1 / 15

The Future of Fairfield

The Future of Fairfield. Where are we going and what could we achieve? --a personal vision. Reality Check— Some Real-Life Examples. What ‘miracles’ have other communities/large organizations already achieved that we could emulate?.

vladimir-neveah
Download Presentation

The Future of Fairfield

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Future of Fairfield Where are we going and what could we achieve? --a personal vision

  2. Reality Check—Some Real-Life Examples What ‘miracles’ have other communities/large organizations already achieved that we could emulate?

  3. "I don't see any difference between a dollar brought in by a new business -- and a dollar that's saved due to energy conservation," Wes Birdsall, Supervisor, Osage Municipal Utilities Example 1:Osage, Iowa community energy program with financing incentives Cost: $250,000 Savings: $1,200,000/Year # Residents: 3600

  4. If Jefferson County Replicated Osage • (Estimates courtesy of Lonnie Gamble) • Cost: $1,120,000 • Savings: $5,400,000 Per Year • # of residents: 16,181 • 20 yr total savings: $107,000,000 • 20 yr savings per resident: $6600

  5. Example 2Navarre Region of Spain • Population ~500,000 • By 2004, 61% of the region's energy generated by renewable sources • By 2010, they are planning to reach 100% • German Goal: 100% by 2025 • US Goal: 25% by 2025

  6. Example 3Shaklee Corp -- Climate-Neutral • First company in USA to achieve climate neutral certification – net zero impact on environment. • Reduced or offset carbon emissions generated not only by its own business but those of tens of thousands of its distributors • Model corporate citizen

  7. What could we achieve here in Fairfield? …What If?

  8. Carbon Emissions • What if • …Fairfield eliminates its entire carbon footprint within 10 years, emitting zero emissions, and stopped having any negative impact on the near and far environment? • …Or better than climate-neutral -- becomes climate nourishing?

  9. Energy • What if • …we used Energy Efficiency, Biomass co-generation, Wind Power, Solar Hot Water, and clever city design to satisfy 100% of our energy needs -- within 10 years? • …our local economy became free from foreign oil dependence and oil price fluctuations? • …our monthly energy bills stabilized or even decreased? • This is true homeland security!

  10. Water • As of 2006, there were 366 impaired waterways in Iowa • What if • …our local lakes, ponds, and streams were completely safe for swimming and recreation – all the time? And within 5 years? • …water coming out of our taps so safe and pure we don’t need bottled water? • …we heated our homes with solar hot water systems -- that can pay for themselves in less than 5-10 years • …we eventually have no water bills for the rest of our lives?

  11. Food, Farming, and Soil • What if • …we stopped trucking our food cross-country? • …used our most abundant Iowa resource to grow our own food – on a year-round basis? • … we re-enliven family farming by actively encouraging regional farmers to make their living by growing fresh food for humans, instead of primarily food for animals? • …we left our soil healthier each year than the previous, stopped depleting the top soil, and didn’t need to depend on increasingly expensive (and toxic) petro-chemicals? • More homeland security

  12. Transportation • What if • …we create a Fairfield in which cars are not needed for most – or even all -- in-city trips? • …we had great pollution-free public transportation, free bicycles all over the city, etc.? • Think of the noise reduction, the cleaner air, the global carbon reduction -- and the increase in community as we spend more time with each other.

  13. Buildings • What if • …all new buildings in Fairfield were highly energy efficient, used renewable energy sources as much as possible, employed daylighting and passive solar strategies, used non-toxic building materials for healthy IAQ, used rainwater wisely, had solar hot water systems, had green roofs -- and were also affordable? • …we did energy audits on all existing structures • …we redesigned the square to reduce the summer’s ‘heat island’ effect and made it so cool people couldn’t stay away

  14. Government • What if • …we extended our city Strategic Plan to create a 10 year Strategic Green Plan to achieve all of this and more? • …our government had a city-level commission or department responsible for • Coordinating all efforts to implement the strategic Green Plan • Researching funding possibilities • Taking best practices from other communities moving in the same direction • …our government committed to buying goods, materials, services, and capital improvements in a manner that reflects our core values of fiscal responsibility, social equity, community and environmental stewardship?

  15. Conclusions • All of the above is real and achievable—and a small sample of what is possible • We can be a model, and teach other communities how to do it—we are good at this! • We can turn the challenges of global warming into opportunities for • economic growth, environmental improvements and social cohesion – a triple bottom line business equation • a bright and secure future for many generations of Fairfielders.

More Related