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City of Baton Rouge –
Parish of East Baton Rouge
Sustainable Government
Operations Plan
Prepared by the City-Parish Planning Commission
August, 2011
This document was funded through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant
(EECBG) Program, funded for the first time by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(Recovery Act) of 2009.
Executive Summary
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Executive Summary
Baton Rouge has experienced tremendous growth beginning with the population shifts
that followed Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East
Baton Rouge’s (City-Parish) new comprehensive land use plan, FUTUREBR, addresses
environmental sustainability and pays careful attention to anticipating and serving the needs of
this growing community. The Sustainability Master Plan complements FUTUREBR and
provides a framework for integrating energy efficiency and resource sustainability into
government services, facilities and daily operations in East Baton Rouge Parish.
As part of a 2009 Recovery Act-Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant (EECBG)
received from the U.S. Department of Energy, the City-Parish government is responsible for
creating and implementing a sustainability strategy which will detail energy efficiency and
conservation measures within the City-Parish government. To determine future needs and to
establish sustainable directives, the Planning Commission first identified and evaluated existing
policies and practices in all City-Parish departments. This study began with a general
assessment of the City-Parish’s governmental operational practices, and how sustainability
pertains to this particular municipal government. The Planning Commission Staff then began
researching and designing sustainable practices related to transportation, energy and waste
reduction, and education.
A survey focused on sustainability was emailed to City-Parish employees. The survey’s
results revealed that City-Parish employees are willing to change their behavior at work in order
to incorporate more sustainable practices. The survey also showed that City-Parish employees
commute to work in less sustainable means than the average Baton Rouge citizen, but want to
learn more about on the job sustainable practices.
The research conducted for this sustainability plan has identified potential opportunities
for savings in utility and vehicle fuel consumption. Between 2009 and 2010, while there was
some price fluctuations, utility and fuel costs generally increased and are projected to increase
steadily into the near future. The City-Parish has begun to transition over to a more sustainable
government through methane capturing at its landfill and purchasing several Compressed Natural
Gas (CNG) vehicles. However, there is potential for much greater savings through the
continuation of CNG vehicles purchasing, building upgrades, recycling, paper consumption
reductions, and education.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Recommended transportation action items include
1. Reduce City-Parish vehicle usage and set reduction goals.
2. Reduce the amount of City-Parish vehicle miles traveled in 2010 by 15 percent in 15 years.
3. Replace all City-Parish vehicles (except patrol cars) with hybrids, electric, biodiesel, CNG or
other alternative fuel vehicles.
4. Increase the average fuel efficiency of municipal fleet vehicles.
5. Install GPS units into all City-Parish vehicles.
6. Create incentives for a walk, bike, or carpool to work program for City-Parish employees
(install bike racks at all government offices and offer rebates or subsidies on bike purchases).
7. Create incentives for City-Parish employees to use public transportation.
8. Review and revise the Public Works Equipment Replacement Program to ensure maximum
vehicle use and savings are being captured.
Recommended energy and waste reduction action items include
1. Create an internal City-Parish government recycling program and mandate all C-P employees
and departments must participate.
2. Reduce paper consumption by purchasing recycled office goods such as paper.
3. Ensure all public events and festivals using city grounds are collecting recyclables.
4. Finish converting all traffic, street crossing, and school zone lights within the city corporate
limits to LED lighting.
5. Convert street lighting to LED lighting.
6. Create energy using methane and biogas from waste water treatment plants.
7. Reduce public building energy costs.
8. Convert all faucets and toilets in municipal buildings to low flow or high efficiency plumbing
over the next 10 years.
9. Conduct an energy audit of all municipal buildings and complete recommended updates to
buildings over the next five to ten years.
10. Mandate all new construction and major renovations of City-Parish buildings be LEED
certified.
11. Inventory global emissions in city operations and set reduction targets.
12. Require all C-P employees turn off their computers and lights at the end of the work day and
over the weekends.
13. Create interoffice policies that reduce paper and energy consumption.
Recommended education action items include
1. Create and implement a ―think globally, act locally‖ training program.
2. Fill the Sustainability and Renewable Energy Coordinator position.
3. Create incentives to keep employees highly motivated and productive.
4. Create a Green Team to lead the way for increased recycling at work.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Table of Contents
Scope and Purpose ....................................................................................................................1
Introduction ...............................................................................................................................3
Chapter One Transportation ....................................................................................................8
Opportunity Assessment and Sustainability Analysis and Recommendations .................................... 9
Action Items ....................................................................................................................................... 22
Chapter Two Energy and Waste Reduction ..........................................................................24
Opportunity Assessment and Sustainability Analysis and Recommendations .................................. 25
Action Items ..........................................................................................................................43
Chapter Three Equity and Education ...................................................................................45
Opportunity Assessment and Sustainability Analysis and Recommendations .................................. 46
Action Items ..........................................................................................................................49
Appendix A ..............................................................................................................................50
Appendix B ...............................................................................................................................53
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Listing of Figures and Tables
Figures
1.
Percent of Responding Cities Engaged in Efficiency and Sustainability Efforts .................................. 5
2.
Percentage of City-Parish Employees Interested in Car Pooling ......................................................... 10
3.
City-Parish Employee and Citizen Alternative Transportation Choices ............................................. 11
4.
City-Parish Employee and Citizen Commuting Transportation Choices ............................................ 11
5.
Central Garage’s CNG Fueling Station ............................................................................................... 13
6.
CNG Fueling Pump ............................................................................................................................. 13
7.
Conventional and Alternative Fuel Prices ........................................................................................... 15
8.
Natural Gas Vehicle Cost Calculator ................................................................................................... 18
9.
City-Parish Street Lighting .................................................................................................................. 27
10. Street Crossing LED ............................................................................................................................ 28
11. Pump Station ....................................................................................................................................... 28
12. Baton Rouge Junior High School ........................................................................................................ 30
13. Annual Utility Costs by Source ........................................................................................................... 30
14. Annual Kilowatt Hours Consumed by Source ..................................................................................... 31
15. Percent of Employees Interested in Learning about Recycling ........................................................... 33
16. Percent of Employees Willing to Separate Food Waste from Trash at Work for Composting ........... 34
17. Percent of Employees Interested in Learning about Composting at Work .......................................... 34
18. LED Street Light atop a Traffic Light Pole ......................................................................................... 36
19. Historical and Projected City Parish Utility Costs .............................................................................. 37
20. Typical Electricity Use in Office Buildings ........................................................................................ 38
21. Percentage of Employees Interested in Learning about Sustainable Practices .................................... 46
Tables
1.
Fleet Fuel Consumption and Costs ...................................................................................................... 19
2.
City-Parish Vehicular Fuel Consumption and Cost Comparisons ....................................................... 21
3.
Dollars Spent on Public Building Utility Bills .................................................................................... 29
4.
2009 to 2010 Annual Kilowatt Hours Consumed by the City-Parish Government ............................. 31
5.
Monthly Average Costs Per Square Foot for Select Public Buildings ................................................ 39
6. Portfolio Manager Ratings for Select Public Buildings ....................................................................... 40
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Scope and Purpose
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Scope and Purpose
As part of a 2009 Recovery Act-Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant (EECBG)
received from the U.S. Department of Energy, the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton
Rouge (City-Parish) government is responsible for creating and implementing a sustainability
strategy which will detail energy efficiency and conservation measures within the City-Parish
government. The strategy, in the form of this plan, will also support the City-Parish’s overall
goal of providing leadership to create a better and healthier place for the citizens to live, work,
and play. Activities funded under the EECBG include energy efficiency retrofits, facility
upgrades, public outreach, and the creation and implementation of this City of Baton Rouge –
Parish of East Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan (sustainability plan).
Baton Rouge has experienced tremendous growth beginning with the population shifts
that followed Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The City-Parish’s new comprehensive land
use plan, FUTUREBR, addresses environmental sustainability and pays careful attention to
anticipating and serving the needs of this growing community. This sustainability plan
complements FUTUREBR and provides a framework for integrating energy efficiency and
resource sustainability into government services, facilities and daily operations in East Baton
Rouge Parish. FUTUREBR calls for increased environmental stewardship in both the public and
private sectors. The plan aims to accomplish this through the creation of a mobility network that
is compatible with the natural and human environment, and to the extent possible, protect air and
water quality, manage stormwater runoff, maximize urban natural habitat areas, and preserve
green space. Several objectives of FUTUREBR include making investments to reduce carbon
footprint by providing alternatives to driving and supporting sustainable development patterns.
A full list of goals, objectives, and action items from FUTUREBR that complement and support
this sustainability plan can be found in Appendix B. Conservation and environmental resource
planning are among the elements required by the City-Parish Plan of Government. Together, all
the elements addressed in FUTUREBR are intended to provide direction and clarity to the
community for a sustainable future in a way that balances economic, environmental, and social
needs.
This sustainability plan identifies specific goals and outcomes that reflect the principles
set forth in the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Mayor Kip Holden signed this
agreement, which to date has been signed by more 1,000 mayors, in the summer of 2005.
Suggested actions to be undertaken by the City-Parish in support of the U.S. Mayors Climate
Protection Agreement include greenhouse gas emissions inventory and reduction, anti-sprawl
land use and facility locating policies, increasing use of clean, alternative energy, prioritizing
energy efficiency, promoting sustainable building practices, increasing the vehicular fleet’s fuel
efficiency, and undertaking employee education and outreach.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
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Introduction
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Introduction
“Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.”
- Albert Einstein
General Background
The idea of sustainable development was a product of industrialization. As cities grew
and became urbanized due to the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century they faced
increasing problems related to public health, sanitation, residential overcrowding and lack of
infrastructure. Industrialization brought with it deforestation and air and water pollution. These
problems brought about concerns on the economic, social, and environmental equity as cities
expanded. It was not until post-World War II that the United States saw numerous collaborative
efforts around issues of environmental and social injustice which have led to successful
organization and creation of policy leading, finally, to policy implementation in the areas of civil
rights and environmental protection.
