Programs Support Individuals, Businesses and County Government
FREDERICK, Md. – Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner unveiled a comprehensive program to address climate change and to make Frederick County more resilient and sustainable into the future. The long list of initiatives fall under one of four broad categories: climate and energy action plans; clean fleet and electric vehicle infrastructure; building energy and resiliency programs; and clean energy procurement.
“We save green when we go green,” Executive Gardner said. “Sustainability ensures a bright future for our community. It is good stewardship and good government. And sustainability fits with our goals and vision for Livable Frederick.”
Frederick County’s Office of Sustainability and Environmental Resources will utilize one-time funds to implement the initiatives to ensure the County meets its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. The initiatives include:
Climate and Energy Action Plans
- Regional plan in coordination with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and its other partner jurisdictions.
- A parallel Frederick County specific plan, which will include an internal inventory of greenhouse gases; and a strategy for mitigation, risk and vulnerability assessment, and resilience. The plan is being conducted in coordination with the City of Frederick.
- The action plans will outline how the County transitions to clean electricity, improved energy efficiencies in buildings, electric or zero emission vehicles, and additional forested land.
Clean Fleet and Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Programs
- Expand the number of clean vehicles in Frederick County Government’s fleet.
- Identify opportunities to install electric charging stations at FCG facilities and in other areas in the county.
- Conduct a study of codes and ordinances that may need updated to support electric vehicle technologies.
Building Energy and Resilience Programs
- Create a program to deploy building technologies, such as combined heat and power, microgrids, and distributed generation.
- Enhance the residential Power Savers Retrofit program to help more people save on their home energy costs.
- Augment the commercial clean energy loan program (Property Assessed Clean Energy), which helps businesses to invest in energy efficiency projects through private bank loans, which they pay back through their property tax bills,
- Retrofit County government facilities and install micro-grids to reduce reliance on non-renewable energy.
- Conduct a telework study for County employees to reduce the number of cars on the roads and design office space that can be shared when employees need to be on site.
Clean Energy Procurement
- Increase renewable energy sources to fully offset building electricity use with 100% renewable energy credits.
- Launch public outreach programs to help individuals, businesses and nonprofits boost their renewable energy sources.
- Update the popular Green Homes Challenge.
The County’s Office of Sustainability and Environmental Resources will oversee the implementation of these initiatives. Those duties are in addition to the Office’s regulatory role to ensure the County meets strict standards imposed through its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit with the State of Maryland.
To better manage both the climate initiatives and stormwater regulations, the Office of Sustainability will be restructured into two departments: the Department of Climate and Energy and the Department of Stormwater.
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