02 Jan Austin’s 2013 Green Year in Review

In reflecting on 2013 many Austinites consider our biggest local change of the year to be election related. In 2013 we voted to shift our local elections from spring to fall and more importantly, to shift to a 10-1 City Council (10 representatives of geographic districts + 1 at-large Mayor). This will affect everything locally. Some people are excited about the changes while others are weary of "fiefdoms" and fear that not enough attention will be given to the "big picture" of environmental issues which may not be hot-button items for voters in each district. In some cases, districts may have a large percentage of voters who are even hostile toward environmental measures.

People are already making public declarations about their intentions to run even though the official filing date is months away. It is important that we have solid candidates who understand and show commitment to environmental and broader sustainability issues in all of the districts and the Mayor’s race. Toward the end of 2013 it became clear to the Austin EcoNetwork team that among our key roles going forward will to be to provide informative and accurate reference material as well as deliver timely, actionable information to inform voters and candidates about the range of important sustainability agenda items that we need to lead on. 

One of the main points of the new 10-1 system is to have a City Council that is more diverse and inclusive. Interestingly, multiple people reported that one of their highlights of the year was hearing Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., President and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, speak at SXSW Eco about mobilizing the young hip hop culture to engage on environmental issues. Perhaps these two things are related and deep down we understand that the environmental "movement" will not succeed unless many more people are able to find a voice and relevance in the environmental agenda.

At the state level, the Texas League of Conservation Voters unveiled their 2013 Legislative Scorecard which was “generally a success for the environment and conservation," according to TLCV Director David Weinberg. "This success is measured by the passage of positive legislation dealing with clean energy development and water conservation; a state budget which provided significant increases in funding to state parks and clean air programs; and the failure of numerous bad bills designed to roll back environmental regulations and curtail citizen participation in environmental decision-making. Still, there were missed opportunities in the session and the state has a long way to go in promoting the use of solar, regulating the production of oil and gas, and improving waste prevention and recycling," added Weinberg. 

And now for some local news, milestones, accomplishments and awards (especially from our partners) in a variety of areas pertaining to sustainability…

GREEN BUSINESS

We love to see green business growth and recognition!

• EcoClean had a fantastic year adding two more locations in 2013 and winning Best Dry Cleaner in Austin Chronicle, again.  Also this year, their PROPS program passed the $10,000 mark in cash donations to  local non-profits!  Customers who take garments and household items in to be cleaned at any EcoClean location on Wednesdays automatically make a contribution to our partner of the month. [Note: This month they are partnering with the Clean Water Fund.]

• After many years of clamoring for it, South Austin is finally home to a second location of Wheatsville Co-op.

• Greenling not only pulled down another Best of Austin award for “Best Food Delivery” they also expanded to Houston in 2013.

• in.gredients was *Awarded 2nd place as one of the "Most Promising Emerging Businesses" at the Think Beyond Plastic Conference in June. * Named a Sustainia100 Solution of 2013  *Published an Open Letter to the community on "Green Friday" outlining our successes, challenges, and needs. *Launched a series of free culinary workshops in partnership with Traveling Recipes, Go Texan, and SFC focusing on local, seasonal, plant-based dishes. *Celebrated our 1-year Anniversary with a big ol' block party in early August. 

• Starting in January AEN Partner Edible Austin is expanding to publish SIX times a year.

• Bicycle Sport Shop, which won Best Bicycle Repair, again, in the Chronicle Reader's Poll continues to do well with their South and North Austin locations.

• Central Texas Bee Rescue installed downtown Austin’s first ever rooftop bee apiary on a high-rise at the The W Hotel Austin, allowing the AWAY Spa, Trace, and W Austin Bar all to use the on-site honey. Central Texas Bee Rescue also won an Austin Chronicle’s Critic's Pick award for  “Best Way to Save Your Honey”.

• The Natural Gardener, which was voted Best Gardening Store in the Austin Chronicle’s 2013 Reader’s Poll, celebrated its 20th anniversary at their Old Bee Caves Road location, and 25 years of serving Austin organically. They were also voted one of the top 5 independent garden centers in the nation by Today’s Garden Center Magazine.

• The City of Austin Office of Sustainability created the Austin Green Business Leaders program, a voluntary scoring system to recognize local business for sustainability and provided a peer group for networking. The program has officially recognized 114 local businesses for greening their operations. This summer, over 100 green businesses were recognized as Austin Green Business Leaders, including Austin EcoNetwork at the highest, platinum level. Other platinum-recognized partners included Balcones Resources, Barr Mansion, EcoKids Pre-K, Treehouse, Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, Circular Energy, East Side Compost Peddalers, EcoChic Floral, and in.gredients.