Sustainable development, or sustainability in general, is the culmination of these
organizing efforts. In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development (the
Brundtland Commission), a directive of the United Nations, produced a report titled Our
Common Future. This report brought the concept of sustainability into the limelight, highlighting
the global inequalities and the ecological consequences of unrestrained development. It also
provided a simple yet effective definition of sustainable development:
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Under this definition, leaders at all levels of government and individual citizens are able to make
a contribution toward making a more sustainable world. In the past few decades planning
academics and practitioners have developed a general consensus of some broad concepts that can
help a community become more sustainable.
The Brundtland Commission report focuses on economic development and social
equality as well as environmental conservation. Planning literature sometimes refers to these
concepts as the ―three E’s‖ of sustainability: environment, economics, and equity. Because
policies addressing these issues individually have caused conflicting views to arise, planning
academics have argued that sustainable plans should strive for a balance of environmental,
social, and economic values. Likewise, the objective of this sustainability plan is to help the East
Baton Rouge City-Parish Government to achieve a balance in these values and advance towards
a more sustainable Baton Rouge.
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More recently there has been a growing trend of cities creating sustainability plans aimed
at governmental operations in an effort to achieve greater energy efficiency and environmental
sustainability. In May of 2010, Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs
examined the involvement of local governments in energy efficiency, sustainability, and climate
protection (See Figure 1). The results showed that at least one third of all the survey respondents
were either in the process of or had completed actions towards sustainable government
operations. The most prevalent efforts were installing energy efficient lights and converting
vehicle fleets to alternative fuels.
Figure 1 Percent of Responding Cities Engaged in Efficiency and Sustainability Efforts
Methodology
The Planning Commission was responsible for conducting research and drafting the
sustainability plan. To determine future needs and establish sustainable directives, the
department first identified and evaluated existing departmental policies and practices in all major
branches of the government. This study began with a general assessment of Baton Rouge’s
Government’s operational practices, and how sustainability pertains to this particular municipal
government. Planning Commission Staff then began focusing on sustainable practices related to
transportation, energy and waste reduction, and education. In order to obtain a comprehensive
sense of all aspects of government operations and to actively engage other departments in the
planning process the Planning Commission conducted in-person interviews with department
directors or appointed staff. The in-person meetings that took place between February and
March of 2011 included:
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
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City-Parish Departments
Public Works
Cheryl Berry, Special Project Engineer
Leo Bossier, Assistant Public Works Director of Management and Finance
Roy Boudreaux, Automotive Parts Supervisor
Stephen Brumfield, Vehicle and Equipment Maintenance Manager
Dale Campau, Environmental and Landfill Coordinator
Eric Ducote, Architectural Intern
Jim Frey, Special Projects Architect
David Guillory, DPW Solid Waste Division Director
Susan Hamilton, Recycling Coordinator
Ingolf Partenheimer, Chief Traffic Engineer
Scottie Southall, Building Services and Security Manager
Finance
Marie Green, Budgeting Manager
Debbie McClure, Financial Projects Coordinator
Carol Marcantel, Auditing Manager
Purchasing
Michele McKee, Director
Mayor-President’s Office
Amanda Schram, Grants Coordinator
Human Resources
Brian Bernard, Assistant Human Resource Director
Additional Resources
Carlee Alm-LaBar, City of Lafayette
Harold Moise, Greater Baton Rouge Clean Cities Coalition
Bill Palmer, BREC
Next, the Planning Commission performed opportunity assessments to look at the
strengths and opportunities in Baton Rouge in light of sustainable concepts based on current
conditions and policies. These assessments show what obstacles and opportunities exist that
could affect Baton Rouge’s Government’s sustainable future. Sources included published plans,
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
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surveys, interviews and reports. Indicators were then created for the purpose of having tools to
measure the sustainability of Baton Rouge in these areas based on future standards.
When the assessments were completed, the Planning Commission used them as a
foundation for a sustainability analysis. This analysis connected findings from the opportunity
assessments to proposed measures that would promote sustainability within Baton Rouge’s
government operations. The Planning Commission used the analysis to identify which
recommendations would be the most feasible and applicable. Local and national examples were
used as a comparative resource for the community. After the analysis, the Planning Commission
provided short-, medium-, and long-term recommendations for advancing towards a sustainable
Baton Rouge Government. Finally, the Planning Commission developed and administered a
sustainability focused survey to garner government employee input. The survey was provided in
two formats, on paper as well as on the Web via a link sent to all employees with a @brgov.com
email account. The survey can be found in Appendix A.
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Chapter One
Transportation
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Transportation
Opportunity Assessment
City-Parish Employee Commuting
Efficient transportation is a daily necessity required by City-Parish employees to
successfully accomplish their job requirements and provide services to citizens. Baton Rouge
has modes of transportation contributing to airborne pollutants. Transportation, in general, is a
large contributor to green house gas (GHG) emissions. The presence of the large petrochemical
industry and large volume of products moving in and out of the metropolitan area via road, rail
and barge has resulted in a higher local concentration of GHG emissions than other parts of the
United States. In fact, a 2008 study completed by Purdue University revealed that Baton Rouge
is one of the top ten largest producers of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions1:
1. Harris, Texas (Houston) — 18.625 million tons of carbon dioxide per year
2. Los Angeles, Calif. (Los Angeles) — 18.595
3. Cook, Ill. (Chicago) — 13.209
4. Cuyahoga, Ohio (Cleveland) — 11.144
5. Wayne, Mich. (Detroit) — 8.270
6. San Juan, N.M. (Farmington) — 8.245
7. Jefferson, Ala. (Birmingham) — 7.951
8. Wilcox, Ala. (Camden) — 7.615
9. East Baton Rouge, La. (Baton Rouge) — 7.322
10. Titus, Texas (Mt. Pleasant) — 7.244
11. Carbon, Pa. (Jim Thorpe) — 6.534
12. Porter, Ind. (Valparaiso) — 6.331
13. Jefferson, Ohio (Steubenville) — 6.278
14. Indiana, Pa. (Indiana) — 6.224
15. Middlesex, Mass. (Boston metro area) — 6.198
16. Bexar, Texas (San Antonio) — 6.141
17. Hillsborough, Fla. (Tampa) — 6.037
18. Suffolk, N.Y. (New York metro area) — 6.030
19. Clark, Nev. (Las Vegas) — 5.955
Along with the major industrial sources, Baton Rouge has Interstate 10 (I-10) running through
the City-Parish and as a major east-west Interstate. Consequently, large 18-wheelers frequently
pass through the Parish contributing to the air pollution. In addition to these different
transportation related GHG emission sources, the parish and its surrounding areas include several
1
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416175442.htm
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
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petrochemical facilities along with a major oil refinery. Combined, these sources represent a
major need and justification to reduce transportation related GHG emissions.
A survey focused on sustainability was distributed via email to City-Parish employees in
the spring of 2011. At the time, this accounted for 3,636 staff members out of a total of 4,459
City-Parish government employees. The discrepancy in numbers is because the City-Parish does
not assign every employee an email account. There was a response from 604 employees
equaling a return rate of one out of six employees (or approximately 17 percent). These
respondents travel an average of 27 miles round trip to get to work and home again every day.
The total miles traveled equaled 16,152, round trip, for respondents. Assuming this average
mileage traveled each day is true for all employees, extrapolating this data to all City-Parish
government employees equals over 100,000 miles traveled by all employees every day.
If you Drive to Work by Yourself,
Would You be Interested in Car
Pooling?
Maybe
28%
Yes
9%
No
63%
Figure 2 Percentage of City-Parish Employees Interested in Car Pooling
The survey also revealed that the vast majority of City-Parish employees commute to
work alone. Only 3.5 percent of the survey respondents stated they carpool (either sometimes or
all the time) to work and almost 95 percent drive to work alone. The U.S. Census Bureau reports
that approximately 10 percent of all Baton Rouge workers who commute everyday carpool to
work and almost 80 percent commute to work by themselves in a vehicle (See Figure 2). By
comparison, City-Parish employees are much more likely to use their own vehicle to get to work
instead of using alternative forms of transportation such as public transportation, walking, or
bicycling than the average citizen (see Figures 3 and 4). Compared to the other local residents,
City-Parish employees are significantly much less likely to carpool as well. These statistics
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demonstrate that City-Parish employees are at a level significantly less than other local workers
in practicing more sustainable commuting practices.
14.0%
Carpool
12.0%
10.0%
6.0%
Public Transportation
(Excluding Taxi)
Walk
4.0%
Bicycle
8.0%
2.0%
0.0%
Baton Rouge
1990
Baton Rouge
2000
Baton Rouge
2009
2011 Employee
Survey
* Baton Rouge 1990, 2000, and 2009 reflects census data for all citizens for the City of Baton Rouge.
** 2011 Employee Survey reflects just City-Parish Employees.
Figure 3 City-Parish Employee and Citizen Alternative Transportation Choices
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
Car, Truck, or Van
40.0%
Single Passenger
30.0%
Carpool
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Baton Rouge 1990 Baton Rouge 2000 Baton Rouge 2009 2011 Employee
Survey
* Baton Rouge 1990, 2000, and 2009 reflects census data for all citizens for the City of Baton Rouge.
** Car, Truck, or Van = Single Passenger + Carpool
Figure 4 City-Parish Employee and Citizen Commuting Transportation Choices
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City-Parish Fleet
The City-Parish Government owns and operates approximately 2,500 vehicles (unit
numbers). Among these vehicles, the Department of Public Works operates four Honda Civic
GXs which run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Additionally, the Central Garage has also
retrofitted four dump trucks to run on CNG. Just about all other vehicles owned and operated are
E85 capable as well. The City-Parish Government is an excellent position to make a huge step
towards more environmentally friendly, and potentially money-saving, approach to
transportation since it already owns and operates a CNG fueling station (see Figures 5 and 6).
However, the CNG fueling station at the Central Garage is antiquated. According the Central
Garage Vehicle and Equipment Maintenance Manager, the CNG fueling station was built in
1994, and needs major upgrades which could cost $250,000 to $500,000 for upgrades to the
switch controls and new tanks to allow for larger capacity in order to meet demand if the more
CNG vehicles were purchased by the City-Parish.
