GreenStep Cities

The City of Maplewood implements best practices in order to meet sustainability goals with support from the GreenStep Cities program and peers.  Actions that taken within the program focus on cost savings, energy use reduction, resource conservation, climate change, and the encouragement of civic innovation.  In June 2020 Maplewood received an award for being a Step 4 and 5 city in the program.  To achieve Step 4 a city must measure its best practices yearly and submit metrics by May 1 of each year.  To achieve Step 5 a city must improve on at least three core metrics from year to year.  From reporting year 2018 to 2019 the city improved on 12 best practices as follows:

 

GreenStep Cities Best Practice

Improvement

  1.  

kBtu (electricity) of City buildings

3.54 kBtu reduction

2.

Avg miles per gallon City vehicles

0.30 mpg reduction

3.

Number of electric vehicle charging stations

4 additional charging stations

4.

Number of new trees planted in public spaces

42 additional trees planted on right of ways and parks

5.

Gallons of residential drinking water

6 gallons less than last year

6.

Impaired waters

1 less impaired water (Beaver Lake delisted in 2019)

7.

Solid waste composted

28% increase in compost being recycled

8.

Number of solar panel sites

20 additional solar panel sites throughout the city

9.

Generation capacity of solar sites

102 kW hours of additional solar generation for all sites throughout the city

 10.

Energy used for street lights

150,651 kwh per year reduction of energy use for street lights and traffic signals

11.

Number of LED lights in City facilities

4% increase in LED lights in city facilities

12.

Greenhouse gas assessment for City operations

18% reduction in GHG 

Maplewood - A Step 5 GreenStep City

GreenStep Cities Award