• The rise of cooperative businesses has also been impressive, in part due to the education and support provided by Cooperation Texas. At the cooperation festival there were representatives of local cooperative groceries, breweries, bakeries, cleaning service, credit unions, and more.

FOOD & GROWING

There was significant movement on Austin’s food front in 2013:

• Urban Farm Code Revision – Record numbers of Austin citizens passionate about environmental sustainability and social justice engaged in an urban farm code revision process. The road to creating a healthy, sustainable, equitable food system in Austin is a long one. Thanks to Austin’s diverse leaders, this year our city made strides in developing a richer understanding of the complex challenges, difficult tradeoffs, and great opportunities available. The final product continues to allow farms in all zoning areas, creates Market Gardens, limits third-party sales, and most notably no processing or composting of animals on farms that  single-family lot. See Austin Urban Farms for more details including the nitty gritty of the code.

• Without precise numbers, we can report that there are more farmers' markets available on more days/week with more participation from farmers, food artisans and shoppers! Barton Creek Farmer's Market moved their Sunday location from Highland Mall to S. Lamar at Bluebonnet. See Edible Austin's Farmer's Market map and list for hours, days, and addresses.

• Edible Austin did the sleuthing required to create a tremendous list and map of 89 local restaurants that source significant amounts local food. Check out Where to Eat in Central Texas to find eateries that feature seasonal dishes highlighting the best ingredients Central Texas has to offer while also supporting our local economy and the efforts of our farmers. Use the map to explore new restaurants, find new reasons to love your old favorites, and enjoy fresh local food while dining out.

• "The lege" was positive at least on the food and beverage front. It offers flexibility around the home-based cottage foods industry and lots of definition and support for distilleries and craft brewing, See page 12 of Edible Austin's legislative summary for the new food rules.

• The Sustainable Food Center realized their dream of building a beautiful green-built facility to house the efforts of their mission. Located in East Austin near the MLK rail stop, the property allows them to host cooking classes, manage the growing farm-to-work and farm-to-school programs, facilitate four Farmers’ Markets, the Citizen Gardener and other gardening education programs. By the Numbers: Grow Local served 14,135 individuals through their Spread the Harvest program, sharing 10,702 garden-fresh produce meals. 461 individuals attended 16 garden education classes (English and Spanish) and 6 garden leadership trainings. 182 school garden groups and 87 community garden groups received education, resources, or other assistance, and 7 community gardens received sponsorships.  32,000 children were served through Sprouting Healthy Kids. Four farmers markets were held year round with a total of 255,458 customers, 2,068 of which were SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and WIC (Women, Infant, and Children) participating in the Double Dollars Incentive Program, totaling $33,348 match incentives redeemed. The Happy Kitchen/ La Cocina Alegre program has served 26% more clients through their 27 free, six-week cooking classes, totaling 579 participants, and their 45 free, 1-3 hour cooking workshops and demonstrations for 1,274 people.

• Urban Roots Youth Farm interns, volunteers, and staff grew 36,401 lb. of vegetables, fruits, and herbs using sustainable agriculture, 14,151 of which was donated to local hunger relief efforts. Urban Roots also engaged 1,530 volunteers in over 6,500 hours of work on our urban farm!

• Rosewood Community Market opened in East Austin in an area considered a food desert. More.

• The Natural Gardener and John Dromgool were featured on an episode of the national PBS TV series "Growing A Greener World" hosted by Joe Lamp’l about independent garden centers and why you should support them. 

• The Austin City Council declared 2013 the year of Food Waste Prevention and Recovery. The first half of the year a team of planners gathered info and resources, launched FoodShiftAustin.org and put together a Food Establishment Survey to determine baseline behaviors and attitudes about preventing food waste as well as donating and composting leftovers. Throughout the year, Brandi served as a public spokesperson giving many public talks, including a TEDxYouth@Austin talk about the scale of our current food waste, the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act which protects food donors from liability when donating in good faith to a nonprofit, and encouraging people to be good food stewards letting no good food go to waste on their watch at home, at work and at events, and participate in the fast-growing Keep Austin Fed food rescue program.

• The East Feast Coalition gained steam in 2013, united by a vision of diverse neighbors from all parts of East Austin celebrating abundant local food and community along the shores of Lady Bird Lake. Thanks to the efforts of this growing grassroots coalition, sustainable, edible landscaping is now a guiding principle in the proposed 90-acre master plan for the Holly Shores/Edward Rendon Sr. Park, a plan that will come before City Council on January 30!  Extensive community conversations over the past year brought to life the idea of creating Austin’s first food forest in a public park (and third in the nation) next to the thriving Festival Beach Community Garden by the RBJ Center.  To see the proposed food forest plan, or to keep up to date on successes from other East Feast Coalition members, including Keeling Middle School’s community garden, Huston-Tillotson’s Green is The New Black student group, and Blackshear Bridge, sign up on for their enewlsetter or email EastFeast2022@gmail.com.