The amount budgeted for fuel is the largest line-item under the Supplies category in the
City-Parish Annual Operating Budget, representing 21 percent of the total supplies budget.
Proposed fuel rates for 2012 are as follows:
Gasoline:
o Regular unleaded
$2.8558
o Unleaded Plus
$2.9476
o Unleaded Premium $3.0749
Highway Diesel
$2.8668
Non-Highway Diesel
$2.4668
Compressed Natural Gas (gasoline gallon equivalent)
o Non-DPW sites
$2.5310
o DPW sites
$2.5310
The Department of Public Works entered into a contract for fuel dispensing services with
FUELTRAC, Inc. This contract became effective May 1, 2007 and will end April 30, 2012.
Markups included in the pricing above are 3.9 cents per gallon at DPW sites, 8.7 cents at
unattended sites, and approximately 19 cents at commercial sites for fuel and 41 cents for diesel2.
The Department of Public Works makes an effort so that every vehicle has its own fuel
card so it can track the mileage and fuel consumption for each vehicle. The Central Garage uses
Crystal Reporting software to track the fleet’s use. From July, 2010 to June, 2011 the CityParish fleet traveled approximately 30,786,171 miles by 2,020 vehicles. This encompasses only
2
2011 City-Parish Annual Operating Budget
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
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two axle vehicles including everything from police patrol cars to departmental cars. This means
that the average two axle vehicle travels approximately 15,240 miles every year. However, it
can be assumed the majority of those miles are traveled by patrol cars. These are all approximate
numbers due to the fact that there are occasional fuel tracking errors which require correcting,
and the number of vehicles in the fleet and how many are being utilized is very dynamic.
Another complication of reporting the fleet’s use through mileage and fuel use is that not all
vehicles consume fuel by traveling. For example, ambulances and police vehicles will often be
running but standing idle for prolong periods of time. So, their fuel use will be high, but their
mileage will be low. The Central Garage reports that the fleet is approximately 2,500 vehicles in
size and has been slowly shrinking over recent years from roughly 2,800.
Figure 5 Central Garage's CNG Fueling Station
Figure 6 CNG Fueling Pump
Sustainability Analysis and Recommendations
City-Parish Employee Commuting
According to the sustainability survey City-Parish employees primarily commute to work
alone in their vehicle, and do it proportionally much higher than the general public. Therefore
City-Parish needs to encourage employees to use alternative modes of transportation. One way
to accomplish this is by creating incentives for employees to walk or bike to work by offering
rebates or subsidies on bike purchases and bicycle accessories. The City-Parish needs to ensure
bike racks are installed at every public building. The Healthy BR program should be expanded
to include these benefits to government employees and encourage private businesses to do
likewise.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
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The sustainability survey revealed that City-Parish employees currently have little
incentive to ride the Capital Area Transit System (CATS), Baton Rouge’s public transit system.
In an effort to increase ridership the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Commission recently made several
recommendations on ways to improve CATS. The City-Parish should work with CATS during
this transitional period to improve its service by ensuring that there are bus stops near municipal
buildings. Not only would this encourage employees to take the bus to work it would also make
it easier for citizens to visit their local governmental offices. The City-Parish should also
investigate the possibility of creating a program to provide reduced or free bus fares for CityParish employees. Even a six month to one year free or reduced fare opportunity given to
employees could create many new riders of choice who will continue to ride the bus after the
incentive expires. The City-Parish should consider providing incentives for employees who wish
to carpool or who drive an environmentally friendly vehicle by providing priority parking for
these activities. Priority parking reserves close parking spaces to the building as a reward for
people who carpool or drive alternative fueled vehicles (AFVs).
City-Parish Fleet
The City-Parish needs to continue its investment in alternative fueled vehicles and reduce
the percentage of the budget expended on fuel for its fleet. Baton Rouge is in an excellent
position to use its existing infrastructure to take full advantage of the environmental and
monetary benefits of using CNG. CNG is an affordable and cost-effective alternative to regular
gasoline and other emerging alternatives fuels such as ethanol, propane, and biodiesel (see
Figure 7). The Greater Baton Rouge Clean Cities Coalition (GBRCCC) is a knowledgeable
resource that would be able to assist the City-Parish convert its fleet to AFVs. The GBRCCC
can provide education and an objective view about the pros and cons on AFVs to City-Parish
staff. Additionally, as a member of the GBRCCC, the City-Parish could receive assistance from
the organization on grant submittals and would be eligible for additional funding opportunities
that are available only to Clean City Coalitions.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
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Source: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/facts/2010_fotw648.html
Figure 7 Conventional and Alternative Fuel Prices
The City-Parish has owned and operated their CNG powered Honda Civics for a short
time, but are already seeing the benefits. One of the largest benefits over conventional gas
powered vehicles is that CNG requires much less maintenance. Additionally, the U.S.
Department of Energy’s research shows that compared with vehicles fueled with conventional
diesel and gasoline, natural gas vehicles can produce significantly lower amounts of harmful
emissions such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), and toxic and carcinogenic
pollutants as well as the greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. The potential health and
environmental benefits of CNG versus gasoline based on the inherently cleaner-burning
characteristics of natural gas indentified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency include:
Reduces carbon monoxide emissions 90%-97%
Reduces carbon dioxide emissions 25%
Reduces nitrogen oxide emissions 35%-60%
Potentially reduces non-methane hydrocarbon emissions 50%-75%
Emits fewer toxic and carcinogenic pollutants
Emits little or no particulate matter
Eliminates evaporative emissions
To reduce diesel emissions, in 2009 the City-Parish Department of Public Works
submitted and won a Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Clean Diesel Program
Grant. The proposal was to fund a $261,160 project to convert four dump trucks to compressed
natural gas. The City-Parish matched the requested $195,870 with $65,290 (25% of total
project).
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Costs to purchase new diesel dump trucks were estimated at $83,000 each. The
conversion of these vehicles was $65,290 apiece resulting in a savings of over $17,000 each.
Fueling for the vehicles is also considerably less expensive than their diesel counterparts. Part of
reasoning to support this conversion was the fact that the City-Parish paid about $1.25 per
gasoline gallon equivalent (gge) for CNG as opposed to the nearly $2.60 per gallon for diesel at
the time. In addition to the more than $1.30 per gallon difference in fueling, there was also a
federal excise tax rebate available that would bring the per gallon cost to $0.75gge. Over the life
of the vehicles, maintenance costs will also be significantly reduced. Oil changes are conducted
at longer intervals and there won’t be additional particulate filters or issues with wear on engine
parts associated with less lubricity in the Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel fuel. In addition to lower fuel
and maintenance costs, the CNG vehicles also provide the vehicles with slightly better fuel
economy and enhanced power and performance compared to new diesel engines. Using a head
to head comparison, the new CNG engines have provided the City-Parish with significant
savings and have proven to be cost effective for the City.
Each of these CNG dump trucks will be significantly cleaner than their diesel
counterparts. The 2001 and 2002 diesel engines emissions are significantly higher for both
nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) as compared to the repowered CNG engines.
Using 2010 standards, TIAX and Argonne Labs have determined that natural gas engines emit
up to 28% fewer green house gas emissions than comparable diesel engines. Based on this data,
the vehicles will provide significant health benefits for the public at large, as well as for
operators of the vehicles and employees that will be working around these vehicles as they idle
during the work day.
The four compressed natural gas powered Honda Civic GXs owned and operated by the
City-Parish were purchased through the Fleet Replacement Program. The City-Parish should
continue to invest in this alternative fueled vehicle or others like it. The U.S. Department of
Energy’s Natural Gas Vehicle Cost Calculator estimates that a manufacturer's estimated cost to
acquire this CNG vehicle above the cost of a comparable conventionally fueled vehicle is
$6,935.00 (i.e. it costs $6,935.00 more to buy a CNG vehicle than a gasoline powered one). This
cost is offset by State of Louisiana Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) and Fueling Infrastructure
Tax Credits. This tax credit is worth 50 percent of the cost of converting a vehicle to operate on
an alternative fuel, 50 percent of the incremental cost of purchasing an original equipment
manufacturer AFV, or 50 percent of the cost of constructing an alternative fueling station. Only
vehicles registered in Louisiana may receive the tax credit. For the purpose of this incentive,
alternative fuels include compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum
gas/propane, biofuel, biodiesel, methanol, ethanol, electricity, and any other fuels that meet or
exceed federal clean air standards (Reference Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:6035).
The Federal Government also provides similar tax incentives that can be used in
combination with the State of Louisiana incentives. There is a federal tax credit dedicated to
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
16
alternative fueled vehicles placed in service after December 31, 2005 which qualify for up to 80
percent of the incremental cost. Credit values are on a sliding scale based on vehicle weight:
Light-Duty vehicles up to 8,500 lbs can qualify for up to $4,000
Medium-Duty vehicles up to 14,000 lbs qualify up to $8,000
Medium-Heavy-Duty vehicles up to 26,000 lbs qualify for up to $20,000
Heavy-Duty vehicles over 26,000 lbs qualify for up to $32,000.
An additional incentive the federal government offers is the Federal Motor Fuels Excise Tax
Credit. This provision provides a $0.50 excise tax credit per gasoline gallon equivalent of CNG
that the City-Parish can take advantage of directly since it operates its own pump. And finally,
the Alternative Fueling Station Credit provided by federal government allows for up to 50
percent or $50,000 annually, of the cost for building a fueling station to be subsidized. The
GBRCCC states that after taking advantage of both the state and federal tax credits a CNG
vehicle can cost less than a gasoline powered equivalent. Plus there is the additional savings
through cheaper fuel to be gained by using CNG. The City-Parish is not eligible for the federal
or state vehicle tax incentives directly, but can negotiate with a dealer to capture these savings
indirectly.
