Climate Smart Communities Task Force to meet Sept. 13

The Village of Warwick Climate Smart Communities Task Force will meet to discuss Climate Smart initiatives for the Village of Warwick on Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 6:30 p.m. at Village Hall, 77 Main St., Warwick.

The public is invited to attend.

The Village of Warwick is a certified Bronze Climate Smart Community. As such, it assesses how climate change will affect the Village of Warwick and its residents and maps out further steps to reduce the village’s contributions to climate change, according to the village’s website.

The NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities (CEC) program (https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/cec) is an initiative that helps local governments reduce energy consumption and drive clean energy use in their communities. The Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Certification program is an interagency initiative administered by the DEC that provides a comprehensive framework for local governments to lead community action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change. The two programs are complementary. Both require applicants to document completion of specific actions in order to earn a designation.

The Village of Warwick has taken steps to pursue and document actions that will apply to both the CEC and CSC programs, in the interest of furthering our environmental sustainability efforts.

The Village’s NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities (CEC) scorecard may be found here:

https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Clean-Energy-Communities/Tracking-Progress/Scorecard

The Village’s CSC Certification status and points earned may be found here:

https://climatesmart.ny.gov/actions-certification/participating-communities/

Updates

While by no means an exhaustive list of updates, several notable dates and actions of the Village’s progress include:

July 1, 2019, the Village Board resolved to adopt the CSC Pledge, signaling its intent to become a more sustainable community.

July 1, 2019, the Village Board resolved to establish energy benchmarking requirements for certain municipal buildings. The Village would then be expected to establish a baseline of energy consumption moving forward.

Sept. 20, 2022, the Village Board created the Climate Smart Communities Task Force. The purpose of the CSC Task Force is to drive the Village’s efforts towards completing and documenting High Impact Actions and achieving the CSC Certification.

Nov. 29, 2022, the first three-year energy benchmark baseline was created and shared with NYSERDA. This Action will earn points with both the CEC and CSC certification programs. The Benchmarking requirement applies to all Village owned buildings with greater than 1,000 sq ft of space, which includes: Village Hall, DPW Barn, Waste Water Treatment Plant, Water Treatment Plant, Microfiltration Plant.

Nov. 29, 2022, the CSC Task Force completed the GHG Inventory for Government Operations, which is a “High Impact Action” that counts towards the CSC Certification. The GHG Inventory covers all gas and electric usage for 12+ months as well as the vehicle fleet gas and diesel consumption. Having a comprehensive energy consumption report will help the Village identify areas for improvement.