• The 2013 Austin Veggie Awards have been announced and reading the list of winners has me quite hungry. There is a long list of awards, everything from Best Salads (yay Mother’s Cafe) and Veggie Burgers to Best Faux Meat, Bar, Taco, Date Night Spot, Healthy Food (founding partner Casa de Luz) and more. See them all here: http://veganaustin.org/Austin-Veggie-Awards-2013.php

• There were more permaculture workshops and permablitzes than ever and both aquaponics and bees gained lots of popularity this year.

• Edible Austin hosted another fabulous Eat Drink Local Week featuring Will Allen, who spoke at the Paramount about the value of urban agriculture, a lovely Harvest Dinner which brought people together over local food, and there a sold out audience at the Blanton to see Farm, City, State.

ZERO WASTE

• The winners of the Austin Chronicle’s “Best Green Program” for 2013 was AEN partner Eastside Compost Pedallers. For nearly a year now, these folks have been running an affordable compost recycling service that uses a fleet of cargo bikes to collect organics from homes and businesses across Austin and pedal them to nearby farms and gardens – over 60,000 pounds this year.  The Pedallers are not only zero waste, they’re zero emissions, too! In 2013 they launched their one-of-a-kind compost rewards program, gave away a brand new Fairdale Bicycle, and threw a whole slew of really fun parties.

• The transition to the Single Use Bag Ordinance was implemented with very little problem. For all the fear and semi-negative press about it, there seems to be pretty widespread participation.

• For the 3rd legislative session in a row, Texas Campaign for the Environment and allies defeated statewide, preemptive bag ban legislation that would have voided local, more stringent single-use bag policies already on the books.

• After a 4 year campaign, the Central Texas Zero Waste Alliance (CTZWA.org) finally saw an interlocal agreement secured between the City of Austin and Travis County to expand Austin’s Zero Waste Master Plan and waste diversion goals.

• The Austin Zero Waste Alliance (AZWA) advocated for the allowance of mobile food truck vendors to participate in the Universal Recycling Ordinance in providing on-site recycling and composting services to its customers through temporary “work-around” language while the more permanent Land Development Code is being rewritten.

• The Austin Zero Waste Alliance (AZWA) also highlighted the importance of the City of Austin enforcing Phase I of the Universal Recycling Ordinance requiring large local business and multi-family complexes to recycle.

• Many Austin businesses and industries came together in 2013 for stakeholder meetings to help the city devise Phase II of the Universal Recycling Ordinance requiring smaller businesses to recycle. Final policy wording will be presented to Austin City Council for approval in early 2014.

• Starting in 2013 the first 8000 households started participating in the City’s first curbside compost collection pilot. The City of Austin has planned to double the amount of homes in 2014.

• Though the market for end products of recycling was generally depressed over the last year Balcones Recycling, which offers residential and commercial recycling and document destruction services, increased theri They were also recognized by their national trade association SWANA as having one of the top 3 facilities in the U.S.!

• Texas Disposal Systems spent 2013 revolutionizing school and event composting in Austin. As of fall 2013 TDS is helping over 100,000 students in Central Texas to compost in their schools – all of the schools in Hays ISD, all of the AISD elementary schools and 2 middle schools, and all the schools in Pflugerville ISD. In the green events space, TDS handled the materials recovery at the outdoor SXSW Eco events and achieved a remarkable 97% diversion rate!  TDS also managed the waste at the ACL Festival and for 5 full days with more than 60,000 people a day in the food court area they used less than 100 trash liners! How'd they do it? Since all the food vending supplies were compostable they turned over the trash barrels and used only the recycling and compost x-frames lined with 3-mil 60-gallon poly bags that they de-bagged (dumped the contents into dumpsters) and reused the bags.

• Helping established organizations to first-time events, Green Fern Events produced the entire 21st Annual US Composting Council Conference and Tradeshow in January in Orlando, FL and was the key organizing and greening consultant to the first-ever Herbalismo national conference held in the Texas Hill County.

