Creating a More Resilient Washtenaw: Reducing Energy Use, Costs, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Municipalities' Buildings

Abstract

This project analyzed the barriers to increasing municipal building energy efficiency in Washtenaw County. It was completed in three phases: first, a data collection stage through surveys and interviews with officials from cities, villages, and townships (CVTs) in Washtenaw County. The second phase utilized the CVT data and feedback to create an energy efficiency toolkit guiding users through the energy efficiency improvement process from benchmarking to decarbonization. The third phase was an outreach webinar to foster collaboration between CVTs and the Ann Arbor/Washtenaw 2030 District using the toolkit and connecting CVTs to other sustainability resources in Michigan.

The data collection phase found significant variability in size, capacity, and political alignment within the study population, meaning that multiple factors were influential in determining interest in energy efficiency practices. The study found that CVTs with larger average annual budgets and more employees were more responsive, suggesting that staff capacity is a major factor in implementing energy efficiency. A central theme from surveys and interviews was a need for funding and other forms of technical assistance. The commonalities across all interviews and surveys were a lack of capacity to analyze cost-effective and appropriate energy efficiency upgrades, and a perceived lack of funding.

The surveys and interviews influenced the structure and content of the toolkit. CVTs are generally aware of their buildings’ most pressing energy efficiency needs, but are impeded in implementation by capacity and budget constraints. This led to the creation of the toolkit Creating a more Resilient Washtenaw: Reducing energy use, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions in municipalities’ buildings, A toolkit for local governments, which provides a roadmap for improving municipal building energy efficiency, including funding avenues and technical resources. This toolkit allows the Ann Arbor/Washtenaw 2030 District to provide outreach and connection to CVTs at any point in their energy efficiency journey, furthering county-wide goals of sustainability and decarbonization.