AIRE Conditioning: How the Energy Program Cools Arlington

It’s been one of the hottest summers on record. Arlington’s energy program is working hard to keep you cool.

Arlington’s Energy Redesign Initiative (AIRE)a district of Arlington County Office for Sustainability and Environmental Management (OSEM)serves as the county’s central agency for climate change mitigation, adaptation/resilience programs, and community-based energy programs.

One of AIRE’s efforts to improve the community is to conduct the Community Energy Plan (CEP)through the CEP Roadmap Implementation Plan. Understanding the CEP and Arlington’s CEP Roadmap is important to you and your community because the initiatives directly impact daily life.

That’s why you should be interested in:

1. Healthier environment: From reducing energy costs to improving air quality, the CEP Roadmap strategies aim to create a healthier, more sustainable environment for you and your community.
2. Benefits for the community: By supporting the CEP, the AIRE team is contributing to a common framework for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The roadmap identifies and links strategies that will continue to position Arlington as a leader in sustainability and attract like-minded businesses and community members.
3. Flexibility: The CEP roadmap is designed to be flexible and elastic to ensure Arlington stays ahead of technological advances, as well as fiscal, policy and legislative changes. The result is a more resilient community better able to meet future challenges.
4. Accountability and transparency: The roadmap’s detailed timelines, assigned responsibilities and impact tracking frameworks ensure you can see exactly how the plan is progressing. This transparency builds trust and allows you to hold local leaders accountable.

Check out the updated roadmap on our website next month to learn about AIRE’s goals for 2024-2026.

Advancing goals through federal funds

Federal funding is one of the primary ways Arlington improves its community and supports CEP. Through grants, AIRE enables residents to live healthier, more equitable and sustainable lifestyles, resulting in a cooler Arlington.

Recently, the AIRE team, led by OSEM Office Manager Demetra McBride, received $267,820 from the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program for an application to provide e-bike vouchers to the community.

This voucher program supports the county’s CEP by providing incentives for residents to use lower-emission transportation options by switching from single-passenger vehicles to e-bikes. This project, scheduled to launch in spring 2025, will provide nearly 250 e-bike vouchers worth between $600 and $1,650, depending on income.

Similarly, a successful proposal by McBride and the AIRE team under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Justice Government-to-Government (EJG2G) program in response to OSEM’s Energy Health Equity proposal (EHE project) received a $980,350 award. The EJG2G programme promotes collaboration between local authorities and proven community-based organisations.

In addition to the EHE project partnership with Virginia Climate Center at George Mason UniversityThe EHE project will build strong partnerships with Columbia PikeThe Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance And Virginia Clinician for Climate Protection.

The EHE project aims to improve the energy efficiency of residential and small commercial buildings in disadvantaged communities, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the indoor environment (including indoor air quality) for populations disproportionately affected by emissions and climate extremes.

The EHE project, led by OSEM, will produce three key outputs or assets: a decision support tool, a financing portfolio that summarizes all financing options, mechanisms, and incentives, and a community engagement strategy that addresses the specific needs and priorities of underserved communities. These resources will help model energy improvements for affordable housing and commercial buildings, and they will be tested, refined, and scaled for broader impact.

This project will provide a toolkit of resources and information for underserved communities and provide developers, builders, and citizens with robust tools to improve their financial stability and improve health outcomes. Additionally, this toolkit is specifically designed to be used alongside other grant applications and funding.

Partnerships with regional, national and global impact

The local partnerships mentioned above are key to advancing clean energy in Arlington. AIRE strives to expand its partnerships regionally, nationally and globally through committed leadership. These connections energize Arlington’s collaborative efforts toward a more sustainable future.

Here are three key ways OSEM and AIRE have shared their successes with other advocates:

1. OSEM Office Manager Demetra McBride recently organized and hosted two summits supporting global efforts to advance energy, renewables, climate adaptation, eco-building science, and clean transportation. McBride was joined by AIRE managers Stephen Burr and Richard Dooley.

• • On June 10, OSEM, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Vista program for Government and Energy Managers from the Baltic Republics, hosted a group of government and business leaders from the energy sectors of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia to discuss energy sector transformation, cross-sector developments in the energy sector, and new energy resources, policies, and strategies. The visiting group represented director-level government and energy managers from the Baltic states. The discussion focused primarily on low-carbon technology, carbon-neutral policymaking and planning, transportation decarbonization, and regional coordination and cooperation on low-carbon energy plans and infrastructure. McBride developed and delivered a presentation on the Baltic Republics’ transition from a fossil fuel-based grid to a European renewable energy grid, updated the group on U.S. and regional leadership efforts and programs, and collaboratively discussed effective programmatic, project-based, transactional, financial, behavior change, and policy strategies in the energy sector.

1. • In July, the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) co-hosted a multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral discussion with OSEM and AIRE to expand on the county’s two-and-a-half-year collaboration with the Area Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB) under the European Union’s International Urban and Regional Cooperation Program. The AMB expressed particular interest in the sustainability of large-scale urban redevelopment projects such as Crystal City and socially inclusive urban heat island mitigation, particularly in public spaces. McBride and Dooley represented the county.
2. In July, OSEM was invited to participate in a plenary session of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Committee on Climate, Energy and Environmental Policy. The agenda was devoted to climate risk, adaptation and resilience. McBride gave a presentation specifically for the public sector, based on the County’s Stormwater Risk Assessment Management Plan (RAMP) as well as her cross-sector experience with climate adaptation in Florida and California over the past 15 years.
3. The EPA’s Green Power Partnership works with a variety of leading national organizations, including Fortune 500® companies, various levels of government, and a growing number of colleges and universities. The Top Partner Rankings showcase the annual green energy consumption of the top green energy partners across the United States and various industry sectors. The EPA’s Top Partner Rankings highlight organizations that excel in their use of clean energy. Arlington County was recognized as an Outstanding Partner this quarter, alongside household names such as Microsoft, Staples, and Dow, Inc. With an increase of nearly 63 million kWh, Arlington County now consumes over 84 million kWh of green energy, moving into the list of the top 30 local agencies. The AIRE team, under Energy Manager Stephen Burr, is primarily responsible for the county’s performance in this area.

Meet AIRE at the County Fair

To learn more about AIRE’s efforts and individual opportunities to save energy, visit the AIRE team in the concession booth area of ​​the Arlington County Fair August 16-18. You’ll have the opportunity to ask energy-related questions and learn about IRA incentives, greenhouse gas emissions dashboards and more.