State and Local Climate and Energy Program
Hailey Community Climate Challenge
Hailey, Idaho
Federal Funding: $472,429
Project Timeline: February 2011 – December 2013
Project Summary
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in a Small Community
The community of Hailey is showing how any small community can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from municipal and community sources by forming a strong alliance of community partners and implementing an integrated suite of GHG reduction projects. The different project elements all build upon existing climate change mitigation efforts taking place in Hailey, and will lead to significant and continued GHG reductions. The Hailey Community Climate Challenge will build capacity within the community and the city government to address GHG emissions, will bring multiple co-benefits, and is easily replicable by small communities elsewhere. The project elements include:
- Energy Audit & Retrofit Program with Renewable Energy Incentives
- Green Building Demonstration
- Solid Waste Management Capacity Building
- Downtown Bike Share System & Energy Efficient Streetlight Upgrade
- Hailey Government Capacity Building
- Education, Outreach and Replicability
The City of Hailey will first build on existing commercial and residential energy audits and an energy efficiency retrofit program funded by the Idaho Office of Energy Resources. Hailey will expand funding for the program in order to provide additional audits and retrofits and will also build in an additional feature, to fund a rebate for a renewable energy system to three individuals per grant cycle. The project will include two types of biannual community workshops on 1) ways to improve energy efficiency and information on existing financial incentives and 2) ways to implement small-scale renewable energy systems.
Hailey will also capitalize on an approved plan for a LEED-certified interpretive center at the Hailey Rodeo Park, located at Hailey's city entrance, to demonstrate the benefits of green building. By working through perceived barriers about the cost and difficulty of building green, the demonstration project will enhance and promote future city development projects to obtain LEED certification as well as other buildings in the community to achieve a higher building design standard. Extensive stakeholder outreach will help strengthen community-wide knowledge of green building concepts. This outreach includes: an interpretive exhibit that will be displayed in the new center on how the project achieved LEED certification and GHG reductions, and why those reductions are important; newsletter updates, media releases; and on-site demonstrations and tours.
Hailey will help to alleviate landfill capacity pressures and encourage better waste management by implementing the following program components:
- Deconstruction/Material Salvage – Hailey will enhance the capacity of the Building Material Thrift Store to conduct deconstruction and salvage associated with big commercial or multifamily housing projects.
- Construction Material Recycling Pilot Program
- Plastic Bag Source Reduction – Hailey will continue the EPA materials management grant project focused on source reduction of plastic bags (called "Just Bag It!") which is set to conclude at the end of January 2011.
This Challenge component will include workshops, brochures, fact sheets, websites, ads, media releases, and temporary public art installations.
Hailey will implement a bike share system in downtown Hailey and implement a downtown energy efficient streetlight upgrade. The bike share system will ease congestion and reduce vehicle miles traveled, and will have three stations and 18 bikes located in close proximity to the city's major park and ride transit station downtown, the Green Building Demonstration project (southside), and a northside location adjacent to affordable housing units. The energy efficient streetlight upgrade will retrofit 70 downtown lights with energy-efficient bulbs. This project will also include outreach including ads, a brochure, a web page, and a kick-off event.
Hailey will also create a new Community Climate Specialist position to lead Hailey's climate protection program. The position will fully support implementation of the Challenge, and will build capacity within the municipality to assure continued reduction of GHG emissions through development and deployment of city and community initiatives and projects.
Finally, Hailey will raise awareness and foster a change in consumer behavior through education, outreach, and replicability. To do so, Hailey will:
- work with the local non-profit, ERC, to coordinate the outreach and education components of the project,
- produce a 30- to 50-minute documentary film about the Challenge, and
- produce a project how-to booklet, including all elements tackled by the Challenge, for other cities to use as a guide to how they can implement similar GHG reduction activities.
Public benefits of the Challenge are diverse and wide-ranging. Greenhouse gas reductions of 525 metric tons of CO2e/year directly address climate change and protect the environment, while robust public education and outreach will engage the community, raise awareness, and foster behavior change. The knowledge will be sustained and built upon by the creation of the Community Climate Specialist position, which assures continued public education and benefit.
Community Characteristics
| Population: | 7,854 |
|---|---|
| Area: | 3.2 square miles |
| Government Type: | City |
| Community Type: | Rural |
| Median Household Income: | $51,728 |
Program Results/Estimated Results
| Expected GHG Reductions: | 525 metric tons CO2e annually |
|---|---|
| Expected Homes Retrofitted: | 40 |
| Expected Streetlights Retrofitted: | 70 |