TRANSPORTATION

Traffic seemed to get significantly worse to the point of painful this year, (see/hear NPR story on Austin having the worst traffic). Long-Term Central Texas IH 35 Improvement Scenarios) confirmed our congestion fears – as well as applying traffic models to Austin’s roads in an innovative way. In a 2035 scenario called “What would it take,” TTI researchers simulated a concerted effort to change our behavior – including working from home, online classes and shopping, staggered work hours, and shortened car trips. The result was a 40% reduction in congestion – compared to the 5% possible reduction achieved by road-building alternatives. Now vetted by highly technical traffic modeling, the message is clear: Austin needs lifestyle, land use, and modal shifts if there is to be any chance of accommodating growth gracefully or sustainably.Austin made forwardprogress on a variety of alternative transportation fronts.

• RideScout is a free mobile app that provides real-time, on-demand information on available ride options—public, private, and social—that can get you from point A to point B. Find out your options for getting around in Austin including bus, rail, Car2Go, Bandwagon, taxi and Silvercar, which can make getting around the city or even to the airport easier and a little more fun.
• Although there is a 10pm curfew again on park trails that includes bicycles most of this year’s bike news was exciting! Austin got its first cycle tracks on campus, downtown, between the Highland Mall and Crestview stations.
• Two of the most significant local cycling and advocacy organizations, Austin Cycling Association and Bike Austin are on track to merge in the next year. If they merge teh new organization will be called Bike Austin.
• Austin B-cycle just launched the first bike share program in Austin with 100 bikes that are accessible 24 hours a day at 11 central Austin stations. They have daily, weekly, and annual passes that you can purchase at the kiosk or online.  FYI – BYO helmet. Privileges of their B-Connected program gets you plugged in with a calorie counter and access to B-cycle programs in other cities. 
• A proposal to cut and cap I-35, Reconnect Austin gained momentum in 2013, going from a “wacky” idea to one discussed by Senator Kirk Watson in his address at the Chamber’s annual State of Transportation luncheon. The local district of the Texas Department of Transportation has acknowledged the community’s preference for a sunken highway alternative through downtown, and is considering a cap over the depressed lanes. In addition to the opportunity to capture and scrub vehicle pollutants from the tunnel, the Reconnect Austin proposal has wide implications for changing land uses along the I-35 corridor. Appropriate density in this area of downtown will enable more Austinites to take advantage of alternative transportation modes and make shorter trips.
• Mopac lane shut downs to build Toll road. From their About Us: “The MoPac Improvement Project is a $200 million project to add Express Lanes on MoPac from Lady Bird Lake north to Parmer Lane. In addition to the Express Lanes, the project also includes the construction of sound walls, the enhancement of bicycle and pedestrian facilities and upgrading the visual appearance of the corridor. The project is being implemented by the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation, the City of Austin, and Capital Metro.”  

• SH45 SW has been on the table and off the table again and again. Population is still growing rapidly but the area which it would be built over could be environmentally sensitive. The Environmental impact assessment should be published in early 2014 and the environmental decision will be made shortly thereafter. 

GREEN BUILDING

This was the first green building program in the country (which preceded/inspired LEED) and decades later, as much as one-third of all single family homes and apartments built in Austin today are Green Building-rated homes. Additionally, most of the new commercial and multifamily buildings downtown and in large-scale developments are Green. (More info.)  That's good news because there is a LOT of construction going on now and even more coming.

• The Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems is the new home for the building that was the 2007 Texas A&M University Solar Decathlon entry. They are rebranding themselves as “The Center” (formerly MAXPOT, CMPBS). You can still find great demonstration buildings and some of the most cutting edge building technology being developed and tested constantly.  
• The Texas Legislature passed commercial and industrial property assessed clean energy (PACE) bill which will allow businesses to borrow money from private lenders and repay it yearly via an assessment on their property taxes.
• USGBC – deep evaluation about their mission in light of PACE financing.
• Austin Energy Green Building (AEGB) program rated 616 houses, 1,548 multifamily ratings, and 2,035 commercial ratings. Green Building also achieved energy code savings on 2,783 residential homes, 8,580 multifamily units, and 2,836 commercial permits. Green Building offset 18 MW of peak demand, it second highest total ever. Its high is 19 MW.
• The Austin Energy Green Building (AEGB) program updated their rating systems to be even more challenging for single-family, multifamily, and commercial construction. The updated ratings prepare projects seeking a Green Building rating to achieve higher energy savings, increased levels of building performance and overall positive environmental benefits.
• Debbie Kimberly, Austin Energy Vice President for Customer Energy Solutions reports that the updates help to meet Austin Energy’s goal of completing its second conservation power plant by offsetting 800 megawatts of generation through energy efficiency from 2007 through 2020.”
• LifeWorks and the Dell Childrens Medical Center's new addition (W. H. and Elaine McCarty South Tower project), both got five stars from AEGB. The projects, are fourth and fifth to be given 5 out of 5 stars,  “The ratings are based on points earned for satisfying specific green building criteria including energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor environmental quality, and construction waste reduction. The protection and conservation of resources, and the creation of a healthy work and learning environment, were key priorities for the LifeWorks development team from the early stages of the project’s development, and led to the 5-star rating.”
• UT and American Society of Landscape Architects got into a lawsuit over SITES rating ownership.