Using the U.S. Department of Energy’s information and assuming that it would cost
$6,935.00 more to buy a CNG vehicle than a gasoline powered one it is possible to calculate the
time necessary to recoup the extra costs. If the City-Parish took advantage of the Louisiana
Alternative Fuel Vehicle and Fueling Infrastructure Tax Credit and received 50 percent back of
the $6,935.00 incremental cost, the City-Parish would only be paying $3,467.50 more. If the
City also received a 50 percent rebate from the federal vehicle tax incentive then the City would
be paying the same amount for a CNG vehicle as a gasoline powered one. As of spring 2011, the
average price of gasoline in the Gulf Coast Area is $3.64 and the equivalent price per gallon for
CNG is $1.84. This would result in an annual fuel cost savings of $841.29 by driving the CNG
vehicle (see Figure 8) assuming the vehicle travels 15,000 miles. This means that the CNG
vehicle could immediately start saving the Government money on fuel costs. Assuming
conventional gas and compressed natural gas price differences stay relatively the same and that
the City-Parish will only keep these vehicles for six years, there would be an approximate total
savings of $5,047.74 for each vehicle as shown in Table 1 below. There are also other
qualitative benefits which are more difficult to quantify such as lower maintenance costs and the
health benefits for the public at large achieved by fewer emissions. Additionally, while the
majority of vehicles for passenger transportation are kept for only six years, the Central Garage
states it hopes to keep the CNG vehicles for much longer.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
17
CNG Vehicle Costs
- $6,935.00 (incremental cost)
+ $3,467.50 (state tax incentives)
+ $3,467.50 (federal tax incentives)
+ $5,047.74 (five year fuel savings)
= $5,047.74 (total savings per vehicle for a
typical five year lifespan)
Figure 8 Natural Gas Vehicle Cost Calculator
There is no set policy for vehicle replacement but according to the Central Garage cars
are usually replaced every six years or 96,000 miles. However, the City-Parish does have a
Public Works Equipment Replacement Program. Initiated in 1989 and still running today, the
replacement program accounts of 8.23 percent of the Department of Public Works’ General
Fund. The program is administered monthly by assessing a charge that includes the purchase
price, repair and maintenance costs, finance charges, inflation factor, salvage value, and
estimated economic life of each asset in the program. This program has resulted in a fleet with
an average age of 4.56 years. The City-Parish should update the Public Works Equipment
Replacement Program’s objectives to include weighing the benefits of AFVs on the
environment, allowing extra spending to purchase AFVs if the price difference is within a certain
range, and considering keeping its existing vehicles longer than six years. A model practice to
encourage vehicular reuse the City-Parish operates is its car auctions. This ensures vehicles are
used for their maximum life capacities. This practice can impact the number of AFV in the
future if the City-Parish buys additional AFV and auctions them off to the public.
Additionally, in order to help modernize the existing CNG pump station at the Central
Garage, the City-Parish can contract for preliminary feasibility studies for compressed natural
gas fueling stations and seek assistance from the GBRCCC with vendor selection for upgrades.
The Central Garage facility and the CNG fueling station at the Baton Rouge airport could sustain
several vehicles, but if a large proportion of the vehicles were replaced with CNG than an
upgrade would be necessary to the Central Garage CNG fueling station.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
18
Indicators
The City-Parish Government must benchmark and record its progress towards a more
sustainable future by tracking the total quantity of gallons or GGE for unleaded gas, diesel, and
CNG consumed. The City-Parish should strive towards decreasing its use of gasoline and diesel,
and increase the amount of CNG and other alternative fuels consumed. This will be an excellent
indicator that the Government is cutting down on the amount of green house gas emissions. A
second indicator for the City-Parish to track is the total amount of miles traveled by employees in
municipal vehicles. Fewer miles traveled is the ultimate goal of a sustainable government
because every mile not traveled means fewer costs and air pollution. Additional cost savings
will be captured through less fuel consumption and vehicle maintenance. Table 1 below shows
that the average unit price for gasoline, diesel, and CNG fuels has increased since 2009, resulting
in a higher total cost to fuel the City-Parish’s fleet.
Total Vehicular Fuel Spending and Consumption
Year
Quantity
2009
2010
2011
2,123,573.40
2,138,806.13
812,829.05
Avg. Unit
Price
$2.26
$2.63
$3.31
Total Cost
Monthly Avg.
$4,635,294.17
$5,507,366.49
$2,694,456.88
$386,274.51
$458,947.21
$538,891.38
*2011 includes data up to May 2011 inclusively
Table 1 Fleet Fuel Consumption and Costs
The City-Parish needs to improve the utilization of its energy-efficient fleet by increasing
its use in comparison with its conventionally-fueled vehicles. Table 2 shows the total amount of
gasoline gallon equivalent, or compressed natural gas, consumed in 2010 decreased almost 19
percent from 2009. The table shows that even though the price per gasoline gallon equivalent
increased, the overall cost for CNG usage went down between 2009 and 2010, This indicates
that the CNG vehicles were not used as much in 2010 as they were in 2009. This should not be
the case if a department has the option between using a CNG and gasoline vehicle.
There was only a small increase or decrease in all other conventional fuels with the
exception of Unleaded Plus and Off-Road Diesel fuels from 2009 to 2010. However, during the
same time period the average price per gge for CNG only had a 1.57 percent increase while
gasoline increased by 14 percent and diesel by 20 percent. This highlights the importance and
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
19
potential future benefits such as price stability that could be captured by increasing CNG
consumption and decreasing all other conventional fuels.
While there are some vehicles with GPS devices, the Department of Public Works should
investigate the possibility of installing GPS units into every vehicle. This will allow the
government to track where a vehicle goes and for how long. This device will hold drivers more
accountable for their actions when using a government vehicle. Drivers should also be
encouraged to shut off their vehicles instead of idling while stopped in order to reduce fuel
consumption.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
20
Total Consumption (gallons)
Unleaded
Premium
Unlead Plus
Total Gasoline
2009
1,538,446.5
26,329.9
13,194.1
1,577,970.5
2010
1,565,161.5
26,838.3
9,008.7
1,601,008.5
% Change
1.71%
1.89%
-46.46%
1.44%
Highway Diesel
Off-road Diesel
Total Diesel
449,062.7
92,609.1
541,671.8
466,218.2
68,246.9
534,465.1
3.68%
-35.70%
-1.35%
3,931.1
3,304.3
-18.97%
Unleaded
Premium
Unlead Plus
Total Gasoline
2009
$2.14
$2.57
$2.36
$2.36
2010
$2.57
$2.90
$2.74
$2.74
% Change
16.54%
11.33%
14.13%
13.89%
Highway Diesel
Off-road Diesel
Total Diesel
$2.14
$1.88
$2.01
$2.60
$2.44
$2.52
17.82%
23.03%
20.34%
CNG1
$2.50
$2.53
1.17%
Unleaded
Premium
Unlead Plus
Total Gasoline
2009
$3,390,422.69
$65,063.94
$30,607.37
$3,486,094.00
2010
$4,005,787.20
$78,317.25
$24,953.64
$4,109,058.09
% Change
15.36%
16.92%
-22.66%
15.16%
Highway Diesel
Off-road Diesel
Total Diesel
$960,264.09
$178,987.27
$1,139,251.36
$1,224,913.67
$165,031.44
$1,389,945.11
21.61%
-8.46%
18.04%
$9,948.81
$8,363.29
-18.96%
CNG1
Average Price Per Gallon
Total Cost
CNG
1
Measured in gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE)
Table 2 City-Parish Vehicular Fuel Consumption and Cost Comparisons
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
21
Action Items
1. Reduce City-Parish vehicle usage and set reduction goals.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Department of Public Works
Indicator: Total annual miles traveled for the entire fleet
Time range: Medium Term (3-5 years)
2. Reduce the amount of City-Parish vehicle miles traveled in 2010 by 15 percent in 15 years.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Department of Public Works
Indicator: Total annual miles traveled by the entire fleet
Time range: Long Term (10+ years)
3. Through the Equipment Replacement Program replace all City-Parish vehicles (except patrol
cars) with hybrids, electric, biodiesel, CNG or other alternative fuel vehicles.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Department of Public Works
Indicator: The percentage of alternative fueled vehicles in the fleet (not including E85)
Time range: Long Term (10+ years)
4. Increase the average fuel efficiency of municipal fleet vehicles.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Department of Public Works
Indicator: Average miles per gallon for all City-Parish vehicles
Time range: Short to Long Term (2-10 years)
5. Install GPS units into all City-Parish vehicles.
Responsible party: Department of Public Works
Indicator: Number of GPS units installed
Time range: Medium term (3-5 years)
6. Create incentives for a walk, bike, or carpool to work program for City-Parish employees
(install bike racks at all government offices and offer rebates or subsidies on bike purchases).
Responsible party: Department of Public Works
Indicator: The number of employees walking or biking to work (collected through
surveys)
Time range: Short to medium term (1-5 years)
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
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7. Create incentives for City-Parish employees to use public transportation.
Responsible party: CATS, Office of the Mayor-President and Department of Public
Works
Indicator: The number of employees using public transportation to commute to work
(collected through surveys)
Time range: Short to medium term (1-5 years)
8. Review and revise the Public Works Equipment Replacement Program to ensure maximum
vehicle use and savings are being captured.
Responsible party: Department of Public Works
Indicator: N/A
Time range: Short to medium term (1-5 years)
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
23
Chapter 2
Energy and Waste Reduction
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Energy and Waste Reduction
Opportunity Assessment
Landfills
Municipal solid waste and non-hazardous waste from East Baton Rouge Parish and from
surrounding cities, towns, and parishes are disposed of at the North Landfill in Zachary. The
City-Parish has contracted with Baton Rouge Renewable Energy, LLC and Siemens Industry Inc.
for the construction and operation of a gas collection system at the North Landfill. Royalties
received from this arrangement will be deposited into a Landfill fund. In 2010, the gas collection
system became operational and the City-Parish received its first royalty payment. Preliminary
estimates indicate that this project could generate approximately $1 million annually in revenues
after the fifth year of operation. This gas collection system has positive fiscal and environmental
impacts since a revenue stream will be generated from the unused methane, and it will have the
same effect on Baton Rouge as removing 59,000 vehicles from local roadways or planting
73,000 new acres of pine forests. The operational impact for 2011 includes minimum royalty
revenues of $15,000 per quarter.
