Kalamazoo Climate

Action Plan

By Paul Clements, Davis Arthur-Yeboah, Timothy Dam, Madol Dhuol, Hilary

Holtzen, Aaron Kates, Mara Kerber, Ann Maltby and Mike Moonde
Western Michigan University
 April, 2017

KALAMAZOO CLIMATE ACTION PLAN - VOLUME I

Executive Summary

Political Science 6380: Planning Development Programs is the capstone seminar for the
Master of International Development Administration (MIDA) program at Western Michigan
University. Students in this program typically plan to pursue careers in the public and nonprofit
sectors in developing countries and in international development organizations. In years past,
students in this class have developed plans for hypothetical projects that could be implemented
somewhere in the developing world. This year, the class was presented with a unique
opportunity to collaborate with the City of Kalamazoo to develop a real plan for addressing a
real and increasingly more urgent problemour rapidly changing climate. The opportunity
came about when City Planner Rebekah Kik was in the midst of engaging the Kalamazoo
community to develop a strategic vision for the Citys new master planImagine Kalamazoo
2025. She recognized that there were many groups and individuals already working on reducing
the Citys environmental impact and asked the class to determine the most important actions
the city could take to minimize its contribution to climate change. She presented this challenge
to the class in early January. Since then, the class has talked with dozens of local stakeholders
and looked at what other communities around the United States are doing to address climate
change. The final product is this document, which is meant to serve as guide for City
administrators as they move forward in the planning process.
Carbon dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere by
humans that contributes to climate change. We are currently at a level of CO2 in our
atmosphere that is higher than it ever has been for the last 450,000 years. In addition to rising
temperatures, increasing CO2 levels will lead to increased acidity in the ocean waters, a rising
sea level, more droughts, more floods and more severe weather. If humans fail to take action,
there will be other changes that we cannot accurately predict and that might exceed our ability
to adapt.
The international scientific community has identified 2 degrees Celsius of warming as the
point after which further warming would be devastating to life as we know it. Yet for many
countries, including the United States, the commitment to achieving this target at the national
level is extremely weak. Nevertheless, while stubborn nations refuse to or are unable to act,
smaller communities and more locally responsive governments like the City of Kalamazoo have
what it takes to deliver on their promises.

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 Kalamazoo has a rich history of being environmentally conscious. In 2009 Kalamazoo's
mayor, Bobby Hopewell, signed the Southwest Michigan Regional Sustainability Covenant
demonstrating a commitment to environmental, social, and economic protection. Many other
individuals, organizations and institutions in the Kalamazoo community also embrace these
values. Western Michigan University and the Kalamazoo Nature Center are local leaders in
climate action.
This plan draws on the knowledge of local stakeholders and of groups around the
country that are taking action to reduce CO2 emissions. It makes a rough estimate of current
CO2 emissions in the City of Kalamazoo and suggests actions that can be first steps towards
reducing emissions to targets equal to our national commitments in the 2016 Paris Agreement:
26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025 and to around 90% below 2005 levels by 2050. The actions
proposed in this plan are not enough to reach the target reduction level. Collectively they may
reduce emissions to 12% or more below 2005 levels, but more local actions and a greater
commitment to renewable energy by Consumers Energy are needed to achieve our target
levels by 2025 and 2050.
The proposed actions are divided into six categories: Buildings, Transportation, Trees and
Gardens, Local Food, Waste Management and Engaged Community. Buildings and homes are
the biggest sources of CO2 emissions in Kalamazoo and also the largest source of reductions
identified in this plan. Improving energy efficiency with a focus on low-income homes is an
area for improvement that can dramatically reduce energy use, improve comfort in homes and
significantly reduce expenses. Several organizations are already doing this type of work in the
City and need additional support. The transportation sector is the next biggest contributor of
CO2 emissions. Suggested actions in this section include improving public transportation and
supporting the use of electric and hydrogen fueled vehicles. The plan also emphasizes actions
that support trees and gardens. These play a role in reducing heat islands, improving air
quality, absorbing storm water and beautifying our city. Kalamazoo already has a thriving local
food movement. Simple actions like raising awareness can help to increase the food consumed
in Kalamazoo that is locally grown. Waste management involves reducing the amount of waste
we produce along with improved management of the waste we cannot yet avoid producing.
Finally, although it comes at the end, community engagement is central to this plan. Many of
the actions throughout the plan involve changes in behavior by Kalamazoo residents and many
will only succeed with widespread community participation and support.
At the time of this writing, this plan is only a proposal. If the City of Kalamazoo can put
the recommendations described here into action, this can begin to build the momentum to
move Kalamazoo forward as a leader in urgently needed change. At this moment in history
national progress on this critical issue is in danger of stalling or even regressing. The City of
Kalamazoo can take great pride in stepping forward to enact this plan, to do its part to reduce
its contribution to climate change.

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 Contents

Page

Executive Summary 1
Contents 3
Acronyms 5
Introduction A Climate Action Plan for Kalamazoo 6
Climate Change The Big Picture 7
The City of Kalamazoo 10
Targets for Reducing Carbon Pollution 12
Areas for Action 16
1. Buildings 16
1.1 Weatherize existing housing stock 18
1.2 Renovate energy efficient affordable housing units 26
1.3 Stimulate continued investment in weatherization, energy efficiency 28
upgrades and renewable energy for historic homes
1.4 Strengthen housing code energy standards for rental properties 28
1.5 Residential lights & appliances 29
1.6 Commercial/institutional building energy improvements 30
1.7 Develop a comprehensive green business certification program 31
1.8 Promote green roofs and reflective roofs in the commercial and industrial sectors 32
1.9 Maximize the purchase of Michigan renewable energy 33
1.10 Install 1000 solar-roof hot water heaters by 2025 34
1.11 Install 500 photovoltaic solar power home energy systems by 2025 34
1.12 Commit to power City of Kalamazoo buildings entirely from green energy by 2025 35
1.13 Training for Green building 36

2. Transportation
2.1 Encourage coordinated zoning and redevelopment and transit-supportive densities 37
2.2 Actively support regional approaches to land use planning 39
2.3 Evaluate and enhance coverage and availability of public transit systems 39
2.4 Consider options for increasing ridership by decentralizing bus routes 40
2.5 Increase events and activities that raise awareness of community benefits 40
2.6 Bicycles 41
2.7 Support electric and hydrogen-fueled vehicles 41

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 Page
3. Trees and Gardens 43
3.1 Increase forest canopy across public and private property 43
3.2 Integrate mitigation and adaptation planning into park design and improvements 44
3.3 Develop policy for vegetation maintenance and development 45
3.4 Replace lawns and landscaping with native vegetation 45
3.5 Increase public awareness of climate change and the mitigating effects of native 46
plants
4. Local Food 48
4.1 Community supported agriculture 49
4.2 Farmers markets 49
4.3 People's food Co-op 50
4.4 Household domestic livestock 51
4.5 Community gardens 51
4.6 Community food forests 52
4.7 Local food within institutions 53
5. Waste Management 55
5.1 Rainwater capture and reuse 55
5.2 Reduce Kalamazoo's total waste stream 56
5.3 Zero-waste outdoor events 57
5.4 Encourage residents to put garbage, compost and recycling out when bins are full 57
5.5 Increase material reuse opportunities throughout the community 58
5.6 Promote "Climate Impact" labeling for restaurants and businesses 58
5.7 Increase residential and commercial recycling participation and tonnage 59
6. Engaged Community 61
6.1 Provide a website that empowers citizens with energy information, tools and 61
opportunities
6.2 Implement a sustainable community energy efficiency program 62
6.3 Neighborhood Green Teams 62
6.4 Expand environment education curriculums in public and private schools 63
7. Adapting to Climate Change 64
Next Steps 65

4
 Acronyms

C Degrees Celsius
Btu British thermal units
CAA Community Action Agency
CAP Climate Action Plan
CHW Community Homeworks
COe Carbon dioxide equivalent
DOE Department of Energy
EIA Energy Information Administration
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
GHG Greenhouse gas
ICLEI Originally International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
Now ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability
IECC International Energy Conservation Code
IK2050 Imagine Kalamazoo 2050
IPMC International Property Maintenance Code
KCCC Kalamazoo Climate Change Coalition
kWh Kilowatt hour
LED Light-emitting diodes
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Mcf 1,000 cubic feet (a unit of volume for natural gas)
MWh Megawatt hour
ppm Parts per million
PV Photovoltaic
WMU Western Michigan University
U of M University of Michigan

5
 Introduction
A Climate Action Plan for Kalamazoo

For a generation, climate change has been for many a far-off reality. A supposedly
impending, but seemingly hypothetical future that has been easy to ignore. We heard about it
in the classroom, on public television, and in the political sphere. But our lives continued as
they always have. How could they change?

And even if they did, surely the scientists and politicians would take charge and solve
the problem. In our technocratic age, engineers build levees to keep out floodwaters, they
engineer new crops to withstand ever more extreme conditions. Countless innovations keep us
safe and comfortable except for when they don't.

In the early years of the 21st Century we finally have come face-to-face with climate
change, that specter we have done far too little to prevent and far too much to ignore.

It is said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; when it comes to climate
change, this is especially true. It is far less costly to make changes now than to deal with an
environment in the future in enormous flux and transformation.

In order for the blow of climate change to be softened, if not avoided, it will take
widespread effort across our planet. In this Climate Action Plan we suggest to the keepers of
our little corner of earth, this place we call Kalamazoo, how we can do our part.

This plan is proposed first to the city government of Kalamazoo. But it calls on everyone:
the young, the old, the rich, the poor, people with much power, and those of modest means.
Those holding office and those with great financial resources have a particular responsibility.
This plan recognizes that climate change presents deep challenges to equity and social justice,
and these values are central to this plan.

The objectives are not easy, but they are clear. The international scientific community
has identified 2 degrees Celsius of warming as the point of no return after which environmental
degradation spirals wildly. In 2016, the United States and many other nations ratified the Paris
Agreement, affirming this conclusion. In order to do its part to hold warming well below 2
degrees, the United States committed to reduce carbon emissions to 26-28% below 2005 levels
by 2025, and the 2 degree target will require the United States to hold to roughly 10% of 2005
emissions by 2050. This plan proposes the same targets for Kalamazoo.

This action plan consists of two parts: Volume One (what you are reading now) is a
quick-action guide to taking steps as a city and as individuals toward addressing climate change.
It suggests a suite of actions that Kalamazoo can begin to implement within the next three

6
years. These are the most feasible and have the most significant benefit to our community and
the environment.

Volume Two drills deeper and looks further ahead. It includes information as to how the
estimates and conclusions in the plan were formed, additional information to support proposed
actions, as well as further action steps to think about for the future. It is our hope that the
details found in these two documents will support the champions that move the action plan
forward to implementation.

Climate Change The Big Picture

From the dawn of the industrial revolution to 2016, humans released into the
atmosphere greenhouse gasses that raised global temperatures by about 1 degree Celsius (1.8
degrees Fahrenheit). So far this has led to an increase in droughts across the United States and
around the world, forest fires in Colorado and California, and crop failure and malnourished
children in southern Africa and the Sahel. Warming causes ocean waters to expand, and, along
with melting glaciers, raises sea levels. Warmer and more humid air cause stronger hurricanes,
which drive the rising seas into coastlines, flooding port cities and valuable coastal real estate.

The most significant greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide, from burning fossil fuelscoal,
oil, and natural gas. Every day as we heat our homes, drive to work, and run our factories, we
release into the atmosphere carbon stores from thousands of years of compressed plant
matter. As the fuel is burned the carbon joins with oxygen to form carbon dioxide, and this
builds up in the atmosphere, holding heat from the sun, preventing the heat from radiating
back into space. About a quarter of the new CO in the atmosphere is absorbed into the ocean,
increasing its acidity.1 The warmer and more acidic ocean-water is killing coral reefs and making
it harder for shellfish to grow. But science tells us that most of the new CO will remain in the
atmosphere for over 1000 years.

Already we have increased the level of CO in the atmosphere by more than 30%. During
the 450,000 years prior to the industrial revolution, atmospheric CO never rose above 300
parts per million (ppm) (Figure 1), but in 2016 it reached 400 ppm. As CO rises to 450 ppm,
global temperatures will rise about another degree, from 1 Celsius at this writing to about 2
Celsius above pre-industrial levels. In Paris in 2015, representatives from 195 countries around
the world agreed to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 Celsius
above pre-industrial levels. As we move towards 2, droughts, heat waves, storms, and floods
will intensify. World-wide we have already seen tens of millions of climate refugees. By 2050
we may have 50-100 million more. If average temperatures rise above the 2 target, all these
effects will grow much worse. The business-as-usual trajectory, without significant efforts to
move to renewable energy, would push the level of CO beyond 800 ppm by 2100, leading to

1
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/CO/story/Ocean+Acidification, accessed 2/9/17.

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warming of 4 Celsius or more above pre-industrial levels. This would be worse than
catastrophic. The disruptions to communities, cities and countries around the world would
likely exceed many governments capacity to adapt2 with unclear consequences for human
civilization.

Figure 1: Atmospheric carbon dioxide and earths temperature, last 450,000 years3

Over the last 450,000 years the level of atmospheric CO ranged from about 180 ppm to
300 ppm, corresponding to temperature fluctuations from 9 Celsius below the 1960-1990
average to 3 Celsius above (Figure 1). That is, a 12 change in temperature over tens of
thousands of years corresponded to a change of 120 ppm in atmospheric CO. But in just the
last 200 years we have added more than another 120 ppm CO to the atmosphere,4 while so far
the temperature has only risen one degree. Of course, as we burn coal and oil, the speed with
which CO is increasing in the atmosphere is much, much greater than our planet has ever
before experienced. This extraordinarily rapid rise in CO and heat is setting in motion other
changes, some that may unfold over hundreds or thousands of years, while others may occur
abruptly, with devastating consequences for humans.

2
The World Bank, 2012, Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4 Warmer World Must be Avoided, xviii.
3
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/04/11/does-CO-correlate-with-temperature-history-a-look-at-multiple-
timescales-in-the-context-of-the-shakun-et-al-paper/, accessed 2/9/17.
4
During the 2000 years prior to the industrial revolution atmospheric CO never rose above 280 ppm.
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/climatescience/greenhousegases/industrialrevolution.html, accessed
2/12/17.

8
 We know that rising CO will lead to worse droughts, heat waves, storms and floods. The
consequences we can predict with great confidence are harmful enough. But it may turn out to
be a lot worse.

Since 1870, the global sea level has risen by about 7.5 inches, and studies project sea
level to rise by another 1 to 4 feet by 2100.5 Greenland, however, holds enough ice to
raise sea levels by 20 feet, and if the Antarctic Ice Sheet melted the sea level would rise
about 200 feet. A growing number of studies indicate that melting from those ice sheets
could raise sea levels by 6 feet this century, and far higher in the next, flooding many of
the worlds coastal cities.6

As the frozen tundra in Alaska, Canada and Russia thaws, methane from decomposing
plant matter is released into the atmosphere. Methane is a more powerful greenhouse
gas than carbon dioxide, so this accelerates global warming.

Ice reflects sunlight, but water absorbs heat from the sun. The polar ice cap has been
melting faster than expected, increasing the heat absorbed into the oceans. This also
accelerates global warming.

In this century climate change could potentially cause a massive die-off of trees in the
Amazon rain forest, releasing billions of tons of stored carbon,

Or a collapse of the Indian monsoon.

Hundreds of millions of people depend on fish that spawn in coral reefs, and the effects
of increasing heat and the acidification of the oceans killing these reefs have not been
fully modeled. Increasing heat and acidity in the oceans may also have other
unanticipated effects.

