tech (livingbuilding.gatech.edu). The away, we deconstructed it and donated it serve on the organizing committee. Kendeda Building is pursuing the Living to an event space where the wood had a Building Challenge – the world’s most new life as a dance floor. In its place, we The Solarize Decatur-DeKalb campaign ambitious building performance stan- installed salvaged wood from a decom- was a rewarding experience for commit- dard. The building is on track to generate missioned bourbon distillery. tee members. Those who purchased solar more solar electricity each year than it systems held open houses. This neighbor- consumes. We switched all of the incandescent light talking-to-neighbor approach allowed bulbs to CFL and we saw immediate for people to get answers from owners The project’s goal is to transform the built electric bill savings. When LED prices fell, instead of salespersons. environment in the Southeast by advanc- we switched again. We then performed ing regenerative building and innovation. energy efficiency upgrades such as When folks asked me about the payback, But it takes more than just one amazing caulking leaks and installing more attic my response was simple: it was immedi- building to change attitudes and miscon- insulation. To our surprise, our efficiency ate. We wanted solar panels for envi- ceptions. We need more building owners improvements resulted in a rebate from ronmental considerations not monetary across this region to incorporate salvaged Georgia Power. savings. We paid for the solar system by materials, conserve water and energy, delaying a new car purchase. Four years and install onsite renewable energy. From 2010 to 2018, I worked at South- later, I am still driving my 2008 Prius. That face Institute, an Atlanta-based non- was the trade-off we made and we do not — Shan Arora profit that promotes sustainable homes, regret it for a moment.
ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY BOARD The City of Decatur Environmental Sustainability Board BOARD RESPONSIBILITIES was established to provide recommendations to the • Assist city staff with development and implementation of an City Commission regarding the city’s environmental environmental sustainability plan regulations, plans, and initiatives as well as assisting with • Provide recommendations regarding implementation of the City’s implementation of city projects that impact the natural urban tree management plan and plan for tree bank funds environment to protect and improve the quality of life for • Provide recommendations in all subject areas of environmental citizens and property owners in the City of Decatur. This sustainability board assumed the duties of the Waste Management Advisory Board and the Greenspace Commission as well • Assist city staff with implementation of as fulfills the requirements for a Stormwater Management environmental program objectives and activities Advisory Board. • Assist city staff with environmental public Please contact David Nifong at david.nifong@decaturga. education and outreach com for more information regarding appointments to the • Provide recommendations for internal program Environmental Sustainability Board or participation on evaluation and reporting, and assist city staff in ESB-related committees. reporting to the City Commission decaturga.com/bc-esb