Sep 13 2022

City of Piedmont Honored for Sustainability Achievements

“Climate action is a demonstrated priority for Piedmont’s City Council.”

The City of Piedmont has been awarded the Institute of Local Government (ILG)’s
Beacon Spotlight Award for Sustainability Best Practices at the Platinum level.  Piedmont’s Platinum Spotlight award was recognized at the League of California Cities
Annual Conference in Long Beach on Thursday September 8, 2022.

The Spotlight Award recognizes sustainability actions that go above and beyond state
mandates, highlighting creative and local solutions for addressing climate sustainability
in ten areas, including energy efficiency and conservation, green building, and waste
reduction.

Piedmont was recognized in the following areas:

• Reach Codes:

• All-Electric Community Pool:

• EV Chargers:

• Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan:

• Climate-Friendly Purchasing:

• Compost Giveaways:

• Community Education:

READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE > 2022-09-12 City Honored for Sustainability Achievements

One Response to “City of Piedmont Honored for Sustainability Achievements”

  1. Kudos to the city. All but two of those areas are common throughout East Bay cities and some are mandated by state and local funding agencies. Where Piedmont distinguishes itself is with the first two on the list – Reach codes and the electric pool. The Reach codes mandate greater energy efficiency than the California Building Code and their effectiveness remains to be seen – natural gas usage by the Piedmont residential sector has steadily increased over the past 5 years. The next GHG inventory will show whether Reach codes are making a difference on the city’s use of natural gas.

    The community really deserves the credit for the electric pool. First, two Piedmont Connect board members, Tom Webster and Indira Balkissoon, provided the City with calculations showing how such a pool was feasible. But more importantly, 66% of residents supported electrification in multiple city surveys. Recall that the initial conceptual design of the pool relied heavily on natural gas. But in the pool workshops, an all-electric pool received the most comments on the “idea wall” and ultimately the all- electro design prevailed.

    So the community can keep this green vibe going by participating in two upcoming city events. On September 19, Council will be considering new Reach codes. Residents can send their ideas in advance to buildingpermits@piedmont.ca.gov. My two – no new natural gas in remodels of a certain size and expansion of the FAR for remodels that convert the house to all-electric.

    The other action residents can take is participate in an online survey about Piedmont’a pilot electrification rebate program. Take the 10-minute survey at
    https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfcmwRWnnUUCWzjpp2mgM82s-fSqJ2Ieq8iQH3Nxiq4SUStmQ/viewform

    Finally the city should establish a Sustainability Commission or better yet a Climate Action Committee. Virtually all other east bay and peninsula cities have such committees. That would show that City Council takes climate change seriously.

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