1. Catawba County Rethinking Government’s Role in Sustainability

2. Green Initiatives Team
Dewey Harris, Assistant County Manager
Jacky Eubanks, Planning and Parks Director
Barry Edwards, P.E., Utilities and Engineering Director
Terry Bledsoe, Chief Information Officer
Kelly Groves, Environment and Natural Resources Agent, NC Cooperative Extension
and
Executive Director,
Keep Catawba County Beautiful

3. Green Initiatives Unifour Early Action Compact (UEAC) A partnership for change
Catawba County – Green Initiative Strategies
4-legged stool (4-E’s)
Education
Environment
Energy
Economic Development

4. Unifour Early Action Compact (2004) (Federal/State/Regional Partnership)
The Tool Box – 14 strategies
Public/private partnership 8) Implement smart growth principles
Enhanced ozone awareness 9) Bicycle/pedestrian plan
Clean cities program evaluation 10) Ozone action days
City/County energy plan 11) Enhance MPO/RPO efforts
Air quality coordination/local contact 12) Flexible work and commute pattern
Local clean air policy/stakeholder group 13) Transit/ridership programs
Expanded landscape standards ) Improve transportation planning

5. Green Initiatives Planning & Parks
Education – EAC Strategies #1, 2, 5 and 10:
Parks
Outreach to secondary schools/classroom instruction
College field laboratories/demonstrations
E-newsletter
Tours
Hosting regional events, such as birding, geocaching

6. Green Initiatives Planning & Parks
Environment – EAC Strategies 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, and 14
UDO features
Open space standards with flexibility for design
Developing LEED and green credits for open space and development design
Enhanced landscaping standards with flexibility
Green space planning
Parks Master Plan
Carolina Thread Trail
Lake Norman Bicycle Route Plan

7. Green Initiatives Planning & Parks
Energy – EAC Strategies #4, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 14
Transportation Planning
Comprehensive transportation plan
Regional transit linkage facilities – Bridgewater project
Regional corridor planning and studies – Hwy. 150
Regional multi-modal plans – CTT and Lake Norman Bicycle Plan
Recycling/Reuse at Parks
Picnic tables
Low energy appliances

8. Green Initiatives Planning & Parks
Economic Development – EAC Strategies #1 and 8
Planning and UDO features
Home-based businesses – more flexibility
Smart-growth principles – coordinated developments
Strategic development of infrastructure
Promotion of mixed-use planned developments/
development agreement
Master Planning for the Eco-Complex

10. Regional EcoComplex and Resource Recovery Facility The Integration of Synergetic Relationships that Build a Greater Community

11. A new way of thinking about the management of by-products
(recycling and reduction)
Planning
Engineering
Economic Development
Leadership Structure

12. The DESIGN and GOAL of the Catawba County EcoComplex is to provide a conduit for developing and moving “Green” science and products from the lab to the real world while developing a system that will recover all useable products and by-products from a group of public and private partners who are located in a close knit defined area, the EcoComplex. 
The EcoComplex will also promote Catawba County and the Region as a center for “Green” innovation and enterprise in the areas of energy, agriculture, and the environment.
the old saying of “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”

13. Blackburn Resource Recovery Facility Landfill Gas-to-Energy Facility
Existing Components
Blackburn Resource Recovery Facility
Landfill Gas-to-Energy Facility
Gregory Wood Products
Pallet One
Existing Components:
Blackburn Resource Recovery Facility
Landfill Gas-to-Energy Facility
Gregory Wood Products
Pallet One

14. Cultivating Crops for Biodiesel Research
Research will include the testing of biodiesel that is being produced by several companies in the region as well as the growing of feedstock crops on and around the County’s Blackburn Landfill, predominantly in the buffer areas. Crops grown on County properties will serve two purposes: (1.) Crops will be used to develop bio-fuel for operating the Blackburn Landfill, which will, in effect, offset building construction and lower operational costs over time; and, (2.) ASU and North Carolina State University (NCSU) will test crops, and adjust or introduce new crops when applicable, to optimize the County’s fuel production, to improve biodiesel crop production in Catawba County’s climate, and to learn and share with producers in Western North Carolina which crops produce the best oils for the production of biodiesel.
Said crops will be cultivated by local farmers under separate property lease agreements for farming, which contain indemnification and hold harmless clauses for the protection of the County.
The Biodiesel Research Facility is one of numerous components of a broader remote research and educational campus centered around green energy and sustainability between Catawba County, ASU, UNCC, NCSU, and NCA&T.

