Author Archives: Thad Curtz

T4.11 Weekly lottery for riders The Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke and the City of Durham did a pilot project in which they offered people riding the bus a chance to win $163 in a weekly lottery. (The City … Continue reading →

T2.10 Low-carbon vehicles Continue to upgrade public fleets with cleaner, energy-efficient vehicles as technologies improve as a way to conserve dollars and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. See Section T3.10 – EV Fleets, and Section T4.8 – Alternative Fuel Buses.

T3.3 Solar parking lots Work with utilities to develop installation of solar panels over surface parking spaces and structured parking garages to produce green energy for electric vehicles. France now requires any new parking lot with more than 80 spaces … Continue reading →

B5.12 Neighborhood energy centers Vancouver BC is developing a variety of new district heating systems.

W5.1 Waste to energy Generate additional energy from waste products (e.g., woody biomass and sewage) in Thurston County. Woody biomass – The Evergreen State College did an extended study assessing the feasibility of converting the campus heating system from natural … Continue reading →

W5.2 Heat exchange Look into heat exchange potential of embedded energy in wastewater and/or reclaimed water. Vancouver BC’s Southeast False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility uses waste thermal energy captured from sewage to provide district heating for 4.3 million sq. ft. … Continue reading →

T5.4 School drop-off alternative modes * Partner with school districts to develop a walking school bus and other school-related pedestrian safety programs. In the Netherlands, kid get to school on electric assist bicycle school buses. There’s also a cute video. … Continue reading →

T5.3 Biking to work Require municipal and large employers to provide a shower and/or changing area for employees to facilitate biking to work. Provide financial incentives for employer-sponsored bicycle programs. Facilitate biking to work “Determinants of bicycle commuting in the … Continue reading →

T3.10 Convert to EV fleets * Set policies and timetable for electrification of municipal and other governmental fleets. Require replacement of public fleets with cleaner, energy-efficient vehicles to reduce long term fuel costs, improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas … Continue reading →

T3.5 EV-ready building code * (Also B4.10) Require all new residential construction be built EV ready. Create a simple and consistent residential charging station permitting process to reduce costs and time to development. RCW 19.27.540 requires the State Building Code … Continue reading →