APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY
An agreement between the City of Burlington, Vermont (Burlington) and the Lockheed Martin Corporation (Lockheed Martin) will be established to leverage the experience of both parties in the area of sustainable environmental practices and renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, to enhance the sustainability of the City of Burlington and to create a model approach that can be applied to similarly enhance the sustainability of other municipal environments.
Burlington and Lockheed Martin intend to bring together their leadership, staff support, and technical assistance to explore mutually beneficial arrangements involving sustainable environmental practices and renewable energy projects that can be applied in Burlington and elsewhere.
A technology that will be initially investigated is Power Tagging towards Conservation Voltage Regulation. This technology provides a dynamic feedback loop that incorporates end-point data allowing utility companies to reduce voltage to an optimum level. Utilities can save 4-7% of total power produced, enabling lower carbon footprints, reduced costs, and the ability to source peak demand, and ultimately creating impressive energy savings. In addition, other renewable technologies such as Vertical Wind Turbines and Photovoltaic Solar will be considered to support Burlington's goal to achieve 100% renewable power supply by 2012. Additional technologies will be selected based upon the outcome of the Carbon Analysis and Sustainability Management Analysis.
Burlington will pursue a Sister City relationship with Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates to align similar projects and to share expertise and technical data. Lockheed Martin and Burlington will work collaboratively with other organizations such as MIT, University of Maryland, and the Carbon War Room regarding Urban Triage for carbon reduction and Climate Adaptation Analysis.
Finally, recognizing the need to educate future generations on the importance of sustainability, this partnership will be used to collaborate activities between the Burlington Sustainability Academy and the Lockheed Martin STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) educational outreach programs.
IMPLEMENTATION, TIMELINE, AND DELIVERABLES
September 2010 -City of Burlington, Vermont and the Lockheed Martin Corporation partnership established
September 2010 - Initial discussions begin on conservation voltage regulation and sustainability management
November 2010 -Initial discussions between Burlington Sustainability Academy and Lockheed Martin STEM
December 2010 -Urban Triage Analysis Complete
January 2011-Implementation of initial technology insertions
April 2011 -Climate Adaptation Analysis complete
June 2011 -Recommendations report complete
December 2011- Effectiveness study complete
2012 - Evaluate ongoing activities
Cities are major emitters of greenhouse gases, and they provide an excellent area to focus sustainability and energy efficiency improvements.
Burlington is a medium-sized city with twenty-years of leadership in testing and applying sustainable environmental practices, as its size and commitment to sustainability efforts provide an excellent location to implement sustainability and renewable energy projects. Lockheed Martin has decades of experience in complex systems engineering and access to some of the latest sustainability and renewable energy technologies and processes.
Burlington emits approximately 400,000 equivalent tons of CO2 annually, down from 624,000 in 1997. These reductions have been made through energy efficiency strategies and the Burlington Electric Department's current use of 60% renewable energy sources.
Lockheed Martin will work with city administrators to develop the appropriate analysis and best practices to ensure an efficient deployment of technology applications to further the desired sustainability outcomes. By demonstrating a disciplined, systematic approach, the efficiency cost-savings will promote and accelerate further sustainability investments, consequently resulting in even further improvements and carbon emission reductions. In addition, regardless of future greenhouse gas emissions, some degree of future climate change will occur. Understanding climate adaptation strategies and the associated socioeconomic impacts and sensitivities to specific regions will help municipalities prepare and adapt for their future.
SEEKING: Implementing Partners
This commitment will be seeking companies and organizations providing technologies and solutions in urban sustainability, adaptation to climate change, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainability financing.
OFFERING: Best Practice Information
This commitment applies Lockheed Martin's experience in managing large complex technology programs to the global energy and climate change market. In addition, best practices learned from this effort will be able to be applied and scaled to meet the needs of other cities.