Ocean warming could shift the pathway of the Gulf Stream which warms Europe (so
Dublin, Ireland, which lies on the same latitude as Edmonton, Canada, is not nearly as
cold as Edmonton). This would, ironically, increase freezing in Europe while intensifying
heat in the southern hemisphere.

Because the rise in CO is so different from earths historical record, and the rise in heat so
relatively rapid, many of its effects, like those just listed, are not fully understood. What we can
say for sure is that climate change will bring unanticipated changes in weather patterns and
among the earths natural systems, and these changes will be more harmful to human
civilization as warming increases.

5
https://www.epa.gov/climate-change-science/future-climate-change#Sea%20level, accessed 2/12/17.
6
http://e360.yale.edu/features/abrupt_sea_level_rise_realistic_greenland_antarctica, accessed 2/12/17.

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 The City of Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo is a city of just over 76,000 people. It covers 24 square miles,7 located
midway between Chicago and Detroit in southwest Michigan. Kalamazoos population is a mix
of full time residents and students who attend the local colleges and university. Kalamazoo
residents have an average age of 25 years and a median household income of thirty-three
thousand dollars per year with almost 34% of residents living below the poverty line.
Founded in 1836,8 Kalamazoo is governed by a mayor and city commission who are
voted for in non-partisan elections every two and four years. The City Commission appoints a
City Manager who is then responsible for the administrative functions of Kalamazoos
government. Today, Kalamazoo has a bustling downtown with over 1000 businesses in walking
distance from Kalamazoos higher learning institutes. Downtown Kalamazoo offers a variety of
restaurants, a growing brewing sector with internationally ranked beers,9 and is host to various
events and festivals that drew over 120,000 attendees in 2014.10 The citizens of Kalamazoo are
involved in a myriad of community and nonprofit organizations. Kalamazoo is home to over 15
neighborhood and community organizations that implement such projects as community
gardens and neighborhood revitalization efforts.11
This Climate Action Plan is not the first effort by Kalamazoos government to take action
to prevent environmental damage in southwest Michigan. In 2009, Kalamazoo's mayor, Bobby
Hopewell signed the Southwest Michigan Regional Sustainability Covenant alongside the
mayors of Battle Creek and Portage, leaders from the health, business, and education sectors,
the Kalamazoo Nature Center, and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Signatories of the covenant pledged to incorporate the goals of environmental, social, and
economic protection into their areas of influence.12 Currently, the City's government is
implementing a planning initiative called Imagine Kalamazoo 2025 (IK2025). IK2025's aim is to
reach out to the people of Kalamazoo to align Kalamazoo's 2025 Master Plan with their goals
and values.13 Community members who participated in IK2025 planning identified
environmental responsibility as one of their most highly valued goals for city planning. The

7
Census Reporter. "Kalamazoo, MI." Accessed March 13, 2017.
https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US2642160-kalamazoo-mi/.
8
The City of Kalamazoo. Accessed March 13, 2017. http://www.kalamazoocity.org.
9
Discover Kalamazoo. "Quality by the Barrel." Accessed March 13, 2017.
http://www.discoverkalamazoo.com/drink/beer/.
10
Downtown Kalamazoo. "About Downtown." Accessed March 13, 2017.
http://www.downtownkalamazoo.org/About-Downtown.aspx.
11
Kalamazoo Public Library. "Local Organization Directory." Accessed March 13, 2017. http://www.kpl.gov/local-
organizations/?subject=NEIGHBORHOOD%20GROUPS.
12
Tom Haroldson "Southwest Michigan officials collaborate to sign 'sustainability covenant'." MLive, May 21, 2009.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/05/southwest_michigan_officials_c.html
13
Imagine Kalamazoo 2025. "What is Imagine Kalamazoo 2025." Accessed April 3, 2017.
http://www.imaginekalamazoo.com/about/.

10
community engagement conducted by Imagine Kalamazoo demonstrates that the actions to
moderate climate change presented in this plan are in line with citizen values.
Support for the City's action on climate change can be drawn from many sectors. In
2010, the Kalamazoo City Commission adopted a master plan to guide development and growth
for the City. The plan discusses the Citys challenges and resources regarding land use,
transportation, infrastructure and quality of life. The plan also sets a major goal for the City: to
enhance and transform the Citys environmental resources for the future.14 Climate protection
efforts are already well underway in Kalamazoo. Citizen groups are involved in local climate
intervention efforts. The Kalamazoo Climate Change Coalition (KCCC) is a collaborative effort
between the Kalamazoo Nature Center, business leaders and community members. The KCCC
organizes several action groups that address transportation, storm water management, green
infrastructure, access to sustainably produced food, and energy efficiency. The KCCC has
engaged in climate change work as varied as developing research to encourage biking in
Kalamazoo, increasing access to rain barrels, and conducting education initiatives on increasing
the energy efficiency of Kalamazoo homes.15
Kalamazoo also benefits from the influence of its higher education institutions. Western
Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, and Kalamazoo Valley Community College bring
motivated and civically engaged students, faculty, speakers, and events to the City.
Sustainability initiatives have been pioneered by Western Michigan University faculty and
students. The University established an environmental studies program in 197216 and a full-
time recycling coordinator for the university in 1990.17 Between 1992 and 1997 WMU made the
switch from coal-fired electricity to a natural gas cogeneration plant that provides steam heat
and electricity to WMUs main campus while significantly reducing carbon pollution. In 2010,
the student body passed a sustainability fee that charges students a small amount per semester
to fund the distribution of reusable travel mugs and grants for sustainability projects.
In 2011 several WMU faculty launched an Interdisciplinary Humanities Group for the
Study of Climate Change, later renamed the Climate Change Working Group. It has launched a
climate change minor as an area of study at Western and carried out significant education on
various aspects of climate change at Western, in Kalamazoo, and beyond.
In 2012, WMU adopted its own climate action plan to continue to reduce the
greenhouse gas emissions it produces. The plan aims to cut net carbon emissions from WMU to
zero by 2065. Initiatives will include a continuation of previous green activities, like reusing
frying oil from residence halls as biofuel and constructing all new buildings and renovations to
LEED standards. Additionally, the plan calls for greenhouse gas emission reductions through
increases in campus housing that reduce the need for commuting, composting of waste

14
"2010 Kalamazoo Master Plan." Kalamazoo City Commission, June 21, 2010.
15
Pancella, Paul. "Working Groups." Kalamazoo Nature Center. November 6, 2015. Accessed March 20, 2017.
http://www.naturecenter.org/Climate.aspx.
16
Pancella, Paul and Harold Glasser. Western Michigan University. 2012 Climate Action Plan. April 12, 2012.
17
Office for Sustainability. Western Michigan University. Accessed March 13, 2017.
https://wmich.edu/sustainability/about

11
produced by the university, switching campus vehicles to electric or biofuel powered vehicles,
and buying electricity sourced from renewable production. At the outset of implementation for
the Climate Action Plan in 2009, Western Michigan University's baseline CO-equivalent
emissions was at 123,550 tons.18 Since Implementation of WMUs climate action plan, the
University has made impressive progress towards lowering its carbon emissions and mitigating
its climate impacts. The university has continued to increase its energy efficiency by decreasing
the total energy used to heat and power university buildings every year. Western has also
installed photo-voltaic solar panels with the capacity to produce 300kW per year.19 Kalamazoo
College has pledged to cut its emissions 25% by 2020.20 In its own climate action plan it also lays
out a plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.21

Targets for Reducing Carbon Pollution

The Paris Agreement, ratified in 2016, is the international communitys plan for
addressing climate change. It aims to hold global warming well below 2C above pre-
industrial levels, and to try to hold it to 1.5C. It is the first comprehensive climate change
accord, negotiated by representatives of 195 countries (most of the countries in the world), a
result of the process launched with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Unfortunately, however, even though it was 24 years
in the making, the national commitments that the Paris Agreement contains are not enough by
themselves to achieve its goals. These commitments are called nationally determined
contributions, and they represent each countrys self-determined contribution to reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. The Paris Agreement does not include a way to monitor each
countrys emissions, and there is no sanction, or punishment, in case a country fails to reach
the target it set for itself. Also, all the nationally determined contributions together are only
enough to reduce global warming to about 2.9C above preindustrial levels,22 far beyond the
2C target and 1.5C aspiration.

In the Paris Agreement the United States committed to reduce our national carbon
emissions to 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025. In order to hold warming even to the 2C
target, (and barring a technical breakthrough that makes it affordable to capture CO from the
atmosphere, and there is no such breakthrough on the horizon) for the United States to do its
part we will need to continue to reduce emissions to around 90% below 2005 levels by 2050.

18
Pancella, Paul and Glasser, Harold. Western Michigan University. 2012 Climate Action Plan. April 12, 2012.
19
Pancella, Paul. "Western Michigan University's Climate Action Plan-Implementation Status." Western Michigan
University (November 6, 2015).
20
Barrett, Malachi. "Benefits of Kalamazoo climate action plan worth challenges, experts say." MLive, March 30,
2017. Accessed April 5, 2017.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2017/03/benefits_of_climate_action_pla.html.
21
Kalamazoo College. "Kalamazoo College Sustainability and Climate Action Plan." 2010. Accessed January 10, 2010.
22
Rogelj, Joeri et al., 2016, Paris Agreement climate proposals need a boost to keep warming well below 2C,
Nature, Vol. 534, p. 634.

12
 Kalamazoo needs to do its part too. There is no apparent reason we should do more or
less than other parts of the country, so this Climate Action Plan proposes we adopt the same
targets our country has chosen: to reduce our citys carbon emissions to 26-28% below 2005
levels by 2025 and to around 90% below 2005 levels by 2050.

(More precisely, we propose the Citys target should be to reduce emissions of ALL
greenhouse gasses, carbon dioxide and the others, to a total equivalent to 26-28% below 2005
levels by 2025, but for simplicity and ease of reading in this plan we usually just say carbon
dioxide or CO.)

To identify specific reduction targets the logical starting point is to identify the City of
Kalamazoos 2005 emission levels. There is a standard approach for establishing a citys
greenhouse gas inventory, but this has not yet been carried out for Kalamazoo, and different
information sources suggest quite different starting points. A representative from Consumers
Energy told us City of Kalamazoo residents used about 490 million kilowatt hours (KWh) of
electricity in 2016, which works out to about 17,500 KWh per household. However, the state
average is about 7,800 KWh per year per household.23 This Plan has drawn extensively from the
climate action plan that Ann Arbor established in 2012,24 particularly in suggestions for actions
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Consumers Energy information puts Kalamazoo
residents and commercial/industrial greenhouse gas emissions far above those for Ann Arbor,
as well as above state averages. More research is clearly needed, but this Plan bases its
estimate of Kalamazoo greenhouse gas emissions on the Ann Arbor estimates, which are more
in line with state and national averages. Even if our estimates turn out to be significantly in
error, the same actions will still be priorities.

Total greenhouse gas emissions in Ann Arbor were about 2,200,000 metric tons of
carbon dioxide equivalent (COe) in 2010. About 30% of this was from the University of
Michigan; excluding the university the Citys emissions were about 1,540,000 metric tons. And
Ann Arbors 2010 population was 113,934, so per capita emissions (excluding the university)
were about 13.5 metric tons.

In 2010 the City of Kalamazoos population was 74,324. Assuming the same per capita
emissions in Kalamazoo as Ann Arbor (this time excluding both universities, U of M and WMU),
total emissions for Kalamazoo in 2010 were about 1,005,000 metric tons, or 13.5 tons per
person.25 Across the United States, carbon emissions fell 8% from 2005 to 2010; applying this
rate the 2005 emissions for Kalamazoo were about 1,092,000 metric tons. Therefore, for a 27%

23
U.S. Energy Information Administration, How much electricity does an American home use? Accessed March
31, 2017, https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=97&t=3
24
City of Ann Arbor and a2energy.org, 2012, City of Ann Arbor: Climate Action Plan, Accessed January 5, 2017,
http://www.a2gov.org/departments/systems-planning/planning-
areas/energy/Documents/CityofAnnArborClimateActionPlan_low%20res_12_17_12.pdf
25
Consumers Energy told us the City of Kalamazoo used 1,854 million kWh of electricity and 13.7 million cubic feet
of natural gas in 2016, which would mean about 27.6 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per person.

13
reduction from 2005 levels by 2025, Kalamazoo needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions
to about 797,000 metric tons. By 2015 Kalamazoos population had increased by 2.4% to
76,041. Assuming no further change in population, the 2025 greenhouse gas target per person
in Kalamazoo is 10.5 metric tons of COe. Under the given assumptions, to reach 10% of 2005
levels by 2050 we need to reduce our total greenhouse gas emissions to 109,000 metric tons
COe or about 1.4 metric tons per person, again assuming no change from our 2015
population.26

The Ann Arbor Climate Action Plan also estimates annual greenhouse gas reductions for
each action in their plan. These estimates are largely based on formulae provided by ICLEI-Local
Governments for Sustainability, an international organization that provides technical
consulting, training and information services to build capacity, share knowledge and support
local government in the implementation of sustainable development at the local level. We have
not been in a position to make these calculations, and of course the level of effort on each
greenhouse gas-reducing action in Kalamazoo will be different from that in Ann Arbor.
However, for a rough estimate, with all the actions described in this plan implemented, and
assuming greenhouse gas reductions in Kalamazoo proportional to its population size relative
to Ann Arbor, i.e. 65%, at the rates estimated for each action in Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo would
see a 128,500 annual reduction in metric tons of carbon dioxide and its equivalent in other
greenhouse gasses. That is, these actions offer roughly a twelve percentage point reduction out
of the twenty seven percentage point reduction targeted for 2005 to 2025.27 This shows how
important it is for Michigan to more quickly increase the share of electricity generation from
solar and wind and for the vehicles we drive to become more fuel efficient.

In Ann Arbor, the sources of greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 (excluding U of M) were
residential (31%), commercial industrial (36%), transportation (31%) and waste (1%). Assuming
the same distribution in Kalamazoo, and assuming the same proportion of reduction in each
area, greenhouse gas reduction targets for Kalamazoo are shown in Table 1.

It will certainly be a challenge for Kalamazoo to go from probably around 13.5 tons per
person in 2017 to 10.5 tons of carbon dioxide per person by 2025. It will require significant
action by our City government, by businesses, and by citizens even beyond those described
here. It will also require Consumers Energy, our main electricity and natural gas supplier, to
include more renewable energy (mainly solar and wind) in the power we use to heat and cool
our homes and other buildings, and increased fuel efficiency in our vehicles. We expect that
reaching the target will require significant new organization and investment from the City, and
we appreciate that this will only be possible with support from citizens. It is our hope that this
proposed Kalamazoo Climate Action Plan will help to mobilize this support.

26
The Ann Arbor Climate Action Plan aims to reduce COe emissions to 10% of their 2000 level by 2050 (p. 34).
27
Note that about half of this estimated greenhouse gas reduction for Kalamazoo comes from Maximizing
purchase of Michigan renewable energy (e.g. through Consumers Energy Green GenerationTM program), similarly
to the Ann Arbor plan.