Wastewater Treatment Plants
The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge are currently served by three
waste water treatment plants located along the Mississippi River. These plants are respectively
named the North, Central, and South treatment plants. The North Plant is designed to treat a
maximum of 54 million gallons per day (MGD) and currently averages 18.5 MGD. The Central
Plant is designed to handle 31.6 MGD and currently averages 11.7 MGD. Finally, the South
treatment plant averages 37.6 MGD but is designed for a maximum of 54 MGD. Baton Rouge
currently has plans to shut down the Central plant due to renovations to the sewer system and all
of its waste will be redirected to South Plant. The South Wastewater Treatment plant is
undergoing a major expansion and there are plans to use the methane produced in the plant to
heat City-Parish boilers3.
Current Recycling Practices
At the present time, there is not a comprehensive recycling program in place for CityParish operations. While many departments do not recycle any materials, several departments
have implemented their own recycling programs. For example, the City Parish Planning
Commission and Human Resources departments currently recycle only paper products and place
items in 96 gallon containers and which are picked up once a week on Friday mornings. The
3
Boilers are used in part of the process to treat biodegradable waste and sewage sludge.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
25
free recycling service used is through the Recycling Foundation. According to the Recycling
Division, departments currently recycling (at various levels) include:
City Hall (Governmental building)
 3rd floor Council Offices
 5th floor District Attorney’s office
Municipal Building
Old Municipal Building (805 St. Louis St.)
Emergency Medical Services (804 Mayflower St.)
Arts Council of Baton Rouge (427 Laurel St.)
Old Court House (233 St. Louis St.)
Airport – Business Offices Only
Human Resources; Planning Commission (1755 Florida Blvd.)
Central Garage (have a six yard container for their use and the DPW Crews)
Service Fee Office (4445 Plank Road)
Environmental Division and Architectural Services (4445 Plank Road)
Permit and Inspection Office (300 N. 10th St.)
Downtown Development (227 Florida Blvd.)
Street, Traffic and Other Lighting
Currently the City-Parish has an operating budget of $4,645,000 annually for the
operation of street lights in East Baton Rouge Parish. Historically, the annual cost of powering
the street lights has increased since 2002 (see Figure 9). The majority of the street lights,
approximately two-thirds, are owned by Entergy and DEMCO while the remaining street lights
are owned by the City-Parish. However, all street lights are maintained by the City-Parish
government. As of October 2010 there are 35,282 street lights in Baton Rouge with the
Consolidated Road Lighting District included. All street lights use either mercury vapor or high
sodium bulbs.
Entergy currently charges the City a flat rate for every light based on the bulb wattage in
the street light. Entergy only has three rates for bulbs: 150, 250, and 400 watts. This creates a
disincentive for the City-Parish to upgrade to more energy efficient bulbs since Entergy does not
measure the actual kilowatt hours for street lights and instead charges a flat rate. If the CityParish did replace a conventional bulb with an LED, the government would still be charged a
150, 250, or 400 watt rate. However, since the City-Parish is such a large consumer of
electricity, it purchases electricity in bulk amounts and by doing so is given a lower price. The
amount of savings gained through this bulk rate is unknown, so a comparison of saving through
bulk electrical purchases and using low electricity consuming LED lights cannot be quantified.
Further research needs to be conducted to determine the costs and benefits of converting to an
LED pricing system versus bulk electricity purchases.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
26
$5,000,000
Annual Cost
$4,500,000
$4,000,000
$3,500,000
$3,000,000
$2,500,000
Figure 9 City-Parish Street Lighting
Many communities across the country have replaced all of their incandescent traffic
lights with LED traffic lights (see Figure 1 on page 10). Doing so can reduce their traffic signal
energy consumption by approximately 90 percent. LED lights require so much less energy that
these cities can operate all of its signals on battery back-up during power outages, thus
preventing the time and expense of setting up generators or requiring a police officer to direct
traffic. Furthermore, LED signal lenses have a seven year lifespan. This equates to lower
maintenance needed for traffic signals because an incandescent bulb in a traffic light often needs
to be replaced three times a year. Conventional traffic signal bulbs use 135 watts. LEDs require
only 12 watts for red and green, and 22 watts for yellow lights.
Baton Rouge is also acquiring significant energy savings by replacing pedestrian signals.
The Department of Public Works is replacing school zone signs with LEDs that are completely
solar powered (Figure 10). So far there have been 34 signs replaced and have approximately 60
remaining, however the City-Parish only has funding for 30 of these.
When Mayor Holden first took office in 2004 he appropriated $250,000 for upgrading
traffic lights to LED. This initial funding was able to convert 50 percent of all traffic lights to
LED. Since then, the City-Parish has received money from the State of Louisiana to convert
more traffic lighting to LEDs. For the past five years DPW has been replacing all the bulbs in
traffic lights with LEDs when a conventional bulb burns out. As of June 2011, almost 90 percent
of the traffic lights have been converted to LED.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
27
Figure 10 Street Crossing LED
Figure 11 Pump Station
City-Parish Energy Consumption
The City-Parish, through the Department of Public of Works’ Business Office, pays
hundreds of individual utility bills every month. The City-Parish Government owns, operates,
and maintains 157 buildings. These buildings include everything from wastewater treatment
plants to police stations to community centers. Currently there are five community centers, 13
libraries, and 57 buildings that house a variety of combinations for police, fire stations,
emergency medical service (EMS), and sheriff locations.
There are six major categories of electricity and gas consumers: irrigation, landfill,
wastewater treatment, prisons, pump stations, and all other public buildings. The annual utility
costs are categorized into seven categories due their cost and services related to the city. The
City-Parish spent a total of $12,280,006.24 on utility costs in 2009 and $13,853,448.01 in 2010
(see Table 3). Irrigation is leading source for water consumption, with the minority of water bills
paying for sprinkler systems and hydrants. Pump stations include lift stations and gravity
stations. Other public buildings encompasses everything else not captured by a different
category. Irrigation is the only category that is measured by just water consumption and
unfortunately the majority of the City-Parish water bills are for bulk rates and the actual usage is
not measured. Traffic and street lights are the most expensive category, followed closely by
public buildings. Every major utility category listed above saw an increase in utility costs and
overall there was an increase of 12.81 percent in utility spending from 2009 to 2010. See Figure
13 for a comparison of costs between 2009 and 2010.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
28
Annual Dollars Spent
2009
2010
All Other Public
Buildings
Pump Stations
Prison
Traffic & Street Lights
Wastewater Treatment
Landfill
Irrigation
TOTAL
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
3,525,409.21
1,313,486.44
851,268.75
4,636,748.44
1,903,552.65
25,091.19
24,449.55
12,280,006.24
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
4,049,654.63
1,473,204.14
906,593.11
5,240,454.25
2,133,360.64
41,663.64
7,517.60
13,852,448.01
Percentage of
Total
2009
2010
28.7%
10.7%
6.9%
37.8%
15.5%
0.2%
0.2%
100.0%
29.2%
10.6%
6.5%
37.8%
15.4%
0.3%
0.1%
100.0%
Table 3 Dollars Spent on Public Building Utility Bills
The City-Parish is beginning to invest in a sustainable future with the creation of two
―green‖ buildings. City architects, with the help of library board and staff members, have
completed a design for the new Main Library that will be located in Independence Park. The
design ensures that the building will meet the criteria for Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification, demonstrating that the project is truly
―green.‖ The second structure is the Baton Rouge Junior High School which is being renovated
thanks in part to funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This building will
be home to the Planning Commission and select divisions of the Department of Public Works.
The City-Parish’s goal is to have a rehabilitated structure that is as energy efficient as possible
while complying with LEED building standards and maintaining its listing on the National
Register of Historic Places. Efficiency upgrades to the structure include LED lighting
improvements which provide 90 percent savings over traditional fixtures, digital controls for air
handling units and lights, tankless water heaters, and the addition of photovoltaic panels on the
rooftop to offset daytime electrical use and to serve as a backup power source during
emergencies. The entire renovation is expected to cost approximately $7 million, with $1.4
million from the City-Parish’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. The energy
efficiency upgrades are expected to provide more than $2.1 million in net cost savings over the
products’ lifecycles while preserving the historic character of the structure for future generations.
Furthermore, the solar panel system will have a final cost of $637,145.00 but is expected to more
than pay for itself with utility savings over its system life totaling $1,844,127.00.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
29
Figure 12 Baton Rouge Junior High School
$6,000,000.00
$5,000,000.00
$4,000,000.00
$3,000,000.00
$2,000,000.00
$1,000,000.00
$All Other
Public
Buildings
Pump
Stations
Prison
2009
Traffic &
Street Wastewater
Lights
Treatment
Landfill
Irrigation
2010
Figure 13 Annual Utility Costs by Source
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
30
An energy bill audit was conducted during the first quarter of 2011 for every public
building bill the Department of Works Business Office pays. Through this audit, staff was able
to determine the annual kilowatt hours consumed. Table 4 outlines the total consumption of
electricity for 2009 and 2010. The City-Parish landfill and all the remaining public buildings
accounted for the largest increase in kilowatt hour consumption. Overall the City-Parish’s total
consumption decreased, but there was still an increase in total cost from 2009 to 2010 indicating
that there was increase in electricity rates. Figure 14 compares the 2009 and 2010 total kilowatt
hours consumed by each category.