15. Catawba County chose CDM, in part, because of their 3-D capabilities/design, making the design process more efficient. We were able to visualize the facility.

16. Additional EcoComplex Facilities are “Around the Corner”
Bio-Energy Facility – Boiler/Gasifier System
Turf Grass Research
Biosolids (Sludge) Management Facility
Impending Components:
Bioreactor Landfill
Biosolids (Sludge) Management Facility
Bio-Energy Facility – Boiler/Gasifier System
Turf Grass Research
Recycling Plastic Pelletization
Recycling Plastic Pelletization

17. Eco-Complex and Resource Recovery Facility Components
Components identified and in negotiations or grant procurement development :
- Algae Research
- Brick and Pottery Manufacturing
- Compost and Soil Amendment Processing Facility
- Greenhouse Operations
- Organic Waste Management Facility
(Food, Grease, and Agricultural wastes)
- Bio-fuel Research
- Ceramic and Employing Recycled Glass
Algae Research
Algae can produce 50% oil which can be used in Bio-diesel production. County and ASU are pursuing Federal grants. Staff is providing a letter of support to assist the University to bring research to the EcoComplex.
Brick and Pottery Facility
Brick and pottery facility: Like the Greenhouse component, this is also waiting on the desired shared relationships of the EcoComplex. It is planned for this component to have a community education component.
Compost and Soil Amendment Facility
Compost facility – We have had preliminary discussions with a nearby retailer & Industry Leaders regarding the bagging and selling of a compost/soil amendment product and possibly bagged mulch as well.
Greenhouse Operations
Greenhouse is currently in a “holding pattern” waiting on the shared relationships to evolve that are the incentives required for it to become a part of the EcoComplex.
Organic Waste Management Facility
Organic WM - Waiting on the needed shared relationships of the EcoComplex.
Bio-fuel Research
BioFuel - We, along with our partners, are looking at a research project that will combine landfill gas, bio-diesel, and other fuels, into a combined fuel for generating green electricity.
Ceramic and Employing Recycled Glass

18. Air Quality Benefits derived from the
Blackburn Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project
3 megawatt capacity
What’s Catawba County’s impact?
Equivalent to…
Removing annual greenhouse gas emissions from 23, passenger vehicles
Removing CO2 emissions from burning 669 railcars worth of coal

19. Catawba County EcoComplex
Eco = Economics and Ecology or Industrial Ecological System
The Catawba County EcoComplex is a system that is based on the fact that an individual component  in a system is best utilized in the context of its relationship with  other components and with other systems, rather than in isolation.  Thus, any government, jurisdiction, or private group can build an EcoComplex, an Industrial Ecological System.

20. GreenIT &everything else
Green IT: Local government must be a model for purchasing and recycling green products and IT’s role in this can be significant. Local government should be recycling all of the obsolete electronic products that are being discarded. None should be going to the landfill. Soon, purchasing computers made from recycled material will become a priority as manufacturers move more to green IT products. Reducing energy cost in data centers by moving to a virtual environment, encouraging users to reduce printing and to shut down idol machines all will be steps to go green.