14
 Table 1
Kalamazoo Estimated Greenhouse Gas Emissions
2010 Baselines (estimates) by Sector and 2025 Reduction Targets
(MT C02e, rounded to nearest 1000)

Year Residential Commercial/ Transportation Waste Total

Industrial

2010 314,000 367,000 312,000 13,000 1,005,000

31% 36% 31% 1% 100%
2025 249,000 291,000 247,000 10,000 797,000

15
 Areas for Action

1. Buildings

As noted in Table 1, the Residential and Commercial/Industrial sectors make up over

two thirds of Kalamazoos estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and most of this comes
from buildings. The actions described below for reducing GHG emissions from buildings make
up 80% of this plans total estimated emission reductions. In order to reach the plans emission
reduction targets for 2025 and 2050 it will probably be necessary for our electricity suppliers, at
this time mainly Consumers Energy, to shift more of their electricity production from carbon-
based sources (coal, natural gas, and oil) to renewable sources. While not listed as a separate
action, this is something for which the City of Kalamazoo and its residents can advocate.

Investing in the resiliency, durability and efficiency of Kalamazoos buildings and housing
stock is a safe bet, and the City is not the only one that wins. Residents will have safer, healthier

1. Buildings 16
and more comfortable homes as well as lower utility bills. Property owners will have longer
lasting and more valuable properties. Local contractors and organizations will have more work
to do and will hire more workers. The City benefits from more money staying in the local
economy and from becoming a more attractive place to live and work. Prioritizing low-income
housing is also a win-win-win. Since people living in poverty have less money for the ongoing
maintenance of their homes, their homes are often the ones most in need of repairs and
efficiency upgrades. This improves the living conditions inside the homes and reduces the
expenses of those most in need while seizing the greatest opportunities for reducing energy
consumption and therefore COe emissions. Significantly, residents of Kalamazoo identified
environmental responsibility, economic success, community strength and community safety as
top priorities during the Imagine Kalamazoo 2025 process. Reducing the energy used by our
buildings and homes is directly in line with these values.

The great news is that this work is already being done here in Kalamazoo by resident
experts who are passionate about their work. Organizations like Community Homeworks
(CHW), Better World Builders LLC (BWB), Habitat for Humanity and Kalamazoo County's
Weatherization Program are working tirelessly - with long waiting lists - to improve the homes
of Kalamazoos most vulnerable residents. Business owners and residents with greater means
also have many opportunities already available to finance energy efficiency upgrades that pay
for themselves. Partnerships between the various providers of energy and energy efficiency
services have also been formed to improve services and help reduce cost. For instance, BWB
has had trade partnerships with Consumers Energy and Michigan Saves since 2009. These
partnerships mandate BWB to fund projects with Consumers Energy Rebates and benefit from
the provisions of the Michigan Saves Residential and Commercial Energy Efficiency Loan
Programs. Yet, during this time of political uncertainty organizations like CHW are having to
make choices to reduce services in preparation for anticipated cuts to their federal funding.
Furthermore, many property owners do not know about the different financing mechanisms
and how they could benefit. With so much untapped potential, there is no better time than
now for the City of Kalamazoo to step forward and lead community efforts to address the
health, safety and efficiency of our Citys buildings and homes.

But what is the potential for impact? Well, buildings and homes require energy for
heating and cooling as well as for lighting, pumping water and operating appliances. All of
these combined make buildings and homes one of the biggest sources of CO emissions in any
community. In 2015 the US Energy Information Administration estimated that around 40% of
total energy consumption in the United States was from buildings: 21% from residential units
and 18% from commercial units.28 For the year 2016, total energy consumption in the United
States was 97,000 trillion Btu equivalent to 2.9 billion kWh of electricity.29

28
US EIA (2015) Use of Energy in the United States Explained Accessed April 14, 2017,
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=us_energy_use.
29
Source: U.S Energy Information Administration- Monthly Energy Review, March 2017 (Table 2.1).
https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec2_3.pdf Accessed March 31, 2017

17
 In the City of Kalamazoo there are about 28,000 occupied housing units and over 95% of
these are heated using natural gas or electricity.30 Consumers Energy estimates that energy
consumption in the City stood at 1,854,155,586 kWh of electricity and 13,757,081 MCF of
natural gas for the year 2016 alone. Of this, 487,415,203 kWh of electricity and 4,005,998 MCF
of natural gas was consumed by residential units.31 As much as 30% of this energy use is
estimated to have been wasted due to poor insulation and leaks as well as other shortfalls in
weatherization and energy efficiency including old and inefficient electrical appliances.32 Thus,
the actions recommended in this section make good sense economically and have the potential
to significantly reduce our impact on the environment.

1.1 Weatherizing existing housing stock

Weatherization is the fortification of building units against adverse effects of the
elements rain, snow, sunshine and other weather conditions. Weatherizing buildings make
them more efficient by reducing energy lost through leakages. It also makes indoor spaces
more comfortable. Weatherizing the existing housing stock in the City of Kalamazoo will
accrue savings to residents in the form of reduced utility bills, freeing money for other
expenses. Experts from Michigan Saves estimate that their energy efficiency installations across
Michigan save over 60 million kWh of electricity annually and reduce carbon emissions by an
estimated 53,336 MT per year (see Table 2 below). The 6,088,509 kWh of electricity Michigan
Saves estimates to have saved from 2009 to 2016 is enough to power 6518 homes for a year.
Similarly, the Sonoma County PACE program estimates it cuts carbon emissions by about 10,452
tons of COe per year. Michigan Saves estimates that residential customers save an average of
$310 a year in utility bills, increasing to $7615 for commercial units.33 Presently, organizations
like CHW, Better World Builders, Lean & Green Michigan, Michigan Saves, Habitat for
Humanity, and Kalamazoo County provide weatherization services for industrial, commercial
and privately owned buildings within the City of Kalamazoo. However, opportunities for such
increased savings and reduced consumption and emissions are not fully utilized. The following
table outlines the different programs, the services they offer and the plan's suggested actions
for maximizing the use of these programs for energy efficiency upgrades and to reduce carbon
emissions.

30
American Fact Finder Selected Housing Characteristics 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates.
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_5YR_DP04&prodType
=table
31
Personal communication with Todd Duncan from CE.
32
Levin Energy Lean Green Michigan http://leanandgreenmi.com/how_pace_works;
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/articles/how-much-can-you-really-save-energy-efficient-improvements
33
Michigan Saves Smart Energy Newsletter, "By The Numbers" Published Feb. 9, 2017. Accessed March 30, 2017

18
 Table 2: Activities and outcomes of selected energy efficiency programs
Energy Efficiency Eligibility Financing
Organization Upgrades offered
Consumers Home performance - All Consumers -The State of Michigan mandates a
Energy analysis. Rebates on LED Energy customers- portion of utility bills goes directly to
light and energy efficient Residential and support this program.
appliances. Some Commercial. -Some free services and the rest are
showerheads, faucet -A limited out of pocket
aerators, and assessment and
programmable some upgrades are
thermostats. CE also offers free of charge.
assessments and upgrades -More
for some commercial comprehensive
properties. assessments and
upgrades are
available for a fee,
some with rebates.

Habitat for -Gutting and total
Humanity rehabilitation of existing
homes to high levels of
efficiency.
-New construction of an
energy efficient tiny house
to be complete in April
2017.
-Critical Home Repairs
Michigan -Renewable energy
Saves installations like soar units.
-Energy efficiency
upgrades like insulation,
energy efficient appliances
and reflective roofs.
-Non-profit and low -Families Contribute 300-500 "sweat
income residential equity hours for a new or rehabbed
units home. The home is then financed
-Residents who without profit by Habitat for Humanity
make 30-60% of and the families pay the mortgage until
Area Median the home is paid off.
Income are eligible. -Families contribute 8-40 hours of
sweat equity for home repairs and
receive affordable financing.
-Private and -Loans from financial institutions
commercial housing -State subsidies and rebates
units
-Businesses and
public sector
buildings
-Property must be in
the State of
Michigan

19
 Energy Efficiency Eligibility Financing
Organization Upgrades offered

Community -Full and partial -Must be a -Donations from individuals and

Homeworks weatherization of Consumers Energy charitable foundations
residential units Customer who owns -Grants from the City of Kalamazoo
-Critical home repairs for and lives in the -Total of 254 volunteer hours from 59
low income households home. individual volunteers between
-Heating and cooling -Home must be in September, 2014 and December, 2015.
system repairs including Kalamazoo County -Copayments from property
furnace replacement and -Annual household owners/residents based on their
maintenance income should be income and the cost of the repairs.
-Educates and trains the below 80% of Area
public on energy Median Income.
conservation strategies
and technical skills
through education
programs organized by the
organization.
Kalamazoo -Install insulation in key Depending on the The CAA Weatherization program is
County areas grant used the funded by DOE and the Low Income
Government -Check for natural gas and family must be Home Energy Assistance Program
Community carbon monoxide leaks below either 150% The program is free to the client. It
Action near the combustion or 200% of the does not require any repayment.
Agency appliances federal income
-Tune up, repair or replace poverty guidelines.
furnaces and hot water Depending on the
heaters clients income
-Install bath fans and inline level, both funding
fans to achieve ASHRAE sources can be
compliance used.
-Fix poorly vented
appliances
-Install smoke detectors
and CO alarms
-Caulk windows, weather
strip doors
-Replace broken glass in
windows
-Install LEDs
-Create an access to the
attic
-Create or improve attic
ventilation with roof vents,
gables, and baffles

20
 Energy Efficiency
Organization Upgrades offered
PACE / Levin -Weatherization
Energy/ -Renewable energy
Lean Green installation e.g. solar units
Michigan -Energy saving lightbulbs
and motion sensing
installation
Better -Comprehensive energy
World audits for homes and
Builders businesses.
-Full service energy
efficiency installations
including insulation
replacement and additions
and sealing drafts.
- Installs windows, doors,
furnaces, AC, and indoor
air quality equipment.
-Net Zero home
construction
Eligibility Financing
-Property must be -Loans from private investors and
located within the banks like Lockheed Martin, Wells
Kalamazoo PACE Fargo and Johnson Controls.
District (Kalamazoo -No upfront costs. Projects are 100%
County). financed from the start.
-Industrial, -Loan repayments are tied to any
commercial existing mortgage and transferred to
properties successive property owners.
(including -Loan is repaid through a special
commercially assessment tax.
owned multifamily)
and not for profits
valued at at least $1
million
-Estimated cost of
retrofitting must be
at least $250,000
-Privately funded by homeowners,
business owners and landlords.
-Consumers Energy rebates for clients
(up to $3500)
-Asbestos claims of up to $4125
21
 Table 3: Outcomes of selected energy efficiency programs
Organization Achievements to date
Consumers Energy The Energy Efficiency
program reports the
following energy savings in
the City of Kalamazoo from
2009 to March, 2017:
-Total first year residential
energy savings: 66,771,274
kWh of electricity and
525,383 MCF of natural gas
-Total first year commercial
and industrial energy
savings: 89,568,724 KWh of
electricity and 948,878 MCF
of natural gas.35
Habitat for -4-5 rehabilitated homes per
Humanity year along with many critical
home repairs at least half of
which are within the city
limits. Construction Manager
Tom Tishler estimates a 20-
30% reduction in energy use
for these homes.
-Won CE's Excellence in
Energy Efficiency Award for
the highly efficient rehab of a
90 year old home in the
Oakwood Neighborhood.
The home was rated 51%
Recommendation
-To invest more in the
expansion of renewable
energy sources to reduce
the dependence on fossil
fuels like coal.
-Promote the use of the
free energy audits and
upgrades.
1.Provide funding to double
Habitat for Humanity's
capacity to provide energy
efficient new construction,
renovations, critical home
repairs and weatherization
for low income families.
2. Form a working group to
figure out an economical
way to address lead paint in
and on homes in
Kalamazoo. The cost
associated with lead paint
removal has prevented
Energy Savings /CO2e
Reduction34
-If CE doubled
participation in its
energy efficiency
program, the annual
first year energy
savings for homes
could increase by
8,902,837 kWh and
70,051 MCF reducing
CO2e emissions by as
much as 10,090 metric
tons and the annual
first year savings for
commercial and
industrial properties
could be as high as
11,942,497kWh and
126,517MCF saving
15,316 metric tons of
CO2e36
If Habitat for
Humanity's capacity is
doubled, at least 5
additional homes
(using an average of
7,800kWh per year)
would become around
30% more efficient
meaning an
approximate reduction
of 11,700 kWh of
electricity and 8.2
metric tons of COe.
Many more homes

34
To calculate savings we estimate the annual household electricity use for Kalamazoo to be around 7,800 kWh
per home. This is based on usage rates in Michigan reported by the EIA it is also consistent with the average rate
of usage measured by Kalamazoo County's weatherization program for 12 homes prior to weatherization in
2014/15. The average natural gas usage is strictly an estimate based on the average annual usage observed by the
Kalamazoo County weatherization program for 11 homes prior to completing their interventions in 2014/15. For all
but the County's program we are only estimating the reduction in electricity use. Although, there would likely be a
reduction in natural gas use for all of these programs we do not have enough information to estimate the reduced
usage at this time.
35
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/articles/how-much-can-you-really-save-energy-efficient-improvements
36
These numbers are based on an average of the first year savings divided by the number of years the program has
been in place (approximately 7.5 years) to give an average annual savings.

22
 more efficient than the
average new home on the
market.
Organization Achievements to date
Michigan Saves -Michigan Saves estimates its
annual energy savings for
The City of Kalamazoo to be
159,672 kWh of electricity
and 28429 Btu for thermal.
-For the City of Kalamazoo
alone, Michigan Saves has
financed 160 loans for
residential units since 2010
totaling $1,486,894 saving a
total of 111,184 kWh
annually. Since 2012 They
have financed 4 loans
totaling $162,764 for
commercial property owners
in the City of Kalamazoo and
reports savings of 48488.60
kWh per year for these
commercial units.37
Community -According to Executive
Homeworks Director Shaun Wright CHW
plans to provide about 10-15
whole house weatherizations
this year along with 50 or so
mechanical system upgrades.
He estimates an average
energy savings between 50-
70%.
-Since January 2011, CHW
has provided the following
services:
-22,803 sq. ft. of attic
insulation installed
-27,002 sq. ft. of wall
insulation installed.
37
Data from email correspondence with Michigan Saves
Habitat from being able to
help a number of families in
Kalamazoo.
Recommendation
-Consider a program to buy
down interest rates for
residents who finance
renewable energy and
energy efficiency upgrades
through Michigan Saves.
-Promote the use of
Michigan Saves for
financing renewable energy
and energy efficiency
upgrades.
1.To double the capacity of
the CHW by providing more
funding for provision of
energy efficiency upgrades,
critical home repair and
weatherization services
especially to low income
householdsthey currently
have a one year long
waiting list.
2. Reconcile the Michigan
Residential Housing Code
with the City's housing code
to eliminate contradictions
and make it easier to
implement and enforce.
23
could be brought to
health and safety
standards that would
make them eligible for
Kalamazoo County's
weatherization
program.
Energy Savings /CO2e
Reduction
Since Michigan Saves
can also finance solar
energy, the sky is the
limit for this program
in terms of energy
savings. On average
Michigan Saves
finances about 25
projects per year in the
city of Kalamazoo. If
20 additional homes
financed energy
efficiency upgrades to
reduce their energy
use by around 30% and
5 additional homes
financed solar energy.
This could save an
additional 85,800 kWh
of electricity and 60.3
metric tons of CO2
If CHW was able to
double its capacity,
completing 15
additional whole house
weatherizations and at
least 50 additional
mechanical systems
upgrades, this could
reducing energy use by
50% for the whole
home renovations and
an estimated 5% for
the other upgrades
saving a total of
78,000 kWh of
electricity and 54.8
 -384 households
participating in small scale
energy efficiency.
-50 whole house
weatherizations (air sealing
ventilation, insulation etc.).
-High efficiency water heater
systems for 203
households.38
-267 heating systems
replaced
-3726 LED or CFL bulbs
installed.
- 72 classes and workshops
organized between
September, 2014 and
December, 2015 with a total
602 attendees.
This process should include metric tons of CO2
key stakeholders like
Community Homeworks,
Habitat for Humanity,
Kalamazoo Neighborhood
Housing Services (KNHS)
and other housing and
energy organizations to
allow for expert input on
building science and energy
efficiency.
3. The City of Kalamazoo
should partner with CHW to
promote public education
on energy conservation
initiatives and practices as
well as the retrofitting
opportunities available.

