Government Operations GHG Emissions 2021 Online
After we published the initial report in April on Government Operations GHG Emissions Inventory, it took significantly longer to finalize the information than anticipated. Acquiring details about the solar system on top of the Pavilion and information about potential direct emissions from the actual wastewater treatment process (rather than the electricity usage) took longer to sort out than we anticipated.
On August 10th, we presented the latest draft to the Town Board to get additional input for the final report. You can find a recording of that presentation on the Town’s Zoom Meeting Archive (https://germantownny.org/town-board/).
During that presentation, we talked about:
GHG Inventory: Why perform an inventory and what is included.
Sector and Source Emissions: Which sector (buildings, fleet, street lights, …) emits the largest amount of GHGs. What fuel source (electricity, propane, oil, gasoline, diesel) emits the largest amount of GHGs. How that relates to other sectors.
GHG Emissions Fluctuations: Identifying fluctuations in emissions might indicate room for improvement.
Ideas to Improve: Reduce emissions without major investments, such as:
Motivate employees to not idle / keep engines running when not necessary.
Use fuel data/information from Fleet Inventory to determine which vehicles to use based on the fuel efficiency, whenever possible.
Reconsider thermostat settings and use of ceiling fans in all town buildings: Energy Star, a partnership between the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, suggests that the coolest AC temperature should be 78 degrees - the Town Hall thermostat is currently set to 68°F.
Switch to programmable thermostats (for scheduling, analysis, ...).
Use knowledge gained through GHG Inventory process to optimize the use of Town resources.
Reducing the Town’s energy use, will reduce the Town’s GHG emissions and save taxpayer money. But now, without further ado, here is the full report….