CLIMATE

• Frustrated that climate change adaptation wasn't being discussed in Texas, four organizers took it upon themselves to put together Texas' first climate resilience conference, happening, of course, in Austin. Nora Ankrum and Stefan Wray–both students at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, together with Alyssa Burgin of the Texas Drought Project and Sascha Petersen of Adaptation International not only mounted a successful and well-attended one-day event at the LBJ School, but they jump-started a conversation that continued when the Austin City Council passed a resolution on climate change. Now, building on that success, they hope to keep the movement going, with follow-up events to be announced in early 2014. Even better, the acceptance of the process by the community at large means that the same planning conversation will begin shortly in other cities–in San Antonio and Corpus Christi, within the year.

• The City of Austin won an EPA 2013 Climate Leadership Award

• The City of Austin Office of Sustainability launched a new Local Carbon Fund in partnership with C3 Presents, ACL Live at the Moody Theater, and Circuit of The Americas, who will voluntarily raise funds to support small local sustainability projects as well as their-party-verified carbon offset projects.  The program is called PICC: Positive Impact on Climate and Community.

• The local impacts of climate change highlighted the variable nature of our unpredictable future. Drought! water shortage, planning resiliency, climate change is happening, how do we adapt? FLOOD!

• 150 people came together to talk about how climate and extreme weather events will continue to affect the capital area and what we can do about it. The subsequent City of Austin climate resilience resolution (not all due to the conference, but I'm sure the conference helped move the conversation forward).  http://austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=201465

• There seems to be interest in developing a regional approach to building climate resilience, but thinking about our region as the I-35 corridor between San Antonio and Fort Hood.

• The City of Austin Office of Sustainability (OoS) led a successful grant application in partnership with CAMPO for a Federal Highway Administration grant to assess transportation infrastructure risks and vulnerabilities from climate change. Hosted peer cities for a September 2013 kick-off sessions. OoS also won a competitive process to participate in the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program.  During 2013, OoS hosted a three month residency for an EDF fellow, who focused on improving energy efficiency of city-owned buildings.

WATER

It has become clear to the Austin Water Utility that we don't have as much water in Lake Travis as they thought when they pushed for Water Treatment plant #4.

• Despite both 100 year floods in Austin, we continue to be in drought cycles. Lake Buchanan and Travis, our region's water supply reservoirs, are at 38% capacity and currently hold about 764,390 acre-feet of water. Flows into the Highland Lakes were down this year compared to last, but still higher than in 2011. The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) cut off Highland Lakes water to most downstream farmers in 2013 and has asked the state for permission to do so again in 2014 if the combined storage of lakes Travis and Buchanan is below 1.1 million acre-feet, or 55 percent of capacity, at 11:59 p.m. on March 1, 2014. TCEQ has not yet approved the emergency drought relief request for the coming year. These are the only times farmers have been cut off since the Texas Legislature created LCRA in 1934. For more information, visit the LCRA website.
• Senate Bill 198, sponsored by Senator Kirk Watson and Rep Dwanna Dukes of Austin, went into effect on September 1. Under SB 198, homeowners associations in Texas are no longer allowed to ban xeriscaping, though they can still lay down guidelines for and require prior approval of xeriscapes in front yards. A March 2013 report by Clean Water Fund called Water on the Home Front only found 20 HOAs of 264 surveyed that explicitly allowed xeriscaping prior to the bill's passage.
• The election season saw the passage of the proposition 6 State Water Implementation Fund. The State Water Development Board “identified $53 billion in projects that would ensure enough water is available in 2060. Money in the fund would be administered by the Texas Water Development Board and would be used to implement the state water plan,” some of which includes conservation measures. Coverage on KXAN
• Paul Robbins published two water critical reports in 2013 – Read it and Leak; 2013 Water Conservation Update in Austin and The Expensive Cost of Austin Water.  His 2013 edition of the Austin Environmental Directory also is themed around water issues. See all of it on the Environmental Directory website.
• On October 17, 2013, the Austin City Council passed a new Watershed Protection Ordinance, completing Phase 1 of the rewrite. There's still work to be done on Phase 2, Green Infrastructure and Urban Hydrology. The new ordinance was crafted to improve creek and floodplain protection; prevent unsustainable public expense on drainage systems; simplify development regulations where possible; and minimize the impact on the ability to develop land. The Watershed Protection Ordinance is the result of a resolution approved by City Council on January 13, 2011. The City held a series of stakeholder meetings from August 2011 through June 2013 to obtain public input. Announcement here.
• SOS Alliance successfully convinced the "Jeremiah Venture" developers to sell their land to the City for Watershed Protection, instead of build over 1000 homes and a sewage irrigation plant on the Barton Springs recharge zone, thanks to over six years of work by SOS scientists and lawyers.
• Both the Austin Blind Salamander and the Jollyville Plateau Salamander were added to the endangered species list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• In May, an alliance between SOS and former opponents of the "Belterra" development killed a bill at the Texas Lege that would have created a developer-controlled regional water and sewer utility designed to force existing residents to bankroll utility expansions across the Hill Country.
• The Barton Springs Festival was held at Barton Springs this August, in conjunction with "Barton Springs University" outdoor and online educational programs.

