Open House

November 17, 2020

City of Rockville Page 2What is a Climate Action Plan?

Mitigation strategies…reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions to reduce long-term climate risks.

Examples:

Energy efficiency

Renewable energy

Sustainable transport

Carbon sinks

Adaptation strategies

…reduce vulnerability by protecting or adapting community systems to

manage unavoidable climate risks.

Examples:

Emergency and business continuity planning

Health programs

Upgrade or harden buildings, infrastructure

Crossover

strategies:

Building

performance

Green

infrastructure

Smart growth

Green jobs

“Avoid the unmanageable; manage the unavoidable.”

Energy

Efficiency

Renewable

Energy

Sustainable

Transportation

Sustainable

Development &

Green space

Conservation

Waste Climate

Resilience

Equity & Health Clean

Economy

Adapted from Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Regional Climate and Energy Action Plan (2017-2020).

City of Rockville Page 3What is in a Climate Action Plan?

City of Rockville Page 4Partners

ImpactsSpecial thanks to Rockville Environment Commission for their valuable contributions to climate

planning and to the many internal partners across city departments for their support in making

environmental sustainability projects happen.

City of Rockville Page 5

Climate Planning Steps (green=complete; orange=in progress; red=planned)

ImpactsHealth

Threats

1Mayor & Council commitment to

Paris Agreement.

2 Identify climate

risks. Develop emissions

inventory.

3Appraise current

climate actions and best practices.

4Develop community

engagement strategy & communication

plan.

5 Engage community on goals, actions, criteria. Engage

staff on resiliency.

6Cost, benefit and priority analysis.

Identify lead, timeline, resources.

7Draft plan. Engage

community to finalize and adopt

plan.

8 Implement plan.

9Track and report

progress.

City of Rockville Page 6Rockville 2018 Greenhouse Gas Emissions

ImpactsHealth

Threats

Community Total: 816,868 MTCO2e Municipal Total: 8,994 MTCO2e

Commercial Buildings

38%

Process & Fugitive Emissions

5%

Transportation36%

Solid Waste0.43%

Residential Buildings

20%

Buildings & Facilities

0.46%

Water & Wastewater Services 0.25%

Vehicle Fleet0.24%

Street & Traffic Lights0.16%

Municipal Operations

1.10%

City of Rockville Page 7Climate Change Impacts

Increased Temperature

Intense Precipitation

Severe Storms

Sea Level Rise

Increased heat waves and urban heat island effect

Localized flooding and periods of drought

Infrastructure and building stress and damage

Poor air quality & allergens

Habitat & ecosystem changes

Water quality and flows in local streams & Potomac River

Heat-related illness

Cardiovascular disease & stroke

Respiratory illness (asthma & allergies)

Vector-borne illness (Lyme Disease, West Nile, Zika)

EffectsHealth

ThreatsDirect

Changes

City of Rockville Page 8Examining Social Vulnerability Factors

ImpactsEnergy BurdenSocial Vulnerability Index

https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/at-a-

glance_svi.htmlhttps://www.energy.gov/eere/slsc/maps/lead-tool

City of Rockville Page 9

Existing Actions Summary

Community

Impacts764 solar permits.

Low-moderate

income home

retrofit program.

46% residential

recycling rate.

200 buildings

report energy

benchmarking

data.

75 million kWh

green power

purchases/yr.

Over 70 green

buildings.

Adopted 2018International Energy

Conservation Code.

City of Rockville Page 10

Existing Actions Summary

Community

ImpactsMixed use

development

12 public electric

vehicle charging

stations in city

2,279 electric

and plug-in hybrid

vehicles registered

in Rockville zip

codes

30 years Tree

City USA

300 trees

distributed in tree

giveaway events

34 miles shared-

use paths

34 miles shared-

use roads

Access to

bikeshare,

Metrorail, Metrobus,

MARC, RideOn

City of Rockville Page 11

Existing Actions Summary

Municipal Operations

Impacts100% electricity

from wind credits for

city operations.

Geothermalenergy powers

Thomas Farm.

1 electric car and 1 hybrid in

city fleet.

9 facility energy

projects

leveraging Pepco

rebates and

Maryland grants

implemented

since 2014.

Upgraded all 46traffic lights and

185 of 6500

streetlights to high-

efficiency LEDs.

This Photo by Unknown Author is

licensed under CC BY-SA

Tracking

energy use of

150 accounts

Expanding

paperless

technology

City of Rockville Page 12Rockville Past Emissions and Goals

Impacts

-

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

MT

CO

2e

Rockville Actual COG 2008 Goals (80% by 2050)

Montgomery Co. (Net zero by 2035) UN Paris 1.5C (Net zero by 2050 at latest)

Met COG

2020 goal

(20%)

COG 2050

Goal (80%)

City of Rockville Page 13

Strategies We Are Exploring

Community Actions – to increase: City Actions for Municipal Operations

1. Aggregate green power purchase

2. Solar programs

3. Commercial building retrofits

4. Residential building retrofits

5. Electric vehicle adoption & charger network

6. Waste diversion

7. Forest protection and tree planting

8. Bicycle + pedestrian infrastructure and safety

9. Mixed-use + transit-oriented development

10. Efficiency requirements for new buildings

11. Upgrade streetlights

12. Greening the city fleet

13. Maximize energy efficiency of city facilities and utilities

14. Install onsite renewable energy

City of Rockville Page 14Steps to Completion

Fall 2020

• Engage with boards and commissions

• Virtual open house – November 17, 7-9p.m.

• Office Hours Nov. 24, 4-5p.m. and Dec. 1, 4-5p.m. – registration

on webpage http://www.rockvillemd.gov/climate

• Survey open through December 4 – link on webpage above

Winter 2020-21

• City climate resiliency analysis

• Cost, benefit, co-benefit analysis of actions

• Second Virtual Open House TBD

Spring/Summer 2021

• Draft plan available for public comment

• Mayor and Council plan review and adoption

City of Rockville Page 15

For More Information and the Survey

Rockville homepage → City Projects → Climate Action Plan:

http://www.rockvillemd.gov/climate