Thursday, September 10, 2009

Company to measure Fort Lauderdale's carbon footprint

South Florida Business Journal - by Paul Brinkmann

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Carbon Solutions America said Thursday that it was awarded a $75,000 contract to measure the city of Fort Lauderdale’s carbon footprint.

Carbon footprinting has become widely accepted as the first step toward going green in a serious way. It provides a benchmark to measure how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are being produced by an operation.

Alex Hernandez, managing partner for Deerfield Beach-based CSA, said he thinks Fort Lauderdale is the first major municipality in Florida – outside of Miami Dade County – to undertake a comprehensive carbon footprinting process. Carbon footprinting focuses heavily on electricity usage and fuel consumption, with travel and other sources of carbon emissions factored in.

"We have seen a number of municipalities say they’ve done it, but when we look, it’s just their fleet or some narrow scope of carbon footprinting, not a comprehensive effort,” Hernandez said.

Fort Lauderdale spokesman Chaz Adams said the goal of the project will be reducing greenhouse gas emissions, consumption of natural resources and total energy use, and improving energy efficiency.

The company will also prepare a sustainability action plan, which will lay out how the city's carbon footprint will be reduced over time. CSA has partnered on the project with the Florida Center of Environmental Studies and sustainable architectural firm Environmental Dynamics.

The project will include calculating the city's greenhouse gas inventory, developing energy conservation and emission reduction goals, prioritizing projects and creating a monitoring plan to measure success. CSA will also assist in the preparation of the city's energy efficiency conservation block grant and provide an overall sustainability blue print. The city is receiving a $2 million grant from that program’s stimulus funding.

Hernandez said public input about the best way to reduce carbon, including such things as more efficient lighting and planting trees, will be gathered.

Nick Loeb, a Palm Beach County businessman and politician, is a principal at CSA. The company has done carbon footprinting for school districts and provides environmental consulting services.




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