All Other Public Buildings
Pump Stations
Prison
Traffic & Street Lights
Wastewater Treatment
Landfill
Irrigation
TOTAL
Annual Kilowatt Hours
Consumed
2009
2010
48,001,995.00
48,711,943.00
14,488,628.00
14,817,637.00
7,674,805.60
7,832,900.60
11,102,196.00
11,098,089.00
29,940,124.00
27,531,916.00
145,892.20
251,267.20
111,353,640.80
110,243,752.80
Percentage of
Total
2009
2010
43.1%
44.2%
13.0%
13.4%
6.9%
7.1%
10.0%
10.1%
26.9%
25.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
100.0% 100.0%
Table 4 2009 to 2010 Annual Kilowatt Hours Consumed by the City-Parish
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
31
60,000,000
50,000,000
40,000,000
30,000,000
20,000,000
10,000,000
0
All Other
Public
Buildings
Pump Stations
Prison
2009
Traffic &
Street Lights
Wastewater
Treatment
Landfill
2010
Figure 14 Annual Kilowatt Hour Consumed by Source
Sustainability Analysis and Recommendations
Wastewater Treatment Plants
The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge are currently served by three
wastewater treatment plants located along the Mississippi River. The South Wastewater
Treatment plant is undergoing a major expansion and there are plans to use the methane
produced in the plant to heat City-Parish boilers. According to the Federal Energy Management
Program BAMF Fact Sheet for each MGD processed by a plant with anaerobic digesters, the
treatment method employed by the City-Parish facilities, the available biogas can generate up to
35 kW per MGD. The plants average a total of 67.8 MGD which could equal 2,372 kW
generated daily. Assuming the same amount of water is treated every day this would total
865,780 kW of electricity produced every year or a little less than one percent of all the energy
consumed by the City-Parish Government. One percent may sound nominal, but this equates to
approximately $130,000.00 in annual savings. In addition to energy cost savings, other benefits
include stabilized energy costs from volatile gas and electricity prices, progress toward federal
goals for increased use of renewable energy and reduced emissions that result from flaring.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
32
Current Recycling Practices
The City-Parish has a curb-side recycling program in place for the Baton Rouge
residents, but the Government has no mandatory program in place for itself. Since there is no
policy or program in place, departments choose independently whether or not they want to
recycle. According to the City-Parish’s Recycling Division the average office worker throws
away four pounds of high-grade recyclable paper every week. This means that over the course
of a year a typical office worker will throw away 208 pounds of paper which is equivalent to
over 40 reams of paper. Recycling one ton of paper saves the equivalent of 17 trees, 380 gallons
of oil and 7,000 gallons of water. When the City-Parish puts out a new contract for janitorial
services for bid it should include a clause that requires the janitors to collect both recyclables and
trash4. The survey sent out revealed that many employees don’t recycle because they believe
that their recyclables are being combined with the trash. This perception has resulted in little
recycling by City-Parish staff. However, the sustainability survey revealed that over half of the
respondents are interested in learning more about recycling at work and an additional 23 percent
maybe interested (see Figure 15). The City-Parish should invest money into recyclable
containers for every break-room and large printer. Or, it could require that janitorial services
company provide them. Furthermore, the City-Parish Government should do more to ensure it is
collecting recyclables at all public events and festivals including those put on by private groups
using city grounds and streets. Festivals should be required to have a recycling component in
place along with a process to collect other trash and garbage. The City-Parish should encourage
event organizers to promote a zero waste policy.
Are you interested in learning
more about recycling at work?
Maybe
23%
No
22%
Yes
55%
Figure 15 Percent of Employees Interested in Learning about Recycling
4
The company providing the janitorial services will not be the same company providing the collection and removal
of recyclable material from the buildings. There are two separate processes. The custodial staff collects the material
from individual offices and work stations and takes it to larger collection bins, usually outdoors, where it is then
collected and transported to the recycling center by the recycling contractor.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
33
Through education, implementing a recycling program and providing the necessary
recycling containers the Government can show its employees it is serious about recycling and
change the staff attitude to view recycling as the norm. An immediate action that can be taken is
requiring all departments to recycle paper. DPW’s Recycling Division can coordinate
departments with recycling companies such as Tiger Shredding who collects the paper for free.
A medium term goal would be to contract with a new janitorial company who collects recycling
with the trash in order for a recycling contractor to pick it up. This contract should ensure that
City-Parish employees can recycle paper, glass, aluminum, plastics, etc.
The Recycling Division within the Department of Public Works is a valuable, ―in house‖
resource which could help the Government move forward with a comprehensive, internal
recycling program. This Division is very knowledgeable on recycling in workplace and has
already created a guide to help private business offices recycle. The City-Parish can keep
increasing the intensity and amount of recycling conducted internally by expanding to
composting. Composting is the recycling of organic materials and requires people to separate
their food waste from other trash. The sustainability survey uncovered that almost two-thirds of
the respondents are willing to separate their food waste from trash for composting (see Figure
16). Additionally, the survey’s results showed that the majority of employees are or maybe
interested in learning more about composting at work as shown in Figure 17.
Are you willing to separate
your food waste from trash
at work for composting?
Are you interested in
learning more about
composting at work?
Maybe
21%
No
16%
Maybe
29%
Yes
63%
Figure 16 Percent of Employees Willing to Separate
Food Waste from Trash at Work for Composting
Yes
41%
No
30%
Figure 17 Percent of Employees Interested in Learning
about Composting at Work
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
34
How to Start Recycling in Your Office?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Obtain the support of management,
Select a coordinator to plan and implement the program,
Determine participants and types of waste to be recycled,
Discuss the program with local recycling companies. One option is to use drop-off
and buy-back services. (See chart on Specialty Business Recycling and information
on the monthly Drop Off Program). Another option is to arrange an in-house
recycling program with a local recycler. Shop around for a recycling service that will
accommodate your company. Companies that work with businesses on recycling
include:
The Recycling Foundation
www.recyclingfoundation.com
Steven Cheatham
7923 Tom Drive
Baton Rouge, La. 70806
225 925-3442
SP Recycling
(Paper Only!)
Scott O’Neal
8124 South Choctaw
Baton Rouge, La 70815
926-6397
Tiger Shredding
(Paper Only!)
*Also listed as AAA Recycling and
Cardboard
http://tigershreddingla.com/services.htm
Josh Goodson
6307 Quinn Drive
Baton Rouge, La 70817
225 303-0125
5. Also, look in your yellow pages under Recycling Centers for others who offer
recycling services.
6. Educate participants. Distribute clear and easy-to-follow guidelines on what can and
cannot be recycled,
7. Publicize the program's success. Target proceeds from the sale of recyclables to
employee incentives,
8. Purchase items that are recyclable and that have a recycled material content. Try not
to buy disposables.
Street, Traffic, and Other Lighting
Since the City-Parish is close to completing its plan of retrofitting conventional traffic
lights to LEDs, this should be a top priority. Next, the City-Parish should renew its interest in
retrofitting street lights from conventional bulbs to LEDs. Even though the City-Parish receives
a bulk rate for electricity consumed by street lights, there are potentially even more savings to be
gained from LEDs. Since LEDs consume up to 90 percent less energy than the current bulbs, a
deal where street lighting is installed with LEDs and negotiating a lower bulk rate could result in
significant savings for the City-Parish. However, before the City-Parish switches over to LED
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
35
lighting, it should seek the help of the Louisiana Public Utility Commission to help broker a deal
for lower energy rates. The Louisiana Public Utility Commission’s website states that the
organization ―is an independent regulatory agency dedicated to serving the public interest by
assuring safe, reliable, and reasonably priced services for the public utilities and motor carriers.‖
Figure 18 LED Street Light atop a Traffic Light Pole
City-Parish Energy Consumption
The City-Parish should continue its new trend of investing in energy efficient buildings
and making existing buildings more energy efficient. Many of the buildings that make up Baton
Rouge’s downtown governmental complex are showing signs of age and require significant
upgrades to become more energy efficient. This continued deterioration, combined with
increased utility rates, has resulted in the continued increase of utility bills. Figure 19 below
shows historical and projected costs for all the utility bills the City-Parish pays monthly. While
the historical costs are cyclical, there is an overall increasing trend from 2009 to 2010. Figure 19
assumes this same trend will continue for the next two years and projects the monthly costs from
2011 to 2012. The black linear line is the 2009 to 2010 trend line which the projected costs are
based upon.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
36
The Baton Rouge Junior High School provides an excellent example how a slightly larger
initial investment for energy efficient building materials can provide savings in the future. The
Baton Rouge Junior High School renovations will cost $7 million but will recoup $2.1 million
from energy savings which will pay for approximately 30 percent of the original cost. The
internal LED lighting will pay for itself in less than two years and the external LED lighting in
less than four. LED lights have an average life of 16 years resulting in net savings for 12 to 14
years after the initial payback period through lower energy bills.
$1,400,000
$1,300,000
$1,200,000
$1,100,000
$1,000,000
$900,000
$800,000
$700,000
Historical Costs
Projected Costs
Nov-12
Sep-12
Jul-12
May-12
Mar-12
Jan-12
Nov-11
Jul-11
Sep-11
May-11
Mar-11
Jan-11
Sep-10
Nov-10
Jul-10
May-10
Jan-10
Mar-10
Nov-09
Sep-09
Jul-09
Mar-09
May-09
Jan-09
$600,000
Linear (Historical Costs)
Figure 19 Historical and Projected City-Parish Utility Costs
The City-Parish should focus its attention and resources to upgrading existing buildings
with energy efficient lighting, HVAC systems, solar panels, and other building improvements
where possible. The Federal Energy Information Administration reports that in a typical office
44 percent of the electricity use is for lighting and an additional 14 percent is for cooling (see
Figure 20). The southern Louisiana region has one of the longest cooling seasons (time when
people run their air-conditioners) in the United States at an average of 39.6 weeks annually. This
stands to reason that significant savings could be obtained through low-energy light bulbs and
HVAC systems. An energy audit performed by the Planning Commission Department revealed
that the Governmental Building at 222 St. Louis Street has the highest average monthly cost per
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
37
square foot in utility bills (See Table 5). The Government should focus on this building first
since it will be able to recoup its costs the quickest. There are many cheap and fairly easy
building upgrades that can be taken advantage quickly including installing programmable
thermostats. These thermostats cost $30 to $100, but the savings recouped by them can equal
about 10 percent of heating and cooling costs per year. Programmable thermostats save energy
by having preset temperatures for different times of the day. Additionally, an alternative to LED
lighting are compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). CFLs generally cost slightly more than
incandescent bulbs, but they can pay for themselves in electrical bill savings. There is no
industry standard for measuring energy efficiency, so energy savings ratings will vary from
manufacturer to manufacturer. In general, a CFL will use around 75 percent less electricity than
an incandescent bulb with the same light output, while lasting about 10 times longer.
