The changes we have made in energy management, energy efficiency projects, technology and building occupant participation has lowered the County's energy use by 26% in comparison to 2010. This resulted in a 17% reduction in our carbon footprint and a 33% reduction in energy cost.
The County Board of Commissioners has encouraged this path and shown its commitment towards reducing our carbon footprint and continuing to work on energy efficient projects. On November 28th, 2018 the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (BOC) created a resolution to establish the Washtenaw County Environmental Council. This dynamic team of volunteers are passionate and educated about the environmental crisis that our world is facing. The Environmental Council’s mission is to create a vibrant, sustainable, net-zero Washtenaw County through developing environmental policy and organizational recommendations for Washtenaw County government. The team objective is to achieve net-zero emissions for County operations by 2035.To continue to build on these efforts, The Environmental Council team is working very closely with OIM on developing the Energy and Environmental Policy to present to the BOC this year.
The continued work we are doing in the County is being noticed by the community, as an example, Washtenaw County was recently featured in an article written for The Climate Reality Project. The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in the education and advocacy related to climate change. Their mission is to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every level of society. There are over 19,000 Climate Reality Leaders mobilizing communities in over 150 countries. Read more about the Washtenaw County and How Counties are Taking Climate Action.