ENERGY

• In 2013, Austin was named the #6 US City for Energy Efficiency by the American Society for an Energy Efficient Economy. “Austin ranked 6th and in the top tier among the nation’s 34 largest cities for adopting policies and programs that advance energy efficiency.” http://www.austinenergy.com/About%20Us/Newsroom/Press%20Releases/2013/austinAmongTop.htm  (The Office of Sustainability submitted the award.)

• Austin Energy presented its Generation Plan to Council and one of the biggest remaining question is whether we will phase out/shut down or sell Fayette, although most Council Members have expressed a preference for stopping the . The reality is that LCRA owns two-thirds of that plant (AE owns 50% of units one and two, with LCRA owning the other 50% plus 100% of Unit 3. The logical path to “closing” our portion would involve trading our 50% ownership of one unit so that we fully own and could close down one unit.

• Solar Austin helped get Austin Energy to increase the amount of money allocated for rebates up to $7.5M. At the end of the year the program was already 70% allocated and they dropped the individual rebate amounts from $1.50/watt to $1.25/watt, which means the remaining 30% will stretch a bit further.

• Austin Energy issued 738 residential solar rebates in FY 2013, the most ever in a single year and 60% more than in 2012.

• “The Value of Solar tariff (VoS) was adopted by the Austin City Council in 2012 and is designed to compensate customers for the value of the power produced by their solar systems. It is subject to annual review, in accordance with the tariff language, to ensure that it aligns with market value. The 2014 rate will be reduced to 10.7 cents-per-kilowatt-hour (kWh) from the current rate of 12.8 cents-per-kWh. The Value of Solar tariff was created as an alternative to net metering, which compensates customers at wholesale prices, versus full avoided costs, which include deferred transmission and generation costs, as well as an environmental credit.”

• Green Choice, which has been ranked #2 by NREL for its voluntary green energy retailing, changed up their program ending the era of batches and locked-in prices. Future subscribers will pay a straight 1 cent premium on top of the prevailing power supply adjustment charge. If you compare it to the open market it's kind of like purchasing RECs or Renewable Energy Credits to offset your dirty energy. If you look at it compared to how the program started, all incentives to invest in renewable energy, lock in pricing for 10 years, is gone.  If the price of dirty energy goes up, as it should and will, the 100% renewable energy will always cost more, even though the wind and solar assets do not go up in price over the life of  a contract. 

• Austin Energy is setting aside funding for community solar for the first time.

• ImagineSolar launched Solar First Saturday which is their free event on advocacy, policy and opportunity in the solar industry held at their training center each month. Their founder participates on the council-appointed Local Solar Advisory Board which developed the Strategic Plan for Local Solar in Austin Report and continues to work with Austin Energy on implementation of the plan. Overall, ImagineSolar continued their mission to help many entrepreneurs and individuals get their start in the solar industry.

• CleanTX has grown from an coalition with 35 companies and organizations in 2006 to powerhouse with over 300 participating companies.  It is one of the most successful regional clean tech clusters in the country.

• In June of 2013, Pecan Street Inc opened the doors to The Pike Powers Laboratory & Center for Commercialization which offers specialized capabilities for developing, testing and validating consumer electronics and applications that incorporate metrology, building controls, solar PV, natural gas fuel cell, machine-to-machine, vehicle charging and dis-aggregation technologies.

LAND PRESERVATION

• The Violet Crown Trail will be a 30 + mile regional, multi-modal trail system that will provide public recreational and educational opportunities and will connect people and neighborhoods to parks, libraries, schools, retail centers and the beautiful public “water-quality” lands southwest of Austin. The trail system will allow trail users to learn about and gain an appreciation for the heritage of Barton Springs, Zilker Park, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the Central Texas Hill Country. Construction broke ground this fall on segments connecting Zilker Park to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the Veloway, which should be completed by 2015.