Additionally, since CFLs and LEDs produce less heat, they can help save on air-conditioning
costs. Water conservation measures should include converting all faucets and toilets in
municipal buildings to low flow or high efficiency plumbing. An additional action to be
explored for energy conservation is having the Information Services (IS) department create and
install ―power saving‖ profiles on all machines which automatically shut down monitors and
hard drives after periods of inactivity. Additionally, since the IS Department has the power to
remotely control all computers, a script could be written which automates the shutdown process.
Figure 20 Typical Electricity Use in Office Buildings
http://www.eia.gov/emeu/consumptionbriefs/cbecs/pbawebsite/office/office_howuseelec.htm
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
38
Building Name
Street
Number
Street Name
Square
Footage
2009 Monthly
Average
2010
Monthly
Average
2009 Monthly
Avg. Cost Per
Square Foot
2010 Monthly
Avg. Cost Per
Square Foot
Detox Center
1819
Florida Blvd
5,033
$3,150.27
$3,124.02
$0.6259
$0.6207
Governmental Bldg
222
St. Louis St
316,227
$155,094.57
$161,577.98
$0.4905
$0.5110
CC - MLK
4100
Gus Young Ave.
13,165
$3,849.21
$4,134.45
$0.2924
$0.3140
DPW-Central Garage
333
Chippewa St.
54,904
$11,727.27
$13,291.08
$0.2136
$0.2421
ATM/EOC
Human Resources- Planning
Commission
3773
Harding Blvd
66,174
$13,133.26
$15,123.40
$0.1985
$0.2285
1755
Florida Blvd
28,000
$5,109.60
$5,977.81
$0.1825
$0.2135
Triangle Bldg.
233
St. Ferdinand St.
11,930
$2,312.85
$2,419.51
$0.1939
$0.2028
CC - Delmont
3535
Riley St.
5,053
$807.16
$910.29
$0.1597
$0.1801
CC - NBR
2013
Central Rd.
29,426
$3,027.89
$5,232.17
$0.1029
$0.1778
CC - Chaneyville
13211
Jackson Road
5,856
$1,068.54
$910.13
$0.1825
$0.1554
Bogan Museum
427
Laurel St.
18,012
$2,725.71
$2,412.74
$0.1513
$0.1340
CC - Leo Butler
Animal Control Office &
Kennel Expansion
950
E Washington St
18,303
$1,625.71
$1,910.96
$0.0888
$0.1044
2680
Progress Rd.
5,471
$49.42
$97.84
$0.0090
$0.0179
Table 5 Monthly Average Costs Per Square Foot for Select Public Buildings
A priority list of buildings needing improvements for energy efficiency should be created
and funded as well. Table 5 shows the average monthly cost per square foot calculated from the
utility bills for several selected buildings. Additionally, Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager is a
free tool that can assign grades to buildings in order to identify the ones with the greatest need
for energy efficiency upgrades. Table 6 shows the results from a small sampling of City-Parish
buildings which were inputted into Portfolio Manager. A low score indicates that the City-Parish
should still pay for energy-audits for all buildings from a private company. These audits can
ensure the Government is maximizing its return from the investments because these audits can
identify which specific aspects of a building needs modernizing the most.
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39
Facility Name
Current Change from Baseline:
Rating Adjusted Energy Use
(1-100) (%)
Total Floor
Space (Sq.
Ft.)
Energy
Use
Alerts
Data >
120 days
old
Current Energy
Period Ending
Date
Governmental
Building
1**
-6
316,227
PC-HR
Building
5**
3.5
28,000
Data >
120 days
old
2/28/2011
Triangle
Building
3**
-8.4
11,930
Data >
120 days
old
1/31/2011
Group Total
1/31/2011
438,957
Table 6 Portfolio Manager Ratings for Select Public Buildings
Waste Reduction
Conserving natural resources and reducing the amount of raw materials dedicated to
printing new paper is an important part of sustainability. Currently the majority of the CityParish Departments are using non-recycled paper for their printing. Recycled multi-purpose
copy paper typically comes in three tiers: 30, 50, and 100 percent recycled content. Staples
Brand multi-purpose copy (no recycled content) costs $5.49/ream while Staples Brand 30%
recycled multi-purpose copy paper costs only 50 cents more at $5.99/ream. For $8.99 per ream
the City-Parish could purchase Staples Brand 100% recycled multi-purpose copy paper.
Cutting down on paper consumption is a popular sustainability goal for many other cities
across the country (see Figure 1 on page 10). An easy way to cut down on paper consumption is
the requirement of two sided printing. There is no set policy for two-sided printing and
employees are left to make the decision for themselves. The City-Parish government should set
a policy that requires all staff that has the ability to print double-sided to do so immediately. The
IS Department can change staff members’ computer settings to print double-sided. For Staff
who do not have the ability to print double-sided, there needs to be goals set to ensure everyone
has the ability and is printing double-sided in the short-term. A reduction in paper consumption
through the use of paper with recycled content and utilizing the ability of our current printers to
print double-sided will result in a significant savings to each department’s budget and indirectly
benefit the environment.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
40
Additional paper reductions can be achieved through changes in many departments’
policy and everyday work practice. Just about every department requires paper work for its
everyday routines which includes signing in at the beginning of a work day, requesting days off,
completing purchase orders, submitting timesheets, etc. While the initial conversion over to
electronic systems would be expensive, there would be many long term benefits. Converting
current paper systems such as timesheets, job applications, permits, and applications to an
electronic filing system will result in significant cost reductions through less time processing,
tracking, and printing all the different documents resulting in more efficient government
operation. Many customers appreciate the option to do electronic filing because it more userfriendly.
The Purchasing Department reports that it is difficult to track total spend on office supply
purchases such as printer paper. Purchases of $500 or less do not require bidding and may be
purchased using the procurement card. Additionally, state contract is often used to purchase
office supplies inclusive of paper and the payment voucher system is used for these types of
acquisitions. When utilizing the procurement card or the payment voucher process, these
purchases are not captured at a detailed level in the current operating system, therefore cannot be
reported. Consequently, many departments may be consuming more paper than necessary;
therefore converting to paperless systems would be environmentally friendly and potentially
increase operational efficiencies. Currently in the Purchasing Department, there are still some
purchasing requests that are manually filled out on paper and then manually entered into a
database. This increases the time and resources necessary to complete purchasing. It would be
beneficial and cost effective to invest in an electronic workflow system that would allow for
electronic submissions and approvals. This would allow for better reporting capabilities and
would help to streamline the procurement process. Similarly, the Human Resources Department
spends money every year in paper and ink providing hard copies of pay plans, allotments, and
job specifications. They are working towards eliminating the hard copies by providing electronic
access to these documents instead. Furthermore, the Business Office at the Department of Public
Works processes hundreds of paper utility bills every month. Recently, in cooperation with
Entergy, the Business Office was able to consolidate hundreds of individual pump station utility
bills to a single one. Where possible the City-Parish should continue investigating the possibility
of reducing paper bills through consolidation or paperless billing via the internet.
Indicators
City-Parish building energy consumption can be tracked two ways. The first is using the
City-Parish’s utility bills to track progress of reduced energy consumption with the monthly
kilowatt hours, 100 cubic feet (CCF) of natural gas, and gallons of water. These indicators could
be easily tracked since they already tracked for us and printed on the utility bills the City-Parish
receives. One problem with this method is that there are a few places that buy electricity in bulk
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
41
and therefore their consumption is not metered (e.g. tracked and recorded). A second indicator
that the City-Parish should consider is tracking each building’s Energy Star rating. Energy Star’s
Portfolio Manager is a free tool that rates buildings from 1 to 100. A score of 50 means a
building is average compared to similar buildings across the country and a 75 would earn a
building an Energy Star Certification for being especially efficient. While this option would
require some time to enter the information into the software, a large benefit is that the CityParish could compare all of its buildings. Plus the software assists in setting energy reduction
goals.
Provided that the City-Parish implements a mandatory, comprehensive recycling
program, it may be possible to track the amount of recycling performed the entire government as
a whole. Logging and tracking the number of pounds collected would provide an excellent
means to gauge the positive environmental impacts and allow the City-Parish to track its
progress if it should set a goal to meet.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
42
Action Items
1. Create an internal City-Parish government recycling program and mandate all City-Parish
employees and departments must participate.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and the Department of Public
Works’ Recycling Division
Indicator: N/A (possible indicator in the future if the amount of recycling is
quantified and tracked)
Time range:
Short Term (1-2 years): Paper recycling only (minimum) and/or mixed
recycling including bottles, cans, plastics, and paper
2. Reduce paper consumption by purchasing recycled office goods such as paper.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Purchasing Department
Indicator: N/A (possible in the future with the implementation and use of electronic
purchasing software.)
Time range:
Short Term (1-2 years): Require all paper product purchases contain at least 30
percent recycled material
Long term (5-10 years): Require all paper product purchases be made from 100
percent recycled material
3. Ensure all public events and festivals using city grounds are collecting recyclables.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and the Department of Public
Works’ Recycling Division
Indicator: N/A (possible indicator in the future if the amount of recycling is
quantified and tracked)
Time range: Short to medium term (1-2 years)
4. Finish converting all traffic, street crossing, and school zone lights within the city corporate
limits to LED lighting.
Responsible party: Department of Public Works
Indicator: Percentage of all traffic lights using LED lighting
Time range: Short to medium term (1-5 years)
5. Convert street lighting to LED lighting.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Department of Public Works
Indicator: Percentage of all street lights using LED lighting
Time range: Long term (5-10 years)
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
43
6. Create energy using methane and biogas from waste water treatment plants.
Responsible party: Department of Public Works
Indicator: The amount of methane captured and reused
Time range: medium to long range (5-10+ years)
7. Reduce public building energy costs.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Department of Public Works
Indicator: Total Kilowatts consumed and/or Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager
Time range: Short to Long Term (1-10 Years)
8. Convert all faucets and toilets in municipal buildings to low flow or high efficiency plumbing
over the next 10 years.
