DC JUST GOT GREENER WITH THE LARGEST EVER WIND POWER DEAL BY A US CITY

The DC government will now get 35% of its energy directly from a wind farm in Pennsylvania. Go DC!

The city had already purchased 100% of its power through Renewable Energy Certificates which offsets green energy and this new agreement will change so that more than a 1/3 of that power comes directly from a green source.

“Directly sourcing renewable power costs 30 percent less than fossil fuel-based sources, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 100,000 tons, and protects our city from volatile energy price increases,” said Mark Chambers, Sustainability and Energy Management Director at the DGS. “Put another way, over its 20-year span, this deal removes the same amount of carbon from our atmosphere as planting 44 million trees, or removing 18,000 cars from the road every year.”

Mayor Muriel Bowser said: “The District is well on its way to achieving the Sustainable DC goal of using renewables to satisfy 50% of DC’s energy supply by 2032.”

See more at GlobeNewswire. See the Sustainable DC 2nd Year Progress Report.

ATTEND: HAPPY HOUR EVENT AT MAPLE ON 11TH ST FOR SOCIAL IMPACT DESIGN

Patio at Maple

Join Inscape Publico and AFHdc Tuesday July 28, 2015 for a relaxing and enjoyable evening on Maple’s back patio to socialize and learn about Inscape Publico’s latest project, the St. John’s Episcopal School in Honduras. AFHdc Directors will announce their new chapter subcommittees and share other updates from the international chapter network. You won’t want to miss this great networking event with leaders in Social Impact Design in DC!

RSVP for the event here. Can’t make the event but still want to learn more and/or contribute to the school in Honduras? Check out Inscape Publico’s Crowdrise campaign.

Inscape Publico is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit architecture firm with the mission to provide professional architecture service for other nonprofits and the people they serve. Their understanding of the nonprofit community not only fosters excellence in design, but creates architecture that represents the vision, goals and sensibilities of each of its nonprofit partners. Inscape Publico serves as a catalyst and jumpstarts nonprofit projects by providing valuable visioning sessions and design services through a unique business model to help nonprofits understand their design needs to meet their goals and aspirations.

AFHdc is a volunteer organization that works to solve social justice issues through sustainable design. Formerly operating for 10 years as the DC Chapter of Architecture for Humanity, AFHdc has provided pro bono design services for organizations locally and abroad.

LOCAL | SUSTAINABLE DC, FIRST YEAR PROGRESS REPORT

graphic from report

In 2011 Mayor Gray and the District Government set out to create a plan, called Sustainable DC, to make DC the most sustainable city in the United States by 2032. This plan was developed through a series of community meetings that formed into 9 public working groups on the topics of built environment, climate, energy, food, nature, transportation, waste, water, and the green economy. With over 143 actions, DC is well underway in achieving this plan. The report lists each action and its status. Some examples:

Equity & Diversity – 1.1 Modernize all public school buildings.
Built Environment – 4.5 Require all new buildings to be net-zero or net-positive.
Energy – 2.5 Develop a wind farm in the region to power District government and private facilities.
Food – 1.1 Adopt the Sustainable Urban Agriculture Act.
Transportation – 2.1 Develop a citywide, 100 mile bicycle lane network.
Waste – 1.3 Ban Styrofoam and non-recyclable plastic containers from food and retail outlets.
Water – 2.1 Install 2 million new square feet of green roofs.

See the full report at Sustainable DC and how you can get involved.