Prairie Village recently took a first step towards achieving its commitment to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The Prairie Village City Council last month approved a municipal operation climate action plan, the first citywide plan aimed at helping Prairie Village achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions — per its Cities Race to Zero commitment first approved in 2021.
The commitment calls for the city to reach net zero emissions in its municipal operations — including emissions from public buildings and city vehicles — by the 2040s or sooner.
The city worked with Indiana-based sustainability consultant Keramida to conducct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and craft a city-specific climate action plan.
New buildings will be key to emissions reductions
Two big potential construction project could be opportunities for lowering municipal emissions, Keramida officials told the city council at its Oct. 16 meeting.
Nick McCreary, a senior sustainability analyst with Keramida, said the firm recommends that a prospective new city hall be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Platinum standards.
In turn, if the city moves forward with a new community center, which has yet to be decided, then building that facility to LEED Platinum standards would also be recommended.
If the city follows Keramida’s recommendations to maximize LEED credits in “optimize energy performance,” then it could result in up to 80% less greenhouse gas emissions for new buildings, McCreary said, having a big impact on the city’s emissions bottom line.
“This would have massive implications for the greenhouse gas reduction trajectory, as you can see here, with the [new] city hall becoming almost a net zero building at that point,” McCreary said, referring to a graph in the firms’ draft report.
The same level of greenhouse gas emissions reductions are more difficult to achieve by renovating old buildings as opposed to building new ones, he said.
Prairie Village’s emissions fell by 47% since 2018
- McCreary said Keramida inventoried the city’s greenhouse gas emissions at public buildings, the city’s vehicle fleet and waste from 2018 to 2022.
- The inventory found that city saw a 51% reduction from stationary energy (such as public buildings) and a 35% reduction from transportation, according to city documents.
- Some major contributors to that nearly 50% overall decrease in greenhouse gas emissions included the LEED Platinum-certified new public works building and the police department’s efforts to move toward hybrid vehicles, McCreary said.
Next steps
- Within the next year, the city council will look at what the city is able to do regarding residential greenhouse gas emissions reductions, Mayor Eric Mikkelson said.
- The city council is also going to consider, at a future time, approving updated International Building Codes, which include items related to sustainability such as building insulation, Mikkelson said.
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