• This winter, Watershed Protection began a major improvement project that will run through the Pease Park portion of Shoal Creek. This includes erosion control, invasive plant removal, planting new trees and plants, adding water gardens and relocating the portions of the sewer drain currently located inside the creek. The public engagement sessions for the Pease Park Master Plan began this fall and will continue into 2014. They also launched the Eeyore’s Birthday Wall Calendar for 2014 celebrating the 50th year of this quintessential Austin Spring festival, which you can purchase to help support the conservancy.

• The Shoal Creek Conservancy launched in November with the mission to restore, protect, and enhance the ecological, social, and cultural vibrancy of Shoal Creek for the people of Austin by engaging the public and partnering with the community.

• The construction of the Waller Creek tunnel began this year, after the Waller Creek Conservancy announced the winner for their design competition October 2012. Construction is set to be done in 2014.

• River Hills Sports Complex Megaplex battle in Westlake seems to have been knocked into submission,  thanks to the public outcry, though it isn’t probably isn't gone.

• The Hill Country Alliance of landowners, businesses and communities who would like to advance a spirit of cooperation and commitment to protecting nights skies have created the Hill Country Night Sky Cooperative. They have all taken this vow: “We pledge to practice sound outdoor lighting management with the intention to eliminate light escaping over the horizon from outdoor lighting fixtures on my property and thus protect and preserve the treasured natural wonder that is the Hill Country’s starry nighttime skies." Together, a team of 135 volunteer leaders are involved in HCA Teams working on night skies, water resources, land conservation, Pedernales and other water catchment collaborations, county authority, team future (young leaders), rainwater harvesting, low impact development, scenic and transportation issues.

• The Parks Department started the year with the Boardwalk Trail project already underway, to which substantial progress has been made throughout the year.  The burn ban was lifted after the summer but smoking remained (and will remain) prohibited in parks and nature preserves to decrease the risk of fires, and the occurrence of litter, and air pollution from cigarettes.

• Wooldridge Square got a facelift and the grand reopening event went off without a hitch.

• This spring the Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park was developed to enhance the natural environment, with walking trails and wildlife habitat areas as primary features of the park.

• Grounds Improvements began at Barton Springs this fall, include upgrading outdated equipment and resources; resolving erosion issues; removing compaction to improve root conditions of Heritage trees; creating an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible path and replacing the gravel parking lot with new pavement, among other things.

• Just in December City Council approved a redesign of Auditorium Shores dog park. “Currently, dogs can roam free on all 18 acres of the park, but in the new design plan, the off leash area would be reduced to 4.7 acres in a blocked off area. Dogs would be allowed on leashes in another area and banned altogether from the far east end, where events and concerts normally take place.” More from KVUE.

• Last season alone, TreeFolks  planted and distributed over 78,000 trees throughout Central Texas, including:

• • C4,117 trees planted in public spaces;

  • 2,742 street trees distributed to keep Austin’s neighborhoods cooler;

  • 2,639 saplings given away at Sapling Days;

  • 68,889 trees planted for homeowners who lost trees in the 2011 Bastrop County Complex Fire;

  • 50 educational workshops and presentations.

                           And, in 2014, they'll surpass one million trees!

SCHOOLS AND YOUTH

• Winners of Children in Nature awards: Sustainable Food Center’s Sprouting Healthy Kids Program, Austin Families in Nature (Also won Austin Chronicle’s “Best Nature Education for Kids and Families”), City of Austin’s Earth Camp, and American Youthworks’ Texas Conservation Corps.

• KAB’s 2013 Longhorn Recycle Roundup Good Sports Always Recycle champions:  Brentwood Elem., Gullett Elem., Lamar Middle, Clint Small Middle, St. Stephen’s Episcopal, and Nan Clayton Elem. These schools are finding creative ways to recycle waste and conserve resources. http://www.keepaustinbeautiful.org/longhornrecycleroundup

• COA Office of Sustainability awarded three $3,000 Bright Green Futures grants to fund programming: http://austintexas.gov/brightgreenfuture

  • Cunningham Elementary School has expanded their community organic farm, known as Partners for Education, Agriculture, and Sustainability, or PEAS. Grant funding allowed the PEAS farm to include an outdoor classroom.

  • Fulmore Middle School applied their Bright Green Future Grant funding to expand a successful air-conditioning condensate collection project.  The students collect condensate in clay olla pots that serve as rain barrels; the condensate becomes a self-sustaining water source for a native Texas habitat on campus that features drought-resistant plants.

