Jump to main content or area navigation.

Contact Us

State and Local Climate and Energy Program

The Green Cincinnati Plan

Cincinnati, Ohio

Federal Funding: $500,000
Project Timeline: February 2010 – December 2012

Project Summary

Outreach Work to Boost the Impact of an Established Climate Change Action Plan

Latest Update.
The City of Cincinnati continues to promote the Green Cincinnati Plan (GCP) by developing partnerships to increase the reach of the marketing and outreach efforts. One notable partner is Green Umbrella, an emerging regional clearinghouse for all things green in Greater Cincinnati. The What’s Your Green Umbrella website was launched in October 2011 and received significant media attention. In addition, the City finalized plans with environmental educators from the Alliance for Leadership & Interconnection (ALI) and Keep Cincinnati Beautiful (KCB) to include Climate Protection Toolkits in existing curricula in local schools. ALI’s “ecomentoring” program will partner grade school students with adult mentors who will help the students learn about the green features of their school, and the KCB’s Sustainability in Action (SIA) pilot program will develop sustainability coordinators in several schools. Upcoming work includes conducting media events, updating and refining the new webpage, and planning Earth Month events.

The City of Cincinnati approved the Green Cincinnati Plan (GCP) in June 2008 and now seeks to conduct outreach to increase the plan's impact, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the city. With 62 of the 82 Plan's projects underway, the city wants to create an outreach strategy and comprehensively market the GCP. The project will develop and deploy a Marketing Plan, integrate climate change awareness in Cincinnati public schools, and host an annual climate summit. In addition, the Cincinnati Energy Alliance (CEA), the project sub-grantee, will provide energy audits to selected nonprofit organizations.

To expand the impacts of the GCP, the city will:

  • work with a local marketing firm to develop and deploy the GCP's marketing plan, including a concise brand, ads, website, presentations, and promotions,
  • create and distribute toolkits for local schools on climate change and climate protection measures, and
  • host an annual event to discuss the benefits and impediments to climate change initiatives in Greater Cincinnati.

In addition, the CEA, launched as a non–profit in January 2009, will work to deliver energy audit services. The CEA will select 20 non–profit organizations in Cincinnati and contract with engineering firms to provide energy audit services to the selected organizations. The CEA will then help facilitate the implementation of energy efficiency improvements and will track the resulting benefits.

The project will reduce Cincinnati's GHG emissions by 2 percent each year for three years of the grant period, for a total of a 6 percent reduction. The CEA's energy audits are expected to leverage $470,000 of investment in energy efficiency, saving 1,000,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and 25,000 therms of gas. Additionally, the GCP encourages partnerships across stakeholder groups.

Community Characteristics

Population: 331,000
Area: 80 square miles
Government Type: City
Community Type: Urban
Median Household Income: $33,524

Program Results/Estimated Results

Expected GHG Reductions: 480,000 metric tons CO2e annually (6%)
Expected Job Creation: 4 full-time positions
Expected Electricity Savings: 1,000,000 kWh
Expected Gas Savings: 25,000 therms
Expected Cost Savings: $175,000 annually

Program Websites

Media Coverage

Photo

picture

City Officials Discuss Going Green

Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney and Superintendent of Public Schools Mary Ronan participate in a Green Partnership of Greater Cincinnati meeting.

Top of page

Jump to main content.