Organization Achievements to date Recommendation Energy Savings /CO2e

Kalamazoo County -In 2016 52 low-income
Government homes were weatherized
Community Action through this program.
Agency -In 2014 a sample of 12
homes that participated in
this program were able to
reduce electricity use by an
average of 12%, some by as
much as 40%, the homes
also had a 35% average
reduction in natural gas
usage.
-The overall average savings
on energy per home was
$413
1. Due to restrictions on
funding, the CAA is unable
to weatherize homes with
too many health and safety
issues. They must keep an
average cost per job at
about $7,000. If the home
needs more work than that
to be healthy the program
cannot offer their services.
Common problems in city
homes include electrical
hazards, water damage and
mold. The city can help low
income families pay to
address health and safety
issues so they can
participate in the CAA
program.
2. The CAA is also limited by
the National Energy Audit
tool they are required to
use which is based on
Reduction
If through these
recommendations the
county were able to
increase its capacity
and serve an additional
20 low income families
per year, this could
reduce their electricity
usage by 10% and
natural gas usage by
30%. This would
reduce energy use by
15,600 kWh of
electricity and 426 MCF
of natural gas
therefore preventing
34.2 metric tons of CO2
from being released
into the atmosphere.

38
Community Homeworks 2014-2015 Annual Report.
https://communityhomeworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/in-annual-report-format.pdf Accessed March
24th, 2017.

24

Organization Achievements to date
PACE / Levin -No projects to date in
Energy Solutions Kalamazoo County
LLC / Lean Green -A US$978,600 retrofit of the
Michigan Heller Machine Tools Plant in
Troy (100,000 sq. ft.)
-16000 sq. ft. solar array for
Powers Distributing, a beer
distributor in Orion
Township. Project reportedly
reduced the utility bill from
about US$205,000 in 2013 to
about US$139,000 in 2014.
Better World -Completed comprehensive
Builders LLC and semi-comprehensive
energy retrofits for 48 homes
and 3 businesses in the City
of Kalamazoo in 2016,
money saved, not the
amount of energy saved.
The City could subsidize the
cost of energy efficiency
upgrades for homes that do
not qualify for upgrades
based on the savings to
investment ratio.
Recommendation Energy Savings /CO2e
Reduction
1. According to Cory Much like with
Connolly of Levin Energy Michigan Saves there is
the biggest challenge for an amazing potential
the PACE program is getting for savings here if
people to understand it. commercial properties
They have held training for begin to finance solar
contractors in Kalamazoo in installations through
the past and are willing to the PACE Program. Just
collaborate to repeat the one solar installation
training. The city can like the one installed at
partner with Levin Energy KALSEC could produce
and local organizations like 150,000 kWh of
the KCCC and local electricity annually
contractors to provide reducing CO2 by 105
training and promote the metric tons.
program.
2.The city may also be able
to use Qualified Energy
Conservation Bonds to buy
down the interest rates on
PACE loans.
3.Advocate for the
reduction of the $1 million
property value and the
$250,000 to about
$500,000 and $100,000
respectively to increase
eligibility. E.g. In Sonoma
County California, the
minimum for PACE
financing under the
Sonoma County Energy
Independence Program is
$2,500.
-Provide incentives for
property owners to have
comprehensive energy
audits. E.g. subsidize energy
audits. This will help to
25
 averaging annual cost
savings of 38% ($786 per
home) and 33% for
commercial buildings.
-BWB is a PACE certified
energy upgrade provider and
was awarded for Excellence
in Energy Efficiency by
Consumers Energy in 2014
and 2015.
prioritize opportunities.
-Use certified contractors
to commit to quality, tested
installations.
-Provide 0% financing for
low and moderate income
households for energy
efficiency upgrades, lead
paint
encapsulation/abatement,
knob and tube wiring
updates, and fiberglass
and/or asbestos insulation
removal.

1.2 Renovate energy efficient affordable housing units

As mentioned above, prioritizing affordable housing not only addresses equity, it just
makes sense economically and environmentally. Around a third of renters in Kalamazoo make
less than $20,000 per year and yet pay more than 30 percent of their household income
towards housing costs.39 Of homeowners in Kalamazoo who earn less than 20,000 dollars per
year, around 80% use more than 30% of their household income to pay for housing costs. 40
Thus, housing costs are a major burden for many low-income community members in the City.
Highly energy efficient affordable housing can reduce this burden.
Currently in the City of Kalamazoo, CHW, Habitat for Humanity and Kalamazoo County
have been working specifically with low income families to realize energy efficiency upgrades
(see Table 2). These organizations are facing many challenges and have great insight as to what
needs to be done to improve housing for those most in need. Builders in Kalamazoo understand
the complexity of improving energy efficiency in buildings and homes. It goes way beyond
piling in additional insulation. Problems like peeling lead paint, unsafe electrical wiring, mold
and improper ventilation are common, and must also be addressed. Reducing energy use
also improves the resiliency and durability of the home. Quality repairs and upgrades that
address the roots of the problems lead to a longer lasting home that will require fewer
resources in the future. Each of these programs has a long waiting list of families hoping to
receive their services and there is great potential to expand these services.
An example of an organization that is effectively working to improve energy efficiency
for low-income families is Living Cully in Portland Oregon. The Living Cully Home Repair and
Weatherization Project pooled resources from a number of sources including Habitat for

39
United States Census Bureaus American Community Survey 2015 1-year estimates retrieved from American Fact
Finder.
40
United States Census Bureaus American Community Survey 2015 1-year estimates retrieved from American Fact
Finder.

26
Humanity, the County Health Department and the City of Portland's Housing Bureau. The
project uses local businesses and residents to carry out the work and prioritizes businesses
owned by women and minorities. 20 low income homes in the Cully neighborhood were
targeted for home weatherization, energy efficiency upgrades and repairs.41
This plan recommends the City of Kalamazoo take the following actions to make more
energy efficient affordable housing available:
1. Provide financing to double the operations of the non-profits like CHW and Habitat for
Humanity.
2. Provide funding for health and safety upgrades that would allow homes to comply with
the health and safety standards necessary to participate in the county weatherization
program.
3. Provide funding to address lead paint removal in homes in Kalamazoo - a major barrier
to home upgrades and repairs.
4. Designate a City employee to work with Consumers Energy to ensure 100% of low
income homes in Kalamazoo receive a free Home Energy Analysis as well as free
upgrades such as LED bulbs, faucet aerators and pipe insulationthis program already
exists through Consumers Energy.42 Consider involving neighborhood associations.
5. Where the City is financing energy efficiency upgrades prioritize using local companies
to carry out the work with special consideration given to businesses owned by women
and minorities.
6. Where the City is financing energy efficiency upgrades on a significant scale, support
local contractors in employing residents of the neighborhoods in which most
weatherization takes place to do the work. In this way low-income neighborhoods will
gain both employment opportunities and skills for maintaining improvements.
7. Where the City is financing energy efficiency upgrades, require third party quality
assurance to a minimum set standard in line with the 2015 IECC.
8. The City can consider revising zoning ordinances that inhibit construction of affordable
tiny homes such as the minimum lot size requirement, the setback requirement, and
restrictions that limit the number of buildings on a lot.
9. Initiate an awareness campaign that provides information to community members
about the benefits of improved efficiency and the resources available to assist them (see
Table 2). This awareness campaign can maximize its reach by incorporating more
modern methods of public interaction like social media and video games. For instance
using catchy hashtags like #GreenKzoo and #SaveEnergyChallenge to start a social
media awareness program and encouraging video games that promote environmental
protection and climate action like Clim'Way and RecycleCity.

It Starts with You

#GreenKzoo
The City of Kalamazoo Can begin a social media campaign to encourage energy conservation
41
http://www.livingcully.org/programs/affordable-housing/home-repair-and-weatherization/
and green lifestyle among residents using catchy hashtags. For instance,
42
https://www.consumersenergy.com/residential/save-money-and-energy/assessments/home-energy-analysis
-Take a picture of what you are doing to reduce your carbon footprint
-Upload to social media with #GreenKzoo
-Tag two friends to do the same 27
1.3 Stimulate continued investment in weatherization, energy efficiency upgrades and
renewable energy for historic homes
Kalamazoo has five historic districts with over 2075 properties and is one of only four
cities in Michigan that employs a full time Historic Preservation Coordinator. There are also
over 9,000 homes in Kalamazoo built before 1939. Needless to say, when many of these homes
were built energy efficiency was not in the vocabulary of the designers and builders of these
homes. But, it is in the vocabulary of many who own these homes today. Thus, there is a
special need to address energy efficiency in historic homes in Kalamazoo. In the past there
were state level income tax credits that partially compensated homeowners who invested in
the weatherization of historic buildings and homes in Kalamazoo. According to data from
Kalamazoos own Historic Preservation Coordinator, Sharon Ferraro, this program was
extremely successful until it was discontinued in 2012. In fact, Kalamazoo was the largest per-
capita user of the tax credit in the state. From 1999-2009 people in Kalamazoo invested over
3.5 million dollars in homes and businesses with the average residential project totaling around
22,500 dollars. There is a significant opportunity for the City to stimulate further investment in
its historic collection of buildings and homes.
The plan recommends the City considers the following steps to increase energy
efficiency:
1. Provide property tax incentives or rebates for weatherization and energy efficiency or
renewable energy upgrades in historic districts.
2. The Historic Preservation Commission can collaborate with local builders and energy
efficiency experts such as Better World Builders to evaluate current weatherization and
renovation practices in order to identify ways new technology can improve efficiency,
reduce energy use and maximize the adoption of renewable energy options while
preserving the historic nature of building and homes in these districts. When possible
provide flexibility in laws governing renewable energy installations to promote adoption
of renewable energy units. For example, existing codes discourage solar panel
installations in historic districts, as solar panels must not be visible from the street.

1.4 Strengthen housing code energy standards for rental properties

All of the roughly 16,000 rental properties in the City of Kalamazoo are required to be
registered and inspected about every 2 years and at the time of sale. Currently, Chapter 17 of
the Kalamazoo Code of Ordinances, which describes the inspection criteria for rental
properties, does not include basic energy efficiency requirements for the heating, lighting and
weatherization of rental units. In 2014 the City of Kalamazoo revised its housing code and
aligned it with the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC), establishing higher
standards for building maintenance and requiring that the Citys building inspectors be IPMC
certified. However, this revision did not include improved energy rating standards or codes.

28
 A good example for this recommended action is found in Boulder, Colorado. The City of
Boulder recently passed what they call SmartRegs. SmartRegs are updates to the Citys
housing and rental licensing codes that require basic energy efficiency standards to be met. All
rental units will need to pass a SmartRegs inspection before December 31, 2018. 43
Recommendations:
1. The City of Kalamazoo can revise the housing code, requiring owners of rental
properties to facilitate an energy audit of their property and create an action plan to
comply with established minimum efficiency standards for lighting, water usage, heating
ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), and waste.
2. Consumers Energy provides free audits and other local contractors perform more
comprehensive audits for a fee. The City can work with rental property owners to create
incentives for comprehensive audits followed by energy efficiency upgrades.
3. The City can also move towards using a nationally recognized rating system such as the
Home Energy Rating System Index in order to quantify efficiency levels. This measure
can help to reduce the renters utility bills, increase the comfort of rental units and
reduce the amount of energy consumed by more than half of the housing units in the
City of Kalamazoo.

1.5 Residential lights & appliances

Lights and domestic appliances are major contributors to residential energy

consumption. Reducing consumption from these two groups of items can yield significant
savings to residents of the City of Kalamazoo and simultaneously reduce carbon emissions. At
the moment, the best way to reduce energy consumption from lights is to use energy saving
LED lightbulbs. LED lightbulbs consume significantly less energy compared to incandescent
lightbulbs and also tend to last longer thus offering savings both in terms of utility bills and cost
of replacement. CHW reports net savings of 3626 CFL lightbulbs installed between 2011 and
2016, they registered energy savings of 160 kW. Motion sensors can be installed especially for
the corridors and hallways of multifamily/affordable housing complexes and in commercial
facilities. To facilitate the adoption of the energy saving and low emission opportunities
provided by the adoption of LED lights and motion sensors, the plan recommends the following
for consideration.

1. Ensure all of the lighting in City buildings and all City street lights use LED bulbs.
2. Update the City's building and housing codes to require the use of low energy lightbulbs
in all buildings.
3. Partner with local organizations like the Kalamazoo Nature Center, Kalamazoo Climate
Change Coalition, CHW and Kalamazoo Public Schools to educate the public and

43
The City of Boulder, CO. (2017) SMARTREGS. Accessed April 1, 2017 https://bouldercolorado.gov/plan-
develop/smartregs

29
 promote the adoption of energy efficiency habits like turning the lights off in unused
spaces, and having efficient indoor temperature control.

It Starts with You.

What can I do to conserve energy?
-Turn off lights and appliances when they are not in use.
-Purchase and use appliances with high Energy Star ratings/certifications.
-Maintain stable indoor temperature and thermostat level.
-Do not leave doors and windows open for extended periods. Loss of heat and cooled air
wastes energy and increases costs.

1.6 Commercial/Industrial/Institutional building energy improvements

Over a third of Kalamazoos carbon pollution comes from commercial, industrial, and
institutional buildings, and there are cost effective technical opportunities and finance options
to reduce this. The plan recommends for consideration:

1. Use tax incentives to encourage the adoption of renewable energy sources like solar and
wind power by breweries and other industrial plants within the City of Kalamazoo.
Programs like PACE can help facilitate this movement towards renewable energy
sources.

2. The City of Kalamazoo can negotiate a partnership between industries located within
the City and energy providers like Helios Energy, Levin Energy Solutions and Consumers
Energy to facilitate the adoption of renewable energy sources using loan schemes
and/or tax incentives and subsidies.

Best Practice...
KALSEC, a food processing plant based in the City of Kalamazoo has partnered with Helios Energy
Solutions to install a 150 MWh/year solar array at its Kalamazoo facility. The unit supplying about 3% of
the facilities energy needs. 30% of the funding for the $420,000 project was from tax credits the
company received after winning a random lottery as part of the EARP lottery organized by Consumers
Energy. The rest was financed by the firm. According to KALSEC CEO George Todd, the solar unit cuts the
company's annual carbon footprint by over 100 tons of CO2e. The company also estimates that it will
recoup the project cost after 7 years.