21. The
Little Things……
Count

22. Empower the Workforce…
Unbounding Tools
Mobilization
Wireless Connectivity
Online
Applications
Expense Reporting
Benefit Enrollment
Time Reporting
Documents

23. Reduce Downtime… …Mobilize Mobile Field Inspection Building
Food and Lodging
Well and Septic Inspectors:
Mobile Field Tools for
Home Health Services
School Nurses
Geographic Scheduling
Maintenance Work Order System
Mobile Field Based Reporting for Law Enforcement
Teleconferencing /Webinars

24. Best Practices and Shared Resources…
…Virtual Technology/SAN(Storage Area Network)
March 2006
70 physical servers, 4.5 terabytes storage
Today 128 servers
108 virtual and 20 physical servers
12 terabytes storage used
27 terabytes of storage available.
Full redundancy for disaster recovery
Approximately $400,000 in server savings
300 square feet of additional space

25. Think
Don’t Be
Before You Print
A Virtual Packrat

26. My Personal Green IT Checklist:
Unplug phone chargers, iPod chargers, GPS chargers and other chargers when not in use.   
Turn off your computer
Don’t forget monitor, the speakers, the printer, the scanner, and even the paper shredder.  
Don’t be a “Virtual Packrat”.
Don’t print just because you can.
Use handouts only if necessary
Use the sleep mode
Buy an LCD Monitor
Check energy consumption on all purchases. 
Technology has become part of our lives but remember, at times you need to turn it all off and enjoy time without it.
My Green IT Checklist:
1.    Unplug phone chargers, iPod chargers, GPS chargers and other chargers when not in use.   Each of this type of charger continues to drain small amounts of energy even if the device is not plugged into them.  If you don’t want the bother of unplugging them, hook them all to a power bar and turn it off when you are not charging equipment.
2.    Turn off you computer if you are going to be away for an extended time.  Especially, overnight.  In the past, you may have been instructed to leave your computer on overnight, mainly to avoid signing back on the network the next time you used it.  We no longer need to think this way. Actually, shutting the computer down properly and then bringing it back up has advantages.  So turn it off when you are not using it.
3.    Turning the computer off saves energy but don’t forget everything attached to it.  Be sure to turn off the monitor, the speakers, the printer, the scanner, and even the paper shredder.  A good test is to look back into the room after you turn the lights out.  If you see any LCDs, you may need to turn it off.
4.    Don’t be a “Virtual Packrat”. Don’t store something just because you can.  Data storage has become very cheap to buy, however, it takes energy to store and maintain data.  When you read something on the Internet, don’t store it because you may use it again in the future.  This is especially true at work where your data may be stored on network drives.  Power consumption for data centers has been increasing at an alarming rate and storing something just because you can, requires more hard drive space and thus more energy.
5.    Don’t print just because you can. Most information that you have on your computer can be read just as well on the screen. Think before you print and ask yourself the question, “Do I really need a paper copy?”
6.    If you are a presenter and usually give your audience a copy of your presentation, think about using a web service like SlideShare.net .  They can view the actual presentation and if you want, give them permission to download and view.  YouTube works great for videos and Flickr for photos.  The web gives you a great place to store information and a great place for your participants to view it without printing it.  Please remind your participants that they should avoid becoming the virtual packrats, they can read it online so don’t worry about storing and printing a copy.
7.    Be sure your computer monitor and hard drive are set to sleep mode after 15 minutes.  This is an easy step that costs nothing.  Refer to your manual for this.
8.    Speaking of the monitor, if you are still using a CRT monitor, replace it with a new LCD monitor. This costs less to run and you will gain space on the desktop.
9.    Check energy consumption on all purchases.  When buying any technology look beyond the price and look at the continuing cost of ownership.  One computer may be priced attractively but consume a lot more energy for the same processing power.
10. Technology has become part of our lives but remember, at times you need to turn it all off and enjoy time without it.

27. Rethink Green in Your Organization
Donate old functional computers to school children that do not have home computers.
Send old computer equipment to a company that recycles electronic devices.
Exchange CRT computer monitors with LCD monitors when computers are replaced.
Provide computer applications at employees' homes, so they can complete required paperwork without having to drive to their office.
Virtualization and server consolidation.
Initiate a “Think before you print” campaign.
Use Web/video conferencing to reduce mileage costs.
Scan and store documents for reduced paper and easier access
Make online access to information a strategic direction

29. Partnership between government, business, and individuals
Promote education and responsible behavior regarding litter
Participate in lots of community events

30. Questions?

31. Visit www.catawbacountync.gov
Earth Awareness