Responsible party: Department of Public Works
Indicator: Total Gallons of water consumed
Time range: Short to Medium Term (1-5 years)
9. Conduct an energy audit of all municipal buildings and complete recommended updates
Responsible party: Department of Public Works
Indicator: The number of recommendations completed from the energy audit
Time range: Long Term (5-10 years)
10. Mandate all new construction and major renovations of City-Parish buildings be LEED
certified.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Department of Public Works
Indicator: N/A
Time range: Medium Term (3-5 years)
11. Inventory global emissions in city operations and set reduction targets.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Department of Public Works
Indicator: Greenhouse gas emissions using Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager for
buildings and ICLEI’s online software for fleet emissions
Time range: Long Term (5-10 years)
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
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12. Require all C-P employees turn off their computers and lights at the end of the work day and
over the weekends.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Information Services
Department
Indicator: Total number of employees shutting down computers (collected through
annual surveys)
Time range: Short Term (1-2 years)
13. Create interoffice policies that reduce paper and energy consumption.
Responsible party: Information Services Department
Indicator: N/A
Time range: Short Term (1-2 years)
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Chapter Three
Education
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Education
Opportunity Assessment
The survey sent out to City-Parish employees revealed that many staff members are not
well-informed about how they can reduce their energy consumption at work as well as at home.
The sustainability survey revealed that the vast majority of those who responded are or may be
interested in learning more about sustainable practices at work (see figure 21). The City-Parish’s
Recycling Division has an excellent collection of pamphlets and guides, such as the Going Green
in the Red Stick guide. Going Green in the Red Stick is a comprehensive document explaining
the benefits of recycling and how Baton Rouge residents can participate in recycling. This
document is also very applicable to City-Parish Employees as well.
Are you interested in learning more
about sustainable practices at work?
Maybe
27%
No
16%
Yes
57%
Figure 21 Percentage of Employees Interested in Learning about Sustainable Practices
The City-Parish received EECBG funding for outreach programs for its employees and
residents. These two programs will be designed to promote the reduction of energy use and to
improve energy efficiency in appropriate sectors by notifying residents of Federal, State, and
local rebates and incentives on energy efficient appliances and renewable energy sources. The
program will also include training for City-Parish employees on practices to conserve energy in
the workplace.
Another important aspect of sustainability is having a healthy workforce. Mayor Holden
has launched Baton Rouge's Healthy BR initiative to promote healthy eating and active living
across the city. In addition to this program that benefits all of Baton Rouge’s residents, City-
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
46
Parish employees also have health fairs they can attend to receive free health audits. The CityParish also offers the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). EAP is a benefit provided to
employees and eligible dependents that offers support, counseling and education covering many
topics. EAP offers employees and eligible dependents easy access to assistance for personal and
work-related problems that can affect their lives. Because the City-Parish considers its
employees a valuable resource, assisting them in leading positive and productive lives helps the
City-Parish meet its long-term goal of providing a safe and healthy work environment. A few of
the topics covered by this benefit are financial troubles, relationship difficulties, drug/alcohol
troubles, stress management, difficulties with children, and caring for elderly parents.
Sustainability Analysis and Recommendations
The most important aspect of a successful education program at the City-Parish will be
information distribution. In order to do this effectively the City-Parish government should fill
the Sustainability and Renewable Energy Coordinator position, and investigate whether the
position is appropriately positioned within the government to ensure it has adequate support to
accomplish its duties. This position would help to ensure that this sustainability plan is fully
implemented. The Sustainability and Renewable Energy Coordinator would be responsible for
establishing goals, tracking, monitoring, and reporting all the indicators mentioned in this
sustainability plan. Additionally, this position would promote environmental awareness, actions,
and benefits of environmental sustainability as a critical component of development policies.
This position could also ensure FUTUREBR’s goal to establish a Green Building Strategy Panel
is completed.
A ―think globally, act locally‖ training program should be created and permanently
offered even after the EECBG funds expire. Managed by the Human Resources Department, this
type of program will educate employees how their actions impact the environment and their
department’s budget. This training program should include the benefits of using multi-function
printers instead of many smaller individual printers, the differences between shutting down,
hibernating, and putting a computer in stand-by mode, and how people can save money by
walking, biking, carpooling, or taking public transportation to work. The City-Parish has around
3,165 computers in operation every day. This can account for a significant amount of energy
consumption if they are all left on for 24 hours a day. Additional training ought to include good
habits such as turning off the lights at the end of the work day and this program should be
available to existing employees and be included in the orientation program for new employees.
There are many resources out there such as www.recycleatwork.com which has free information
bulletins, posters, and other resources to help an office setup a recycling program. The
Sustainability and Renewable Energy Coordinator should be put in charge of creating a Green
Team to lead the way for increased recycling at work. This Green Team should be comprised of
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
47
individuals from various departments and will ensure any difficulties in implementing and
running a comprehensive recycling program are solved.
The Sustainability and Renewable Energy Coordinator and the establishment of a Green
Building Strategy Panel as recommended by FUTUREBR to promote more ecological design
measures for the built environment will be critical to ensure the City-Parish takes steps towards
fulfilling the 2005 U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. A 2010 report by
the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University entitled State of the
Southeast: How Cities Are Addressing Climate Change says that ―while substantial progress
towards sustainability and climate goals may be achievable through programs and initiatives,
those that are not accompanied by an established office or guiding commission may be more
vulnerable to challenges stemming from a lack of authority, accountability, and direction‖ (6).
This report also outlines how Baton Rouge has ―done little to institutionalize climate change‖
since signing the 2005 U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (14). The
City-Parish needs to ensure there is a representative present to implement this sustainability plan,
items outlined in the 2005 U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, and other
sustainable practices.
Indicators
There is no existing data to create baseline measures to gauge the level of knowledge of
energy and sustainability by City-Parish employees. The ―think globally, act locally‖ training
program can be tracked by total number of active and new employees attending the class and the
effectiveness of the class can be measured by an exit exam.
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
48
Action Items
1. Create and implement a ―think globally, act locally‖ training program.
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Human Resources Department
Indicator: Total number of active and new employees attending the class
Time range: Short Term (1-2 years)
2. Fill the Sustainability and Renewable Energy Coordinator position
Responsible party: Office of the Mayor-President and Department of Public Works
Indicator: N/A
Time range: Short Term (1-2 years)
3. Create incentives to keep employees committed to sustainable practices.
Responsible party: Human Resources Department
Indicator: N/A
Time range: Short Term (1-2 years)
4. Create a Green Team to lead the way for increased recycling at work.
Responsible party: Department of Public Works Recycling Division
Indicator: N/A
Time range: Short Term (1-2 years)
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
49
Appendix A
Sustainability Survey
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Appendix A Sustainability Survey
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
51
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
52
Appendix B
FUTUREBR’s Goals, Objectives, and Action Items relating to the
Sustainability Plan
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
Appendix B FUTUREBR’s Goals, Objectives, and Action Items relating to the
Sustainability Plan
Transportation Element
Action Item 2.2.3 Encourage the co-location of intermodal connection - including transit stops,
station areas, enhanced bicycle facilities such as wayfinding and short- and long-term parking,
high quality pedestrian infrastructure and shared public parking – particularly at mixed-use
centers and employment centers.
Objective 4.1 Build and fund a robust transit network that serves as a backbone to future system
expansion
Objective 4.2 Identify high capacity transit corridors for future implementation
Objective 5.1 Recognize the importance of the on-street network of bicycle and pedestrian
facilities. Incorporate bicycle and pedestrian facilities into new and existing development.
Objective 5.3 Develop a bike network and a pedestrian network that allows residents to safely
and efficiently use bicycles to go to work, school, recreation areas and shopping/dining.
Public Services and Intergovernmental Coordination Element
Action Item 1.1.5 Ensure existing public services are running efficiently.
Action Item 1.8.4 Provide services in the most efficient and cost effective manner.
Action Item 2.1.6 Promote environmental health.
Environment and Conservation Element
Goal 5: Improve air quality to meet or exceed national ambient air quality standards
Objective 5.1 Minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile and stationary sources to reduce
emissions and improve air quality.
Action Item 5.1.3 Encourage major employers to designate prime parking spaces for low
emission and low-fuel consumption vehicles
Baton Rouge Sustainable Government Operations Plan
54
Action Item 5.1.6 Reduce vehicle miles traveled to reduce mobile emissions
Action Item 5.2.1 Continue support of the Baton Rouge Clean Air Coalition in its efforts to
monitor and develop an aggressive ozone reduction program.
Action Item 5.2.2 Encourage use of renewable energy sources and energy efficient appliances.
Housing Element
Action Item 5.1.6 Promote sustainable building practices including: energy efficiency, material
efficiency, waste reduction, and durability.
Infrastructure Element
Objective 4.3 Create a policy and procedures manual for the creation, placement and operation of
public buildings
Action Item 4.3.1 Coordinate the planning of public buildings with the Planning Commission, the
Department of Public Works, and other relevant departments.
Action Item 4.3.2 Establish a process for identify and initiating public building development and
funding
Action item 4.3.3 Make adequate funding available for building maintenance and ensure it is
equitably distributed
Action Item 4.3.4 Ensure that buildings with the great need are given the highest priority for
building maintenance
Action Item 4.3.5 Encourage building design which reinforces the FUTUREBR Vision and
contributes to the creation of an authentic sense of place. Public buildings should serve as a
model for energy efficiency, and should pursue sustainability certification, such as LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold or platinum certification from the U.S.
Green Building Council, or similar green building certification agency.
Parks and Recreation Element
Objective 2.2 Improve bicycle and pedestrian safety.
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Action Item 2.2.1 Implement crosswalks at all roadway crossing along primary bicycle and
pedestrian trails, with traffic signal controlled crossing at major roadways.
Action Item 2.2.2 Implement railroad safety crossing along primary bicycle and pedestrian trails,
with gated and controlled crossing at rail lines with high volumes of train traffic.
Land Use Element
Objective 7.2 Future growth is planned and managed to create a more sustainable, affordable,
and livable community.
Action Item 7.2.1 Become leaders in sustainability by promoting greater environmental
awareness, actions, and benefits of environmental sustainability as a critical component of
development policies.
Action Item 7.2.3 Establish a Green Building Strategy Panel to promote more ecological design
measures for the built environment
Action Item 7.2.5 Establish goals for reducing the City-Parish’s and region’s carbon footprint.
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