30
1.7 Develop a comprehensive green business certification program
Currently, public information about the environmental impacts of buildings or
businesses in the City of Kalamazoo is not available. If information about a building's energy
performance were readily available, renters and prospective buyers could review this
information before deciding to move in or making a real estate purchase. Likewise, if this
information were readily available to consumers, businesses committed to reducing their
greenhouse gas emissions would have a way to promote themselves as a green business and
show the community their progress.
One of the most popular rating systems worldwide is the Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) green buildings certification programs. This program has been
used throughout the state of Michigan and there are many buildings in Kalamazoo that are
already certified including five at Western Michigan University.44 The rating system is complex
and can be used to compare all types of buildings including private homes based on their
energy and water usage among other factors. Property owners pay a fee when applying for
certification.45 One major advantage of using LEED is that it is a trusted third party verification
of energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. There are at least seven buildings in
Kalamazoo that have a Gold Level LEED certification.46
Another widely used rating system is the EPA's Energy Star Portfolio Manager rating
system. Portfolio Manager is a free online program developed by the EPA for businesses,
organizations and institutions to track energy, water usage and waste. Different property types
can also receive a score from 1-100 and be compared to similar property types nationwide. For
example, a school could be rated and ranked among other schools. Many states already have
policies that require Energy Star tools to be used to track energy use. Michigan requires any
building where state employees work to track energy usage using the Energy Star Portfolio
Manager.47
Recommendations:
1. Encourage commercial and industrial properties including multifamily buildings to track
energy, water and waste through the Energy Star Portfolio manager.
2. The City can track its own energy, water and waste usage through Energy Star Portfolio
Manager.
3. Recognize businesses and organizations that document progress towards reducing
energy usage in Energy Star Portfolio Manager.

44
Western Michigan University. Facilities Management: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Accessed
April 1, 2017 https://wmich.edu/facilities/construction/leed
45
http://www.usgbc.org/cert-guide/fees
46
US Green Building Council. (2017) Search Projects: Certification Level is Gold. Accessed April 1, 2017
http://www.usgbc.org/projects
47
Energy Star. (2016) Policies that Specify the use of Energy Star Tools. Accessed April 1, 2017
https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/program-administrators/state-and-local-governments/policies

31

Girl Scouts of Kalamazoo
Girl Scouts have a long history of environmental
stewardship. Before their new regional program and
training center was built, they talked to thousands of
girls to plan what one of their donors called, the
most visionary project in Kalamazoo. Girl Scouts
Heart of Michigan CEO Jan Barker says the building
was designed with a commitment to the land in mind,
featuring motion sensing lights, strategically oriented
glass walls, in-floor heating, landscaping with native
species, a storm water drainage system and a partial
green roof. Barker says they have definitely noticed
the cooling effects of the roof on hot summer days.
The building was also designed so that green roofs
could eventually be installed on the entire roof
surface. Girls interests were also central to the
building design. It is intentionally situated along the
bus route for easy access and has many features that
can enhance girls understanding of how a building
works. Pipes, beams and ductwork were left exposed
and labeled and a small window into the wall shows
the layers of the wall and insulation. Five different
garden areas are being developed to represent the
five Girl Scout world centers. For the Girl Scouts this
is more than a building it is a step forward in leading
the City of Kalamazoo in environmental responsibility.
48
Energy Star. (nd) Become and Energy Star Partner. Accessed April 1, 2017
https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/about-us/become-energy-star-partner
49
Michigan Battle of the Buildings. (2017) Michigan Energy Reduction Competition. Accessed April 1, 2017
https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/about-us/become-energy-star-partner
32
4. The City can be one of the first
local governments in the State of
Michigan to join Energy Star as an Energy
Star Partnerthere is no charge to
become a partner.48
5. Recognize buildings and
businesses that are LEED certified and
provide incentives for businesses and
other building owners to pursue
certification.
6. Encourage more local businesses
to compete in the Battle of the Buildings
a statewide competition to reduce energy
consumption in buildings using Energy
Star Portfolio Manager.49
1.8 Promote the use of green roofs and
reflective roofs in the commercial and
industrial sectors
Green roofs are roofs that are
partially or completely covered with a
waterproof membrane topped by a
lightweight growth medium and various
types of plants. Roofs can vary from small
surface areas with ground cover plants, to
intensive roofs with more than six inches
of growing medium and plants as large as
trees. These roofs can be lightweight and
can generally be applied to most flat
rooftops. Green roofs reduce CO
emissions in a number of ways. First of
all, the lighter green colors and the roofs
capacity to absorb water reduce the heat
absorbed into the roof and therefore the
need to cool the buildings they cover.
Second, green roofs serve as additional
insulation and their waterproof
membranes usually last twice as long as
conventional roofs. Additional benefits of green roofs include capturing storm water,
producing food and creating a pleasant green space for people to enjoy.50
Currently there are green roofs in Kalamazoo at the following locations: City Hall, Adams
Outdoor Advertising, Kalamazoo Regional Center of Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan, Prairie Ridge
Elementary School and Linden Grove Middle School.51 When the green roof was being installed
on City Hall, the City estimated the roof would save them at least 2,000 dollars in energy bills.
The roof was also expected to capture about half of the building's storm water. Chris Tomilo,
the City Facilities Manager, estimates that the energy eficiency upgrades made at City Hall,
including weatherizing the windows and installing the green roof, have reduced the Citys
natural gas bill by around $100,000 per year.
In order to promote the use of more green roofs, the City of Kalamazoo can:
1. Place green roofs on all City buildings that need new roofs.
2. Track and publicize the energy savings and other benefits from the green roof on City
Hall.
3. Encourage green roofs for all new construction in the City by providing tax credits to
properties that install green roofs or provide low or no interest loans or grants to
properties that install green roofs.
4. Consider a storm water utility fee which would incentivize property owners to reduce
impervious surfaces and reduce storm water runoff by installing more green roofs.
In situations where the building structure or pitch of the roof does not permit a green
roof, an alternative, which also reduces the amount of heat absorbed, is a reflective roof. The
City of Kalamazoo can promote reflective roofs at the time of roof repair or replacement when
green roofs are not a feasible option.

1.9 Maximize the purchase of Michigan renewable energy

The City may wish to encourage Kalamazoo homes and businesses to buy into
Consumers Energys renewable energy stimulation, Green Generation. This program allows
customers to choose to buy the electricity that Consumers Energy produces through renewable
sources. Customers can pay an additional $0.01 for each kilowatt hour used or decide to spend
a fixed amount of money each month on renewable energy from Consumers Energy trough
buying Green Blocks in increments of an additional $1.50 per month.52
To increase the impact that these funds have on the share of renewable energy
production in Consumers Energy's portfolio, the City of Kalamazoo can encourage Consumers

50
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (2014) "Green Roofs Policy Brochure" Accessed February 18, 2017
http://www.greenroofs.org/index.php/component/content/article/2-uncategorised/328-policy-brochure-2014.
51
http://www.liveroof.com/showcase-view/?project=27_1_e_prairie-ridge-elementary-
school_kalamazoo_michigan, http://www.csmgroup.com/project/linden-grove-middle-school/
52
Consumers Energy. "Green Generation." https://new.consumersenergy.com/residential/renewable-
energy/green-generation. Accessed 02-12-2017.

33
Energy to expand its renewable energy production in tandem with increases in buy-ins from
Kalamazoo residents. Because individual residential buy-in to the Green Generation does not
directly change the proportion of renewable energy in Consumers Energy's portfolio, the City of
Kalamazoo can encourage the utility to add solar panels to its solar gardens to reflect increases
in resident buy-in from the Kalamazoo community.

1.10 Install 1000 solar-roof hot water heaters in Kalamazoo by 2025

Solar water heaters concentrate warmth from the sun to heat water for household
needs, thus offsetting both costs and carbon emissions of fossil fueled electricity used to heat
water. Homeowners who reported their costs to the company Home Advisor spent $2,100-
$4,600 on average for a solar water home system. Although the upfront costs of solar water
heaters are high, homeowners save 50%-85% annually on their water heating costs.53 The City
of Kalamazoo can set a target for solar water heater installations, such as the installation of
1000 solar water heaters on residential rooftops in Kalamazoo by 2025. Kalamazoo has just
over 28,000 households.54 Achieving 1000 rooftop water heaters would mean that about 4% of
Kalamazoo households would replace some of their fossil fuel electricity production with solar
energy. At present, residents may claim a reduction on their income taxes for 30% of the cost of
solar systems newly equipped on their place of residence or for buying a residence with a solar
energy system.55 A Michigan program also lets businesses claim a credit based on their number
of employees and tax rate when they install either solar hot water heaters or photovoltaic solar
energy systems.56

1.11 Install 500 photovoltaic solar power home energy systems by 2025
Harnessing solar energy is a great way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
residences. If a home has unobstructed sunlight throughout the year, rooftop solar systems can
be installed to produce electricity equivalent to a household's energy demands. 57 The average
Michigan home uses 7,800 kWh of electricity per year. Therefore, if the City achieves a goal of
an additional 500 homes powered by solar energy it would mean that the City would source
over 3,900 MWh per year from clean production. A photovoltaic (PV) solar system, in which
energy from the sun's rays are converted into electricity through solar panels, costs from
53
Home Advisor. "How Much Does it Cost to Install a Solar Water Heater?" Accessed February 26, 2017.
http://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/plumbing/install-a-solar-water-heater/.
54
United States Census Bureau. American Factfinder. Accessed February 18, 2017.
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_5YR_S1101&prodTyp
e=table.
55
Department of Energy. "Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit." Accessed February 18, 2017.
https://energy.gov/savings/residential-renewable-energy-tax-credit.
56
Department of Energy. "Refundable Payroll Tax Credit." Accessed February 18, 2017.
https://energy.gov/savings/refundable-payroll-tax-credit.
57
U.S. Department of Energy. "PLANNING A HOME SOLAR ELECTRIC SYSTEM." Accessed February 26, 2017.
https://energy.gov/energysaver/planning-home-solar-electric-system.

34
$20,000-$40,000 to install. However, once the system is installed the household will no longer
have to buy electricity from an electricity utility.58 Solar panels are investments which will
eventually save an installer more money on energy than the cost of their installation with a
national average payback time 8 years.59

The City may wish to set a target for new solar panel systems, such as 500 to be
installed by 2025. To mitigate against the prohibitive cost of installing PV solar panel systems,
the City can provide information about the federal tax rebate program60 for installing solar
powered systems. The City may also wish to continue its explorations into a financing program
that allows residents and business to install panels on their properties through financing from
the city and make payments on them once they have started to realize energy savings from the
solar energy production.

1.12 Commit to power City of Kalamazoo buildings entirely from green energy by 2025
The City of Kalamazoo is one of the biggest energy customers in Kalamazoo County,
giving it a unique opportunity to lead the Kalamazoo community in reliable, locally sourced,
clean energy. If the City makes the switch to clean energy it can boost Kalamazoos economy
through purchasing energy systems through one or more of our local installers of renewable
energy.
In 2013, the City of Kalamazoo emitted about 43,000 metric tons of COe from its
operations, facilities, and service delivery: the vehicle fleet, buildings and facilities, powering of
street lights and traffic signals, the Citys Metro Transit fleet, and emissions from employee
commutes. The bulk of these emissions, about 30,000 MT COe, are a result of powering City
buildings and facilities. There are a variety of actions that the City can take to hit this 100%
renewable energy target, such as increasing the energy efficiency of its buildings, installing solar
panels on building roofs and City held land, and installing geothermal heating and cooling
systems. The City could even install turbines within its drinking water pipes to capture the
energy from water as it flows through like Portland, Oregon did in 2014.61
Traverse City announced in December 2016 that it would power all City operations with
renewable energy by 2020. The City listed solar, wind, geothermal, and land fill gas as the
supply stock for its new renewable portfolio. Traverse City surveyed its residents and has found
widespread support and willingness to share in some of the cost for renewable energy
installation. The Traverse City implementation plan calls for the installation of two new
renewable energy projects per year until the goal is met. The plan also creates a Green Team

58
Art Toy, Four Winds Energy, February 2015
59
Sage Energy. "Understand your solar panel payback period." Accessed April 9, 2017.
https://www.energysage.com/solar/cost-benefit/how-long-do-solar-panels-take-to-pay-for-themselves/.
60
Department of Energy. "Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit," Accessed February 18, 2017.
https://energy.gov/savings/residential-renewable-energy-tax-credit.
61
Public Broadcasting Service. "How drinking water pipes can also deliver electric power." Accessed March 31, 2017.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/drinking-water-pipes-can-also-deliver-electric-power/.

35
that will advise the City on best practices.62 Traverse City has taken a collaborative approach to
its renewable energy plan by inviting the leadership of the local electric utility - Traverse City
Light & Power to meet with City Commissioners, environmental representatives, and other
community leaders while planning the switch.63 Kalamazoo may wish to model some of its plans
and strategies after those crafted by Traverse City and communicate with them to get firsthand
knowledge about legislation and challenges specific to Michigan while planning their switch to
renewable energy.
Best Practice...
In 2016, Community Homeworks partnered with Helios Energy Solutions to install a 45 panel
solar array at its Kalamazoo office. The unit produces 15,500Kwh of electricity a year and is
estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by about 15 metric tons per year. Executive Director of
Community Homeworks, Shaun Wright, noted that the Suniva Panels used are produced in
the State of Michigan and installed by Michigan labor; highlighting the immense employment
potential of renewable energy to the state.

1.13 Training for Green building

Following Ann Arbors example, the City can consider launching a Green building
training program that would educate contractors on energy efficiency, building durability, air
quality, efficient use of resources, and water efficiency. The program would provide contractors
with the tools necessary to ensure all new and retrofitted buildings have green building
materials, efficient HVAC systems, insulation, well-designed ventilation, and efficient water
systems. The City can also consider training city staff, such as building inspectors, electrical
inspectors, and planners in the latest research and innovation in energy efficient practices.
The Kalamazoo Promise covers tuition costs at Michigan colleges and universities for
graduates of Kalamazoo Public Schools. The City can ask the Kalamazoo Promise to extend
coverage to apprenticeship training in energy efficient construction, weatherization, and green
tech installations.

62
Michigan Climate Action Network. "Traverse City Commits to 100% Clean Energy by 2020." Accessed March 31, 2017.
http://www.miclimateaction.org/traverse_city_commits_to_100_percent_clean_energy_by_2020.
63
Michigan Environmental Council. "100% Renewable Cities." Accessed March 31, 2017.
http://www.environmentalcouncil.org/priorities/article.php?x=416.

36
 2. Transportation

Transportation currently makes up nearly a third of Kalamazoos estimated GHG

emissions. The actions described below for reducing GHG emissions from transportation involve
reducing miles driven and changing to more fuel efficient and/or carbon-free forms of
transportation. Altogether these actions make up about 8% to this plans total estimated
reductions. In order to reach the plans emission reduction targets for 2025 and 2050 it will
probably be necessary for companies that make our cars and other vehicles to shift more of
their production to vehicles that run without generating carbon pollution. While not listed as a
separate action, this is something for which the City of Kalamazoo and its residents can
advocate.

2.1 Encouraging coordinated zoning and redevelopment and transit-supportive densities

Development in the twentieth century was characterized by a desire for independence

and privacy. The advent of the automobile meant that people could commute from far away to
2. Transportation
work in the city. The low-density and highly-segmented residential zoning that arose from these
conditions and persists today creates enormous demand for fossil fuels. To counteract this, a

37
switch to mixed-use zoning would be beneficial.64 This model integrates both residential and
business, allowing people to live, work, and shop within the same area. When people walk
instead of driving it improves health and reduces transport-related emissions.65 In concert with
this, zoning residential areas at a higher density would allow for a greater sharing of resources
such as heating fuel, electricity, water, and building material. This also helps support a vibrant,
self-contained, walkable community.66 The following steps toward these goals may be
considered by the City:

Incentivize the development of brownfields, vacant land, and abandoned buildings

within the City. Offer tax or other incentives to those who agree to implement such
green technology as green roofs, LEED certified buildings, solar arrays, geothermal
heating, etc.
Change zoning ordinances to allow businesses such as restaurants, grocery stores, and
medical facilities in or near residential areas. In certain areas of the City, the planning
department has converted areas zoned CC to RMU and CMU, which are both mixed-use
zoning codes. One such place was Oakwood Plaza. The prior CC zoning allowed only
businesses, whereas the CMU will allow store-top apartments and other mixed uses as
determined by market forces. These CC zones are prime targets for this rezoning effort,
as they tend to be small business districts nested within residential areas.
Identify unused industrial-zoned areas to be rezoned to mixed-use zoning codes.
Currently the central business district has the fewest limits on building heights. Consider
options for expanding this zone to continue increasing density in the City core.
Revise low-density residential zoning ordinances to allow for an increase in housing
density in all areas of the City. Current caps on unrelated adults living together limit the
sharing of energy resources. Consider allowing more occupants based on such
parameters as square footage or number of legal bedrooms available.