  • American Youthworks used its grant for the school’s Texas Conservation Corps program.  Funds allowed installation of a rain garden on site that creates habitat for native species, promotes water conservation, and protects water quality.

• Keep Austin Beautiful Awards in youth categories:

  • Beautification & Best of the Best Winner: J.J Pickle Elementary School

  • Silicon Labs Community Involvement Winner: Austin Families in Nature

  • Applied Materials Education Winner:  EcoRise Youth Innovations; Finalist: Colorado River Alliance

  • Dell Youth Achievement Winner: Lee Elementary School Girl Scout Troop #600

• In Growin' Together's first year they served hundreds of kids in their afterschool program, summer camps, and special events. They also gave out over $6000 in scholarships and tuition discounts and hosted an EcoArt Fest, a SXSW Youth Showcase, a Spring Festival, and three Kids Farmers Markets.  Their creative participants aged 5-12. produced and released five movies made entirely by the kids, and built a geodesic dome, a water collection system, a cob oven, and various renewable energy projects.

• EcoRise Youth Innovations won the Linda B. Smith Memorial Award for Outstanding Environmental Youth Education and Outreach Program during the State of Texas Alliance for Recycling Summit in October, and recently pioneered an intensive, two-week summer program called DesignCity. Their education program has an impressive success rate, and is being implemented in 17 schools in the Austin area, including 13 Austin Independent School District (AISD) campuses, 1 campus each in Manor ISD and Del Valle ISD, KIPP Austin Collegiate, and in 1 private school. In total they have increased their student body from 382 to 1,981 this year! They also made three new hires and launched the first phase of their new website, which will include their curriculum database, DIY playbooks, videos, project portfolios, and crowd-sourced lessons!

MAJOR EVENTS

It seems like there are more green events every year, but attendance at this wider variety of events. But more and different events It seems has not necessarily translated into peak attendance at key green community events that have been established for decades, like the Earth Day Festival and the Renewable Energy Roundup in Fredericksburg. Specialty events, however, like the Texas Veg Fest and Funky Chicken Coop Tour are seeing egg-sponential growth in attendance.

• This year's SXSW Eco grew over the previous years and included some great keynote addresses as well as more long-format workshops than in the past.
• BiG Austin got into the green theme by hosting a state energy and transportation jobs summit.
• Defense Energy Summit
• Formula Sun solar car racing event at the new Formula One track.
• Viva Streets 2nd Annual event on 6th street.
• Reforestation Efforts in Bastrop – Heart of TX Green Expo
• Slow Money Pitch Fest

GENERAL

• The City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability competed nationally and was selected as one of 10 pilot cities to develop the STAR Community Index, a new community sustainability benchmarking standard.  Austin’s ranking data and overall score will be released in early 2014. Members of the Office of Sustainability also participated in the 2013 Future of Cities conference in Hamburg Germany.

• George Cofer, Executive Director of the Hill Country Conservancy was honored twice this year, first by being voted Best Environmentalist in the Austin Chronicle Reader’s Poll and then be being given the Dennis Hobbs Individual Achievement award at the Keep Austin Beautiful annual awards.

• Paul Robbins published the 2013 edition of The Austin Environmental Directory, which also won Best Guide to Living Green in the Chronicle poll.

• Texas Green Network – Established as the state’s first “green” Chamber of Commerce in 2008, the Texas Green Network saw a major re-launch effort in 2013 that shifts its focus from activity solely based on business networking to green businesses being champions for sustainability in their own industries by helping research, develop and advocate for local and state policies.

AUSTIN ECONETWORK RECAP

• EcoNews subscriber growth has been steady and strong. We finished 2011 with 2793 subscribers, 2012 with 4374 subscribers and 2013 marks a 45% increase with 6170 subscribers! In 2013 we published 244 blogs and nearly 100 jobs and internships.
• Unique Site Visitors (41,570), Visits (73,928) and Page Views (178,637) as well as Facebook (1471) and Twitter (1109) have significantly increased over a year ago.
• We have plans for the coming year that will transform our website and news delivery services into a network that starts growing rapidly. Austin is a pretty green Texas city both physically and politically! To start, we want to connect at least 10% of Austinites. We're confident that 100,000 locals (a conservative estimate) care about the environmental splendor that makes Austin so special.

Austin EcoNetwork is actively interviewing readers, partners, advertisers and other members of the community that care about Austin and the environment. Our goal is to really deliver what you want to help advance sustainability.

Thanks for reading, for caring, for taking action in your life and helping make the world a better place!