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Sustainability in Roanoke
Language Assistance
If you do not speak, read, or write English well, the City will provide an interpreter at no cost to you! This is available for all services and programs the City offers. For language assistance, please call 540-853-2000 and press 2.
Asistencia Lingüística
Si usted no habla, lee, o escribe el inglés bien, ¡la Ciudad proporcionará un intérprete sin costo a usted! La interpretación está disponible por todos servicios y programas que ofrece la Ciudad. Para obtener asistencia lingüística, por favor llame a 540-853-2000 y oprime el 2.
Welcome Solarize Roanoke 2022!
What is Solarize Virginia?
Solarize Virginia is a community-based outreach initiative managed by the local nonprofit LEAP (Local Energy Alliance Program). It reduces the cost and complexity of going solar by providing a one-stop shop for education and installation. Through a competitive review process, LEAP evaluates proposals from local installers and selects high-quality installers that commit to providing discounted prices to all program participants. After you sign up, LEAP will do a free solar satellite assessment to see if you are a good fit for solar. If you are, you will be connected with one of our pre-selected installers who will guide you through the process of solarizing your home.
Throughout the process, experts at LEAP will be by your side to provide ongoing customer support and education to make the experience as streamlined as possible.
The Solar Income Tax Credit is dropping from 26% to 22% at the end of 2022, so be sure to take advantage of the higher rate while you can!
This year's campaign will run from April 1 - June 30, 2022.
In June 2016, council adopted new targets of an additional 12.5% for the municipal operations and an additional 10% for the community by the end of CY 2019.
With these emission reduction targets in mind, City staff was charged with developing a Climate Action Plan for the Roanoke community and implementing the programs, initiatives and best practices to the extent practical and achievable within available funding and resources.
ICLEI
Roanoke has completed the community inventory every year since 2008. The municipal footprint is now on a biannual basis with the last completed GHG measurement in 2014. ICLEI provides the city with a reporting software ClearPath which is used by a large number of cities across the world. ClearPath provides consistency in data collection and analytics.
Better Building Challenge
In 2012 Roanoke joined the Better Building Challenge as an early adopter, the city committed to a 20% energy reduction on over a million square feet by 2022. In 2018, Roanoke achieved a 23% reduction becoming a U.S. Department of Energy - Better Buildings Challenge GOAL ACHIEVER!Compact of Mayors
Roanoke signed on to the Compact of Mayors, the first global coalition of local government committed to reducing and track the greenhouse gas emissions. Last year the Compact of Mayors merged with the Covenant of Mayors, to form the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.Clean and Green
The Citizens for Clean and Green Committee is a group of volunteers in the City of Roanoke who are tasked with carrying forward the mission of the city's Clean and Green initiative. The Clean and Green Campaign was launched in September 2007 by City Council member Gwen Mason as a way encourage the city to "green" its operations, as well as raise awareness among citizens and engage them in a community-wide effort to reduce our collective carbon footprint. The campaign was designed to run for 18 months, but the vision was that the city would make sound environmental practices a permanent part of the way it does business, and also that good environmental stewardship was something the entire Roanoke Valley could embrace as it looks to the future.
Since its formation, the Citizens for Clean and Green Committee has undertaken a number of projects. One of these is organizing the City of Roanoke Green Academy. These free, five-week educational workshops offer area residents a primer on topics ranging from energy and water conservation to green building and alternative transportation. The committee has supported and participated in Earth Day activities and the annual Green Living and Energy Expo, as well as the development of Cafe2 (Community Alliance for Energy Efficiency)in the Roanoke and New River Valleys, and the new regional Save A Ton educational initiative.
For more information, contact Nell Boyle, Sustainability/Outreach Coordinator, at 853-5430.
Solar
Roanoke is solar friendly and has streamlined the solar permit process to comply with the Solsmart Bronze Certification level. Roanoke also offers an Equipment Tax Abatement for solar purchase and installation. to learn more about solar click here.Business
The Office of Sustainability is happy to provide resources and expertise to businesses in the city that are interesting in "greening" their operations, contact Nell Boyle.BRITE
BRITE is a public-private partnership creating beautiful landscaping vignettes along I-581/220 interchanges in the city of Roanoke through the generosity of corporate sponsorship. Click here for more information.Biking and Outdoor Recreation
Click here for more information.Greenways
Click here for more information.Parks & Recreation
Click here for more information.