64
Jane Jacobs, in her seminal work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, emphasizes the need for mixed
use. The author identifies the "insufficient primary mixture" of land uses as the "principal fault in our downtowns"
(p. 164), as this creates city centers that are "too predominately devoted to work and contain too few people after
working hours" (p. 165). This pattern creates a high demand for energy used for transportation. Mixed-use zoning
directly confronts this problem.
Jacobs, J. 1961. The life and death of great American cities. New York: Vintage Books.
65
Dodman identifies many carbon-reducing benefits of increasing urban population density, including that "each
doubling of average neighborhood density is associated with a decrease in per-household vehicle use of 20-40
percent, with a corresponding decline in emissions" (p. 6). The report identifies differences in per capita CO
emissions between urban areas and their rural counterparts. For instance, New York City, one of the world's most
densely populated areas, produced 7.2 tons of CO per person in 2005 compared to the national average of 23.9
tons per person for the same year (p. 7).
Dodman, D. 2009. United National Population Fund. Analytical review of the interaction between urban growth
trends and environmental changes: Paper 1: Urban density and climate change. Accessed 2/27/17.
http://www.uncclearn.org/sites/default/files/inventory/unfpa14.pdf
66
Jane Jacobs talks about the importance of housing density in order to be able to sustain a diverse set of
amenities in an urban area. This sort of vitality will encourage people to live downtown in walkable communities,
yielding a great reduction in carbon emissions.
Jacobs, J. 1961. The life and death of great American cities. New York: Vintage Books, pp.200-202.

38
 Identify areas in the City that might be considered food deserts and encourage grocers
to expand to these areas.

2.2 Actively support regional approaches to land use planning

The City of Kalamazoo does not exist in a vacuum, either politically, or spatially. Any
progress made in improving land use and zoning within the City of Kalamazoo will either be
enhanced or dampened by conditions in surrounding jurisdictions. Because of this, the plan
suggests enhancing coordination and cooperation between governing bodies and organizations
involved in community planning. Kalamazoo may look to the example of other municipalities
around the US that have implemented such efforts. San Diego's San Diego Association of
Governments is a potential source for ideas.67 Kalamazoo County is already involved in the
Southcentral Regional Planning Commission, which has influence over regional transportation
and land use planning. By engaging in these sorts of partnerships and advocating for smart-
growth measures that reduce destination distances both inside and outside the City,
coordinated regional planning can result in more purposeful and direct travel, reducing
transport-based carbon emissions. Regional efforts can reduce sprawl and encourage
development within the City, contributing to walkable neighborhoods and densification. The
plan proposes the following steps toward this goal:
Form working relationships with potential regional partners including Western Michigan
University, the City of Portage, Kalamazoo County, Kalamazoo Township, Oshtemo, and
others.
Share the intended actions of the City toward reducing carbon emissions with that
group, seeking areas for potential collaboration.
Form a coordinated system of zoning ordinances that makes sense across jurisdictions.

2.3 Evaluate and enhance coverage and availability of public transit systems

According to the American Community Survey,68 only about 2% of workers age 16 and
over living in the City of Kalamazoo take public transportation to work. 56% of these individuals
are currently under the poverty level. With 34% of Kalamazoo residents living less than a 15-
minute commute from their place of employment, it is apparent that there is a significant
opportunity to expand ridership within the City. To address this challenge, the City and the
Kalamazoo Metro Transit Authority may consider the following actions:

67
San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), www.sandag.org.
68
American Community Survey, "Means of transportation to work by selected characteristics for workplace
geography," 2011-2015 5-year estimates. Accessed 2/25/17.
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_5YR_S0804&prodTyp
e=table

39
 Take into account a GIS spatial analysis identifying dead-zones in which bus routes are
greater than a half-mile away and expand service into these areas, prioritizing areas
with greater populations and greater poverty. These include the following:
o Top priority:
Arcadia Neighborhood: Adding a route or loop on Arboretum Pkwy
East Side Neighborhood: Adding coverage in the triangle between
Michigan, Wallace, and Main Street
Increase frequency of pick-ups, prioritizing higher areas with higher population
densities.

2.4 Consider options for increasing ridership by decentralizing bus routes

Several municipalities such as Tallahassee, Florida4 have increased efficiency and

ridership by transitioning from the traditional wheel-and-spoke pattern to a multi-destination
system which features routes designed to service points throughout the metro area. The State
Smart Transportation Initiative5 identifies this traditional service pattern as dating back to times
when most commerce was happening in the central business district. This has been identified
as one of the chief reasons for decreased ridership, as development did not keep with this
downtown-focused transit system. To explore this possibility, the City may wish to:

Evaluate possible alternative route options that facilitate cross-town travel.

Conduct an exploratory study that assesses the public interest and possible ridership
increase that could arise from a change in route structure.
A possible first step could be to introduce a ring route around the City to connect
important satellite economic centers. For example, a route could connect the
Knollwood/Stadium Drive corridor, with Oakwood Plaza at the corner of Oakland
and Parkview, and the business district beginning at and located to the south of
Whites Road and South Westnedge. The route could continue in this fashion,
connecting other important business corridors to facilitate non-radial cross-town
transport.

2.5 Increase events and activities that raise awareness of commuting benefits

In conjunction with efforts to increase the availability of public transit, ridership may be
increased by raising public awareness. As mentioned above, much of the populace accessing
the public transportation system is economically disadvantaged. To widen the ridership to all
socioeconomic strata, efforts may be made to educate and encourage ridership. Community
events can increase awareness of the carbon reduction as well as cost-saving benefits of public
transit. The following steps can be considered:

Increase partnerships with local community groups and non-profits to provide literature
and trainings related to public transit. Look at partnering with Kalamazoo Area

40
 Transportation Study, which is already doing work around this. Some local businesses
such as Bronson Health are creating initiatives to decrease use of cars in the City,
especially with their own employees. Leverage connections such as these.
Increase local advertising related to availability of routes and environmental benefits of
increased ridership.
Using a neighborhood-specific approach, utilize targeted mailings and canvassing to
increase awareness of available routes in low-ridership areas.

2.6 Bicycles

Bicycles will never compete with cars in terms of speed and accommodation, but their
zero-carbon footprint, zero-dollar operating cost, and health benefits make them an attractive
form of transportation. The infrastructure in Kalamazoo, however, as in the country generally,
favors the automobile. The City has taken several steps to support cyclists, including installing
bike lanes and maintaining some bike racks. To realize even more of the benefits from bikes the
City can coordinate with other organizations such as the Kalamazoo Area Transportation Study
to:

Assess the current system of bike lanes and determine where to expand for safety and
connectivity.
Conduct an inventory of roads and intersections, and, with the help of experienced
cyclists, identify danger zones which could be improved.
Identify locations, especially near shopping and business districts, where additional bike
parking facilities could be installed.
Support community awareness events such as Kalamazoo Bike Week to encourage
biking in the city.

2.7 Support electric and hydrogen-fueled vehicles69

Under the U.S Department of Energy's Clean Cities initiatives, the City of Kalamazoo
became a beneficiary of a federal grant that was designated for promoting clean energy usage
through purchases of electric vehicles and investing in sustainable energy. Starting in 2011, the
City Commission gave the go ahead for the purchase of new hybrid-electric buses to replace the
outdated diesel fuel operated buses. The financial assistance from the U.S Department of
Energy provided 80 percent of the funding leaving 20 percent to the Michigan Department of
Transportation. Since then, the Kalamazoo Metro Area Transit has purchased eleven hybrid-
electric buses bringing the overall total to 36 with the rest operating on diesel.

69
Sources: http://www.secondwavemedia.com/southwest-michigan/innovationnews/charingstation0421.aspx,
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2013/05/kalamazoo_metro_transit_set_to.html,
http://www.kmetro.com/information/system-facts, Accessed 4/1/17.

41
 The transition toward hybrid-electric buses reduces fuel costs, maintenance fees on
older buses and greenhouse gas emissions. The new buses are also quieter.

Hybrid-electric buses have the following attributes:

Fuel economy is 33% better than standard buses

o Hybrids 5.6 mpg
o Standard Buses - 4.2 mpg
Hybrid buses produce 90% fewer emissions than the buses they replace
Hybrid electrical propulsion system reduce oxides of nitrogen emissions by up to
50%

The City of Kalamazoo also has 16 charging stations dispersed around the City for those
with plug-in electric vehicles.
Clean Cities initiatives have also benefited Western Michigan University, allowing it to
purchases hybrid electric vehicles, charging stations and solar array panels. The school currently
has 21 charging stations with 15 in operation at this writing. The charging stations are supplied
with electricity by solar array panels on the campus.
Recommendations:

1. The City can increase charging stations for electric vehicles, and designate some
parking spaces as electric vehicle only.
2. Continue to expand the Citys hybrid and electric fleet.

42
 3. Trees and Gardens
This plan has not estimated reductions in GHG emissions from actions to increase trees
and gardens.

3.1 Increase forest canopy across public and private property

From a young age, we all learn that trees are important. Saving the Amazon rainforest
has been at the forefront of environmental action for decades. The focus has often been in
exotic locations but with our climate changing, local trees take on a new importance.
The City of Kalamazoo has already shown its commitment to its urban forest by
becoming a member of Tree City USA in 1992. To be recognized with this status from the Arbor
Day Foundation, there are four standards required: maintain a tree board or department, have
a community tree ordinance, spend at least $2 per capita annually on urban forestry and
celebrate Arbor Day.
With the changing climate we need to be more intentional and exploit the many
environmental benefits that additional trees provide, particularly as they offer economic and
aesthetic benefits as well. Here are some benefits from trees:

43
 One acre of trees absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen a
year.70
Trees improve water quality by filtering pollutants, stabilize soils, absorb rainwater, and
reduce erosion and water runoff. For every 5% of tree cover added to a community,
storm water runoff is reduced by 2%.71
Trees properly placed around buildings can reduce air conditioning needs by 30% and
can save 2050% in energy used for heating.72
Trees can be a stimulus to economic development, attracting new business and tourism.
Commercial retail areas are more attractive to shoppers, apartments rent more quickly,
tenants stay longer, and space in a wooded setting is more valuable to sell or rent.73
To increase the total acreage of trees the City can conduct an urban tree canopy assessment
identifying possible planting areas throughout Kalamazoo. A recent study in Grand Rapids
found that an Analysis of Urban Tree Canopy distribution by census block groups against
detailed census data reveals a clear relationship between tree canopy and economic vitality of
households, as seen in income levels, home values, educational attainment, and rates of owner
occupancy.74 Priority should be given to lower income areas within the City. Not only would
this strategy enhance equity among neighborhoods; it would also assist lowering utility costs.
Strengthening the Tree Board to perform outreach into the community and increase the
knowledge of the mitigating effects of trees on climate change will help promote the additional
planting of trees on private property. All these efforts will also contribute to the reduction of
the urban heat island.
A predicted consequence of climate change is the increase in intensity of storms. It is
important that trees within the City of Kalamazoo are well maintained to prevent damage to
property from fallen branches or whole trees. This will also reduce the occurrence of power
outages due to damage caused by trees to power lines. The City of Kalamazoo can increase
awareness of residents to inform the Public Services Forestry Division if there are any issues
with city trees.

3.2 Integrate mitigation and adaptation planning into park design and improvements
Neighborhood parks and communal spaces are an asset for many who look to these
areas for their enjoyment through various activities: splash pads, playgrounds, playing fields,
walking trails, bicycle paths, etc. These areas often also encompass the largest green spaces

70
https://www.arborday.org/trees/benefits.cfm. Benefits of Trees, National Arbor Day Foundation. accessed on
2/10/2017. Website cited the Department of Agriculture as the source of statistic.
71
http://releafmichigan.blogspot.com/p/benefits-of-trees.html, ReLeaf Michigan. accessed on 2/10/2017
72
https://www.arborday.org/trees/benefits.cfm, Benefits of Trees, National Arbor Day Foundation, accessed on
2/10/2017. Website cited USDA Forest Service as the source of statistic.
73
https://www.arborday.org/trees/benefits.cfm, Benefits of Tree, National Arbor Day Foundation. accessed on
2/10/2017.
74
Author, An Assessment of Urban Tree Canopy in Grand Rapids, Michigan, p. 26.

44
within neighborhoods and provide an opportunity to mitigate the effects of climate change.
With intentional park design, these areas within the City can help decrease storm water runoff,
storm sewer overload, and erosion due to the increased intensity of storms. Pervious surfaces,
rain gardens, and rain water catchment areas give water a chance to infiltrate into the soil and
can also contribute to the beauty of the green space. The City can increase park tree canopy by
planting additional trees which will provide shade to those residents looking for relief during
periods of extreme heat.

3.3 Policy development for vegetation maintenance and development

The City of Kalamazoo can develop a comprehensive policy on vegetation development
and maintenance. This can help City officials, communities, and businesses to learn what types
of vegetation are more appropriate for each location. Enhancing vegetation can increase fresh
air circulation and water going into the soil rather than flowing into drains, reduce heat, and
support native organisms, helping to maintain biodiversity. It can also encourage members of
community to visit and relax in these areas. Actions to consider include:
1. Reduce concrete on parklands (encourage construction of water permeable park lots
and walkways).
2. Develop guidelines and recommendations for types of vegetation for particular areas,
such as parks, other open areas, and household backyards.
3. Establish vegetation development and maintenance committees. Consider offering
incentives.
4. Consider how and when to repossess unused buildings and their premises, assessing
whether these areas be turned into islands of vegetation.

3.4 Replace lawns and landscaping with native vegetation

The highly sculpted landscape in the United States, and specifically in Kalamazoo, is
accompanied by major changes in the natural environment. Natural landscapes and ecosystems
have largely been replaced by artificial or transplanted systems. Since these systems are not
adapted to the soil structures, weather and climatic patterns and the natural pests and
pollinators, they require heavy amounts of human input in the form of water, fertilizers,
pesticides, and power machinery. All of these represent sizeable carbon emissions, as they take
fossil fuels to produce and/or deliver.75 Modern landscaping cultivars such as Kentucky

75
Small & Small (2011) cite EPA figure that suggests that one hour of running a lawn mower emits the same
amount of carbon as eleven hours of operating the average motor vehicle. They also point out that residential
lawns account for 30% of annual water usage, and that the amount of fertilizer used (also a petroleum product)
has increased three-fold over the past three decades (p. 2). Elimination of non-native plants and lawns greatly
reduces these outputs.
Small, T. & Small, N.C. 2011. Using native plants to restore community: In southwest Michigan and beyond.
Kalamazoo: Kalamazoo Area Wild Ones.

