By Brett Rosenberg
June 29, 2009

The Sustainable Development Task Force, chaired by Santa Barbara (CA) Mayor Marty Blum, Southfield (MI) Mayor Brenda Lawrence and Oak Park (IL) Mayor David Pope convened June 14 during the 77th U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting.

Mayors listened to presentations by Mike Stark, Director of Policy and Intergovernmental Relations for Providence, and Clark Manus, CEO of Heller Manus Architects and incoming President of the American Institute of Architects. The mayors also conducted a roundtable discussion of best practices in various sustainability issues, with a focus on maintaining their programs in light of the deteriorated economy.

Stark provided an overview of Greenprint: Providence, the city's overarching effort to reduce global warming pollution and to position the city as a leader in the rapidly growing green economy. Stark said that Providence Mayor David Cicilline, through Greenprint: Providence is "trying to take the green economy and match it up with the city's ready workforce." Greenprint has an ambitious scope: energy, the built environment, public space, transit and transportation, recycling and waste management, purchasing, water, green jobs, and community, which strives to foster public participation.

Among the several initiatives under Greenprint: Providence, Stark mentioned that the city plans to use Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) funds to create jobs and weatherize low-income housing with better insulation and other building materials. Also within Greenprint is a multi-billion dollar plan to install a two-mile streetcar line; an intermodal transit hub; a plan to tie existing community gardens to after'school programs; and a strategy to double the city's residential recycling rate.

Stark framed much of the philosophy behind Greenprint: Providence as an economic development tool, citing evidence that suggests that although financing anything today is challenging, such sustainability programs pay off in the long term. West Sacramento (CA) Mayor Christopher Cabaldon supported Stark's assertion, saying, that these efforts "are critical to shaping development."

Manus, the incoming President of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), examined "Evolving Green Building Policies in Sustainable Communities." Manus's presentation focused on a review of a 2007 AIA publication that identified local green building leaders and contacted cities with a population greater than 50,000 to gain a greater understanding of green building policy.

Beginning in early, 2009, the AIA began updating its 2007 study with a report on green building policy in a rapidly changing economic environment. The publication, expected to be released in August, examines the expansion or curtailment impact of these policies in light of the economic downturn as well as the effects of the economic stimulus package on green building, including the Environment and Energy Efficiency Tax Credit, green building and economic development, and impending challenges to cities.

According to Manus, the overwhelming majority of cities surveyed responded that they have not altered their original green building programs in light of the economic downturn. Furthermore, several cities are considering changing these policies to provide increased financial incentives to further stimulate voluntary green building.

Manus noted that understanding the philosophy behind green building programs helps to appreciate how cities want their programs to evolve. When asked whether their green building policies are tied into broader economic development goals, cities provided a range of responses. Different cities put a different emphasis on the direction they want to take green building. Some have the full support of the mayor or city council in efforts to integrate green building into their economic futures. For communities that feel their green building policy is directly tied to their economic development, this comes mostly in the form of tax abatements, and permit reimbursements.

Other cities, Manus said, are looking to promote green building job creation in the long run, or establish their communities as ideal locations for businesses to grow and flourish in the future.

When asked whether they will use EECBG funds to encourage more green building, Manus said most cities surveyed are not completely sure of how these funds will be spent. However, Manus said, "This result is partly due to when the question has been asked. We began contacting communities right after the federal stimulus funding passed, therefore, many of the communities did not have the time to fully formulate how this funding would be used." Manus also mentioned that there have been some communities that have spoken to the AIA about very innovative ideas.

The task force meeting wrapped up with several mayors sharing some of the challenges they face in creating more sustainable communities. Pope mentioned that as a small community, scale is problematic, meaning that due to its small size, it has trouble realizing the benefits of its environmental investments. Pope also mentioned he's troubled by the fact that there currently is not a standardized, reliable way for cities to measure their baseline greenhouse gas emissions. This has been an ongoing issue for many mayors who are trying to better understand where their emissions come from as they work toward the goals of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

Lauderhill (FL) Mayor Richard Kaplan said that many of his challenges are political in nature. He said that he must often work around his commissioners' other immediate concerns, there are complicating issues with city staff, and there are often public misconceptions about sustainability goals. Several other mayors chimed in, urging a long-term perspective and patience with the overall process.

Pope closed the session by thanking Blum for her many years of public service and her contribution to the Sustainable Development Task Force. Blum, who has served as co-chair of the task force since 2007, will retire from public office before the next meeting, in Washington (DC) in January 2010.