45
Bluegrass also have very shallow roots.76 Plant roots are a natural means of carbon
sequestration. Plants native to West Michigan put down much deeper roots and store
significant amounts of carbon in the earth at many times the rate of nonnatives. A return to
ecosystems and species from before the arrival of Europeans will affect a sizeable decrease in
carbon emissions, as well as a massive carbon sink. The City can enact the following policies to
this end:

Restore City-owned vacant properties to native plants and ecosystem types under the
advice of native plant experts.
Implement tax or other incentives to landowners who replace nonnatives with native
plants and landscaping.
Begin replacing City landscaping with native plants and trees.
Plant only native species on new landscaping projects.
Develop a comprehensive list of species that meet the following criteria: adaptability to
climate change, especially heat extremes, drought, flooding, and high winds; hardiness
and longevity; provision of food and hosts for wildlife, including bees, butterflies, birds,
and other creatures; species native to the area (200-mile radius).
Develop a list of invasive non-native plants commonly used in landscaping and proven to
seriously reduce diversity of native plants and wildlife. Adjunct to this list, provide native
alternatives to each non-native species. Publicize this list widely and encourage plant
nurseries and landscapers to provide the native alternatives.
Use a diverse selection of native species, particularly those that will be most resistant to
the stresses of climate change: e.g., oak species, hickory species, hackberry,
serviceberry, American hornbeam, American sycamore, linden, black gum, and
chestnuts (disease-resistant hybrids).
Alter zoning codes to promote diversity of native tree cover, to establish minimum tree
coverage for developments, and to require planting islands in parking lots, with a mix of
canopy trees, shrubs, and groundcovers appropriate to the lot and its surroundings.
Identify heritage trees over 100 years old on both public and private land. Establish
guidelines and regulations for protecting this heritage similar to regulations governing
heritage structures in the Citys historic districts.
Adopt a target of 5000 new or replacement native tree plantings by 2025, including at
least 500 new native fruit and nut trees.
Remove and ease lawn/grass requirements in ordinances.
Encourage sustainable landscaping in City publications, on the website and in social
media.

3.6 Increase public awareness of climate change and the mitigating effects of native plants
Networks of communication will be crucial in engaging the public and responding
effectively to climate change and its stresses. Even if the City adopts the above policies of using
76
Small & Small, 2011, p. 3.

46
native plants, there will still be a large gap in terms of public use and awareness. In order to
maximize the benefits of these efforts, the plan suggests engaging in the following awareness
actions:
Publicize the climate change benefits of natural landscaping in City publications such as
View from the Curb and on the Citys web site.
In producing and circulating publications dealing with landscaping issues, cooperate
with organizations such as Kalamazoo Area Wild Ones, Audubon Society of Kalamazoo,
CORE (Community Organized Regenerative Earthcare), Sierra Club, Van-Kal
Permaculture, Kalamazoo Nature Center, neighborhood associations, and other
organizations promoting natural landscaping, agroecology, and habitat restoration. In
particular, link to each others publications and activities.
Update and strengthen the Guide to Natural Landscaping on the Citys website and
make it more accessible.
Cooperate with county, township, and urban governmental agencies, schools, clubs,
libraries, neighborhoods, faith communities, and NGOs to provide and publicize
workshops on gardening, landscaping, composting, and their importance in mitigating
and adapting to the stresses of climate change on quality of life.

47
 4. Local Food
This plan has not estimated reductions in GHG emissions from actions to support local
food. We note that one significant way people can reduce their personal GHG footprints is by
consuming less meat, particularly beef, and more fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains.
Organically grown foods uses less carbon-based inputs and organic agriculture sequesters more
carbon in the earth than other modern agricultural methods.

Food production causes more than half of all water pollution in the U.S. and at least 9%
of the greenhouse gas emissions that lead to climate change.77 Demand for information about
how our food is produced, where it comes from and environmental impacts from production
has given way to a local food movement within recent decades. There is increasingly more
focus on eating local, buying organic and using sustainable farming methods in our food
production. In the City of Kalamazoo there are many ways a focus on local food can be
extended to households, neighborhoods and institutions.

77
https://www.kvcc.edu/healthyliving/about.php, accessed 3/19/17.

48
4.1 Community supported agriculture
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an excellent opportunity for residents of
Kalamazoo to buy locally grown food and reduce GHG emission during the transportation
process. There are two main types of CSA; the most common is fresh produce but individuals
can also buy shares of an animal to have access to products such as fresh dairy products, eggs,
and meat. The premise behind the idea is that the consumer pre-purchases a 'share' of a
farmer's crop or herd. Based on the package the consumer purchases, baskets with an
assortment of fresh seasonal produce can be picked up weekly or biweekly. If the farmer has a
very successful yield, the consumer shares in the joy of that with abundant baskets. However,
if the crops do not fare as well, the consumer will see that in the assortment of produce
provided.
The only CSA located within the city limits of Kalamazoo is Lake Village Homestead Farm
which specializes in the latter option, animal products. However, there are over a dozen CSAs
outside the city limits that have drop-off points inside Kalamazoo at designated stores or
farmers markets. An excellent source to use when looking for a CSA is LocalHarvest.org. This
shows the CSAs located in southwest Michigan and their local drop-off points within
Kalamazoo.
To help families of all income levels be involved in eating locally through CSAs, the City
could work with local CSAs on a subsidy program that would provide the produce at a reduced
price for individuals that qualify. This could be paired with the current SNAP-eligibility program
to give families that qualify for SNAP food assistance the opportunity to support local farms and
eat fresh, healthy foods.

4.2 Farmers markets

Farmers markets bring locally grown produce and other products directly to consumers.
These markets encourage local economic growth through providing Kalamazoo residents an
opportunity to buy from local farmers instead of purchasing imported products often found in
major grocery stores. There are two main farmers markets in Kalamazoo. The Kalamazoo
Farmers Market is the older one. From June through October, it is open Tuesday and Thursday
mornings on Bank Street, and Saturday mornings May through November. Kalamazoo also has
a Night Market on Bank Street that operates June through September every third Thursday in
the evenings. A Winter Farmer's Market is also available at Bronson Hospital, from December
1st through March 1st once a week.
The farmers markets in Kalamazoo offer incentive programs for individuals who use
Bridge Cards. The markets will match or double what individuals with Bridge Cards spend up to

49
$20 on SNAP-eligible foods.78 This incentive program helps individuals with low incomes to eat
healthy and local.
In order to improve the availability of farmers markets and their selection, the City could
promote the need for farmers markets year round. Cities such as Yuba, CA and Oregon City, OR
have adopted year round farmers markets that have brought their residents increased
availability to fresh produce and support for local businesses. By continuing to utilize farmers
markets throughout the year and buying produce that are seasonally available, the residents of
Kalamazoo can continue to support local producers, reduce GHG emissions, and persist with
healthy eating habits.

4.3 People's Food Co-op (PFC)

Kalamazoo has a cooperative grocery store whose mission is to bring natural products
and healthful food to the community at reasonable prices. PFC is a consumer-owned
cooperative business for a membership fee, one can become an owner. Profits from the store
return to owners or are used to help the store better serve the communitys needs. Anyone is
able to shop at this grocer.
As stated on their website, the "PFC exists to create access to food that is healthy for
people, land, and the economy."
Here are a few things that make the Co-op different:
We strive to provide fresh, organic, and whole foods, offering our community healthy
choices for a variety of dietary needs.
We purchase locally grown and produced goods, helping to keep local funds cycling back
into our economy.
We participate in and support our local farmers markets, including the 100 Mile Market,
the Kalamazoo Farmers Market (on Bank St), and the Kalamazoo Foods Market.
We help provide access to food assistance programs (SNAP benefits) both at the store
and at several local farmers markets. Everyone should be able to eat healthy, delicious,
and local food.
We provide educational opportunities for our community related to food and food
systems (such as cooking classes, tabling, speaking engagements, hosting events at the
store and in the community).
We work together with other organizations. As we are able, we provide sponsorships
and donations to organizations and events that support our global ends, making our
community a better place.79

78
PFC. (August 19, 2016). How To Use Your Bridge Card at the Market. Accessed April 1, 2017.
http://pfcmarkets.com/blog/2016/8/18/how-to-use-your-bridge-card-at-the-market/.
79
http://pfckalamazoo.coop/become-an-owner, accessed on 2/10/17

50
 In order to promote equity among Kalamazoo residents the City can consider offering
owner memberships in the Co-op to a number of low income residents.

4.4 Household domestic livestock

The City of Kalamazoo allows residents to keep rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese or other
poultry within the limits of the City. These animals must be kept in an enclosed yard or coop
located 30 feet from adjacent property lines and the street line. The area must remain free of
offensive odors and in a sanitary condition.80
This plan recommends the City of Kalamazoo should maintain flexible standards for
raising chickens, bees, and other small livestock within City boundaries.

4.5 Community gardens

Community gardens provide people who do not have the available space on their
property access to a garden located within their neighborhood, to grow fresh fruits and
vegetables. In total, there are 32 community gardens distributed within most neighborhoods in
Kalamazoo. The format of these gardens varies from renting a plot within the garden to being
completely communal with specific volunteer work schedules. On rented plots, the gardener is
responsible for that area and reaps the benefits of the fresh produce grown. In the more
communal or shared gardens, residents of the neighborhood contribute their labor and take
harvest equivalent to the worth they think they contributed. There are also community
gardens that are open for anyone to partake.
Many garden plots were once vacant lots and have been transformed into productive,
healthy and beautiful gardens. The access to fresh fruits and vegetables increases consumption
leading to a healthier lifestyle. By producing food locally this reduces the amount of
transportation needed to get our food causing harmful pollutants. Another benefit is the lack
of packaging reducing the waste we produce. The production of local food should continue to
be promoted and encouraged throughout the City. Information about where community
gardens are located can be disseminated in all neighborhoods.
To locate existing community gardens, the website for a local organization, Common
Ground, has a list of existing community garden, the address and contact information.81 If
interested in starting a new community garden on a vacant lot in your neighborhood, contact
the Kalamazoo County Land Bank. They have a program called Adopt-a-Lot where residents can
lease a property for "greening" or beautification projects.82 The cost of the lease is $20 for the
whole year. Common Ground also provides support to people just starting a community
garden. Garden Mentors are available to walk residents through the process. They also have a
80
http://www.kalamazoocity.org/ordinances, The Kalamazoo Code of Ordinances Online, accessed on 3/17/2017
81
http://www.commongroundkalamazoo.com, accessed on 3/17/2017
82
http://www.kalamazoolandbank.org/2011/05/adopt-a-lot-2/, accessed on 3/17/2017

51
Garden Resource Shed which has multiple tools available for gardeners to use. In the Spring,
they also give away seed and/or plant starts to get you started.
The City of Kalamazoo can allow community gardens on vacant land in all zoning
districts except industrial to increase the availability of locally produced food for all residents.

4.6 Community food forests

A Community food forest is an ecosystem that is self-sustaining while at the same time
producing food. The ecosystem consists of layers from tall nut and fruit trees down to root
crops such as carrots. The illustration below shows the seven layers of a food forest. The trees
and plants incorporated into the ecosystem provide the mulch, compost and fertilization
needed allowing for high yielding food production. Food forests take some time to develop and
usually start as community garden. In the City of Kalamazoo there are plans to develop food
forests in five locations: on Parkview at the WMU Gibbs House, in downtown Kalamazoo, on
Drake Road in Oshtemo, on the north side of Kalamazoo and in the center of southwest
Kalamazoo at Disciples of Christ Church.83

The Seven Layers of a Food Forest. Diagram by Graham Burnett

83
The CORE Food Forest and Community Center, January 2017 Newsletter

52
 The City of Kalamazoo can allow community food forests on vacant land in all zoning
districts except industrial to increase the availability of locally produced food for all residents.

4.7 Local food within institutions

With an abundance of locally produced foods, the Bronson Healthy Living Campus, a
partnership between Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC), Bronson Healthcare, and
Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, aims to encourage people
to eat more locally produced foods. Brendan Molony, Bronson Hospitals sustainability
coordinator, estimates that 40% of the hospitals food is now locally sourced, making them a
national leader in using local foods. Throughout the City, many people rely on meals that are
prepared at institutions which can easily number in the millions. Bronson Hospital alone serves
1.5 million meals annually.84 To address the many barriers that are involved in providing locally
sourced produce, the ValleyHub at the Food Innovation Center was created. VallehHub
collects, lightly processes, and distributes produce to support the utilization of local food on a
large scale.
Consuming food from local sources is something everyone can be involved in, from
children to senior citizens. Adding student farmed vegetable gardens located on the school
grounds to the curriculum in the Kalamazoo Public School district would benefit the students
and local community. The students would learn how to grow fruits and vegetables, benefit from
adding the produce grown in the garden to improve dietary habits in the cafeterias, and
possibly take home extra produce for their families.
When the students learn about gardening and enjoy their yield, the students will
experience a sense of pride and accomplishment in their work which will be seen in higher self-
esteem and more confidence. This has been demonstrated by the Northport Public Schools
located in Northern Michigan.85 At Northport, the students participated in growing a vegetable
garden at their school. Not only did the students enjoy trying new vegetables but they were
delighted when the school served the produce for lunch that the students grew.
Michigan Good Food is an organization dedicated to building up economy, sustainability,
and equity in Michigans local communities through increasing the availability of fresh, locally
grown food.86 Their goal for pre-K through 12th grades is to increase access to local foods
through agriculture classes taught by growing produce in gardens by 2020. While this goal may
not be viable for the City of Kalamazoo to accomplish by 2020, the Kalamazoo Public Schools
District can work towards a similar goal.

84
https://www.kvcc.edu/healthyliving/foodHub.php accessed 3/19/17.
85
Conners, Diane. Community Groundwork. (January 19, 2015). School Garden Workshop in Northern Michigan.
Accessed April 1, 2017. http://www.groundworkcenter.org/news-views/school-garden-workshop-in-northern-
michigan.html#.WN_hwRLyuRs.
86
Michigan Good Food. (April 1, 2014). The Vision and Goals of the Michigan Good Food Charter. Accessed April 1,
2017. http://www.michiganfood.org/about.

53
 Schools across the country have started to incorporate food gardening into their
curriculum. Additionally, many organizations have developed lessons or curriculums along with
providing an abundance of references and step-by-step tutorials on how to successfully run a
school garden. In the Madison Wisconsin area, many schools have committed to teaching the
students about gardening and are reaping the rewards.87 Additionally, the University of Georgia
Athens (UGA) has written a School Garden Curriculum that aligns the gardening lessons with
the educational standards for the State of Georgia for kindergarten through 8 th grade.88

87
More information can be found about Wisconsin school gardens at Community Ground Works. Madison Area
School Gardens. Accessed April 1, 2017. http://www.communitygroundworks.org/content/madison-area-school-
gardens.
88
For information about the curriculum visit GSA Extension. School Garden Curriculum. Accessed April 1, 2017.
http://extension.uga.edu/k12/school-gardens/curriculum.

54
 5. Waste Management

The waste sector makes up about 1% of Kalamazoos estimated GHG emissions.

Actions described in this section make up about 4% of this plans total estimated reductions,
with some coming from reducing carbon-based energy use in buildings and transportation.

5.1 Rainwater capture and reuse

When rainwater flows over pavement instead of being absorbed into the ground, it can
become polluted by fuel from automobiles, trash, and sediments. When this storm water
enters drainage systems it often runs directly into streams and rivers and carries these
pollutants to them. Rainwater management and use and raingardens can help absorb the water
so toxins can be reclaimed by the ground. Rainwater can be a valuable resource for residents of
Kalamazoo as roughly 40% of water use in the summer comes from maintaining lawns and
landscaping. Rain barrels can be installed at homes and businesses to collect rainwater that
flows from roofs to downspouts if the capturer can empty the barrel frequently when it reaches

55
capacity.89 The Storm Water Action Group, a subunit of the Kalamazoo Climate Change
Coalition, has sold 513 rain barrels at discounted prices over 3 years and estimates a savings of
1.7 million gallons of water over that period.90 The capture and use of rainwater can decrease
GHG emissions in Kalamazoo by decreasing the energy consumed to pump and transport water
to residents. The City can encourage businesses and residents to make use of rainwater by
providing information on benefits of rain and storm water capture and cost-efficient methods
for doing so.

5.2 Reduce Kalamazoos total waste stream

The City of Kalamazoo does not have a waste reduction goal in place. Setting a goal to
reach by a certain date would help stimulate more urgency within the City to reduce waste.
The City of Ann Arbor set a five percent waste reduction goal over a five-year period which they
were successful in reaching by 2012.91 Considering Ann Arbor as an example, the City of
Kalamazoo could set a goal of approximately five percent waste reduction in five years or
something similar.
To achieve a waste reduction goal in Kalamazoo, Zero Waste strategies offer excellent
ways to reduce GHGs and what is sent to the landfill. Zero Waste strategies involve more than
just establishing new behaviors; they "...address the entire social system of how we make,
consume and dispose of our 'stuff.'"92 Cities that have adopted Zero Waste pledges include San
Francisco, Boulder, Dallas, New York and Seattle, among many others. Educational programs
that demonstrate the value of recycling, composting and conscientious purchasing to residents
and business owners can help the City to reach the waste reduction goal. Campaigns could:
Educate residents and business owners on the lifecycle of products and the
importance of making wise consumer decisions
Initiate a campaign to buy less stuff
Promote the reduction of junk mail sent out by businesses

Promote awareness of the EPAs waste management hierarchy

89
Kalamazoo River Watershed Council. Rain Barrels Accessed on March 7, 2017.
http://kalamazooriver.org/act/residents/rain-barrels/
90
Kalamazoo Climate Change Coalition. Stormwater Action Working Group. Accessed on March 7, 2017.
http://www.naturecenter.org/Climate.aspx
91
The City of Ann Arbor Climate Action Plan. (2012). Accessed April 2, 2017, p. ???
92
Eco-Cycle Solutions. (2017). Zero Waste is More Than Just Recycling. Accessed April 4, 2017.
http://ecocyclesolutionshub.org/about-zero-waste/what-zero-waste-is/

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 Environmental Protection Agency Waste Management Hierarchy93

5.3 Zero-waste outdoor events

In order to manage and reduce waste from outdoor events, the City can develop a zero-
waste policy. In 2016 226 events were hosted by Kalamazoo parks with over 18,000 people in
attendance.94 To reduce the waste stream and educate residents about waste reduction, the
City can require hosts of outdoor events on City properties (hosts of all such events or just City-
sponsored events) to provide a comprehensive waste management plan that reduces the
amount of waste that would have become landfill.

5.4 Encourage residents to put garbage, compost, and recycling out when bins are full
Often times, the garbage, compost, and recycle bins that are set out for weekly
collections are not filled to their capacity. This is done for a few different reasons. Some
residents might be concerned with the smell of the garbage if it is allowed to sit for over a week
or they are simply in the habit of taking the garbage, compost, and recycling out weekly.
Whatever the reason, setting the bins out for collection when they are not full can contribute to
GHGs.

93
Environmental Protection Agency. (September 7, 2016). Sustainable Materials Management: Non-Hazardous
Materials and Waste Management Hierarchy. Accessed on March 23, 2017.
https://www.epa.gov/smm/sustainable-materials-management-non-hazardous-materials-and-waste-
management-hierarchy.
94
The City of Kalamazoo: Department of Parks, and Recreation, Annual Report 2016, accessed 4/3/2017
http://kzooparks.org/media/KPR-2016-Annual-Report-FINAL.pdf.

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 The garbage trucks that are out picking up the waste have to stop at each house that
has bins out. Stopping and idling a garbage truck and then continuing down the road to the
next stop produces more pollution from the vehicle and is an inefficient use of gasoline.
Furthermore, when a garbage truck must stop to empty half-full containers, its time is not used
efficiently. By educating residents to only place garbage, compost, and recycle bins out for
collection when they are full, the City can reduce some of the costs for waste collection and
also reduce GHG emissions.

5.5 Facilitate more material reuse opportunities throughout the community

As a college town, Kalamazoo experiences a great deal of waste from students. Without
fail, at the end of the Spring semester, dumpsters all over campus and at popular off-campus
student housing sites are overflowing with discarded items. Oftentimes the waste that is
generated at the end of an academic year or after a student graduates is from items that could
continue to be used instead of ending up in a landfill; such as printers, couches and futons,
lamps, rugs, and decorations. The City can create a space where items can be donated at the
end of the school year or after graduation. In creating a storefront or online site where
students can shop for discounted items and a place where items that are no longer needed can
be picked up for donation, the City would promote a greater sense of sustainability.
Currently, Kalamazoo has facilities such as the Salvation Army and Goodwill that
students can utilize to donate items and purchase used products from. However, these
organizations do not necessarily cater to students. An organization called Trash 2 Treasures
(T2T) was a movement started by University of New Hampshire students in 2011 who saw the
need to initiate sustainability on their campus and the community.95 T2T picked up unwanted
items at the end of each semester and stored them in a facility until a week or two before Fall
semester. Through advertising, T2T was able to sell almost all of the items they gathered to
arriving students and invest their revenue back into the program for the coming years.
Trash 2 Treasures was the pilot program of PLAN, an organization that helps other
campuses organize zero waste strategies. There are now campuses all over the United States
and Canada that participate in PLAN and have zero waste strategies in place. The City could
work with WMU, Kalamazoo College, and their students to establish a T2T program.

5.6 Promote Climate Impact labeling for restaurants and businesses

Kalamazoo can develop a labeling system that indicates to consumers the carbon impact
of their patronage choices in the Kalamazoo area. In 2015, a study in Germany concluded that
products that are labeled as environmentally friendly see increases in sales and that consumers

95
PLAN. Accessed April 4, 2017. http://www.postlandfill.org.

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are willing to pay a premium for greener products.96 If consumers can easily identify the carbon
impact of their purchases they are likely to choose greener options, lowering consumption
based carbon emissions.
Kalamazoo businesses can be key partners in climate protection by switching to greener
production methods, recyclable materials, and more efficient spaces. For example, restaurants
can use carryout containers made of recycled paper and unlined with plastic to ensure
degradability and pharmaceutical producers can source some of their energy needs from solar
energy installations. To make clear the climate impact of shops, restaurants, grocery stores, and
service providers based in Kalamazoo, the City can devise a labeling system that signifies to
consumers the climate protection initiatives that businesses have adopted. Businesses could
opt-in to being evaluated and listed based on their environmental efforts. A five-point scale can
be introduced and a 'Kzoo Green Business' rating can be awarded to companies to be displayed
in their place of business. Criteria to consider include:
Percentage of a business's reliance on locally sourced goods and labor
Post-consumer content of their products
Percentage of products that are recyclable
Extent to which a business reports recycling goods it uses
Energy efficiency of buildings and production systems
Powering of operations with renewable or clean energy
Composting efforts of businesses that serve or sell food
Other green initiatives, such as installing rain gardens, green roofs, rain barrels, etc.
Using easily understood labeling can help Kalamazoo residents consistently choose products
that have smaller impacts on the climate. Such a program would be a partnership between the
City and businesses; being listed as a 'Kzoo Green Business' should be an optional promotional
opportunity for Kalamazoo businesses.

5.7 Increase residential and commercial recycling participation and tonnage

While many Kalamazoo residents and business owners are aware of benefits from
recycling, not everyone understands how their participation can affect the City. In 2016, the
residents of Kalamazoo managed to recycle 1,612 tons instead of sending these items to the
landfill97. However, in January 2017 alone, Ann Arbor recycled and composted 1,262 tons98.
Currently, the City of Kalamazoo has a promotion that supports recycling. The city has a
single recycle stream pick up system available to residents. This allows residents to put all of

96
Hahnel, Ulf, Oliver Arnold, Michael Waschto, Liridon Korcaj, and Karen Hillmann. "The power of putting a label
on it: green labels weigh heavier than contradicting product information for consumers purchase decisions and
post-purchase behavior." Front Pschycol (September 23, 2015).
97
Exact number supplied by Wendy Burlingham, Public Services Administrative Support Manager for the City of
Kalamazoo on March 27, 2017.
98
Recycle Ann Arbor. Accessed April 2, 2017. https://recycleannarbor.org.

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their recyclables in one container for pick up instead of having to separate glass, plastic, and
paper products. However, it would be helpful to place additional containers at apartment
buildings or multifamily facilities where recycling is not convenient for all residents.
In order to increase residential and commercial recycling participation and tonnage, the
City could survey where gaps in knowledge for the residents and businesses owners are.
Additionally, in order to increase participation, it would be useful to understand what types of
waste streams are not targeted by established waste management programs. The City could
investigate residential and commercial waste to determine the current waste characteristics.
This would help the City to develop programs that focus on specific characteristics of the waste
stream that have not yet been targeted.

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 6. Engaged Community
About 9% of the plans estimated GHG reductions come from actions described below
encouraging members of our community to make more climate-friendly choices.

6.1 Provide a website that empowers citizens with information, tools, and opportunities

Kalamazoo is a vibrant city with many environmentally conscious citizens. Reducing

carbon emissions and creating an equitable community will necessarily be a joint effort
between the City, businesses, and citizens. In order to connect our public with resources and
information on green initiatives, the City can create and manage a webpage under the City of
Kalamazoo website where citizens can learn about weatherization techniques, thermostats and
settings, LED Lightbulbs, programmable water heaters, Kalamazoo certified green businesses,
composting, community gardens, and other actions they can take to slow or adapt to climate
change. The webpage can also include a calendar of events with listings for upcoming
neighborhood association events, farmers markets, community garden work days, and
advocacy events put on by local organizations. The webpage can also serve as a resource that

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connects citizens to current city, state, and federal resources that Kalamazoo residents can take
advantage of to reduce their carbon footprints.

The webpage would be helpful to Kalamazoo residents because there are many green
initiatives and events presently occurring in Kalamazoo. The City webpage can disseminate
information on programs and events that local organizations such as the Kalamazoo Nature
Center, Audubon Society, Citizens Climate Lobby, Kalamazoo Climate Change Coalition,
Community Homeworks, Habitat for Humanity, Hope for Creation, Michigan Saves, and many
more are already initiating.

6.2 Create, design, and implement a sustainable community energy efficiency program
To help Kalamazoo to decrease its GHG emissions, the City can set targets and track
increases in efficiency and reductions in energy use. The City can establish baseline levels of
electricity use and track reductions by neighborhood and business sector. Data can be gathered
through the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool to track reductions in energy use. The
program can also serve to publicize the Citys energy reductions. To increase recognition, the
plan can be named and branded. Kalamazoo could model its program after the one proposed
by the City of Ann Arbor and call the plan the Community Energy Efficiency Program99 or devise
a new name.
6.3 Neighborhood Green Teams
Green teams can be comprised of dedicated community individuals, collaborating with
the City and other organizations to promote sustainable climate mitigation strategies. Following
the City of Ann Arbor approach to community engagement, the City of Kalamazoo can work out
modalities to reduce greenhouse emissions by engaging the community in environmental
sustainable programs. Green Team should focus on projects related to energy and water
consumption, waste reduction and recycling, and local food initiatives.100This way, the City will
be able to meet its targets in reducing emissions in the above mentioned areas.
As a way to coordinate and mitigate the effects of climate change, the City of Kalamazoo
can work closely with community and organizations like the Kalamazoo Climate Change
Coalition (KCCC). KCCC is composed of more than forty organizations committed to the City of
Kalamazoo community neighborhoods health. In order to maintain the working relations
between the City and partners in developing and implementation of sustainable environmental
friendly solutions in community neighborhoods, information should flow between the two (City
and the partners) timely.

99
City of Ann Arbor (2012) "Climate Action Plan," p. 150
100
The City of Ann Arbor Climate Action Plan (2012: 151)
https://www.a2cp.org/sites/default/files/CityofAnnArborClimateActionPlan_low%20res_2_17_12.pdf

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6.4 Expand environmental education curriculums in public and private schools
The Citys Environmental Concerns Committee can work with local public and private
schools to promote environmental education curriculums.99 Together with the Kalamazoo
Nature Center, Bike Friendly Kalamazoo and other environment minded groups, the City of
Kalamazoo could host an earth day event in the downtown area, encouraging participation
from local schools.
The U.S Department of Education provides funding for school districts that promote
environmental education and sustainability through its Green Ribbon Schools program.101 The
City of Kalamazoo can encourage Kalamazoo Public Schools to look into this funding
opportunity and to consider examples from pervious beneficiary schools such as Boulder Valley
School District in Colorado.

101
https://www2.ed.gov/programs/green-ribbon-schools/index.html Accessed April 14, 2017.

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 7. Adapting to Climate Change
Climate change will increase heat waves in Kalamazoo. It will increase the intensity of
precipitation events rain and snow so flooding will increase, and periods without rain are
also likely to increase. Weather patterns will grow more erratic. Over time, species of plants
and animals will migrate north, some familiar species will die or disappear, and Kalamazoo will
become home to insects, plants and animals native to more southern states.

The most harmful immediate effect for Kalamazoo residents will probably be the
increase in very hot days. The City may wish to ensure that convenient and inviting cooling
spaces are available particularly in neighborhoods where many homes lack air conditioning.
We understand that steps are already under way to manage increased flooding. Increasingly
intense storms are likely to increase power outages so the City may wish to take steps to secure
sources of back-up electricity.

If global warming exceeds two degrees Celsius, the more dangerous effects for
Kalamazoo residents will probably be indirect as we might be influenced, for example, by the
United States economy crashing due to a collapse in property values along our Atlantic and
Pacific coasts, or by war and famine in countries that are poorer and hotter than ours, or by the
breakdown of international institutions. Then we will need to adapt by helping to take care of
Kalamazoo residents driven into poverty and those whose lives are broken in foreign wars.

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 Next Steps

This plan is offered to the City of Kalamazoo and its residents as a starting point for
responding as a city to perhaps the greatest challenge facing humanity in the 21 st Century:
climate change. We are grateful for the opportunity to support this important new chapter in
Kalamazoos development as a community and as a city.

To begin to implement the plan it would make sense to start with two full time staff
with a moderate operating budget for the first year. Weatherization of homes for low-income
families is a clear winner in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate
change, enhancing social equity, and building on Kalamazoos strengths. Funds for action in this
area in the first year could help to launch the plan on the ground. The City could form a climate
action team with key staff and a climate action advisory board with representatives from the
community and interested organizations. In discussion with community stakeholders they could
make an implementation plan and budget, including tax abatements, for approval by the
beginning of the second year. A climate action page could be added to the Citys website as
information is gathered and relationships are built to launch other actions. Financial
instruments for priority actions could be explored. A schedule for zoning changes could be
made. One of the staff could be energy manager for the City of Kalamazoo, responsible for
maximizing efficiency on City properties and with City assets.

This plan can only be carried out effectively with active cooperation and support from
Kalamazoo residents, businesses, and other institutions. City resources are needed, but
collaboration should be built from the start, with buy-in from other parties. For the City to
adopt this plan is for it to become an advocate for regional, state, and national efforts to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change, and a partner in advocacy with
others. Foundations and government offices at other levels will also be promoting climate
action, sometimes with grants or other resources. The Citys climate action team can help to
bring some of these resources to Kalamazoo.

As the City develops an implementation plan and budget it should also develop a
monitoring system, to track changes along the way, and a schedule for reporting progress and
revising and updating the plan. A first step for monitoring is to carry out a community
greenhouse gas inventory for the City of Kalamazoo and to estimate CO2e reductions from the
actions the City plans with assistance from ICLEI.

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