cuyahoga valley initiative - united...

110
Cuyahoga Valley Initiative A Model of Regeneration A report by Rocky Mountain Institute

Upload: hamien

Post on 18-Jun-2018

216 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley InitiativeA Model of Regeneration

A report by Rocky Mountain Institute

Page 2: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 3: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga County Planning Commission

http://planning.co.cuyahoga.oh.us

The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission(CPC) performs a unique role in the CuyahogaCounty community.

As a successor to the Cuyahoga CountyRegional Planning Commission (RPC), theCPC has over a half century legacy of providing land use, zoning, development, and other planning services for the county’scities, villages, and townships; the Board of County Commissioners; and other govern-mental and not-for-profit organizations.

The Joyce Foundation

www.joycefdn.org

Supporting efforts to strengthen public policies in ways that improve the quality oflife in the Great Lakes region.

The Gund Foundation

www.gundfdn.org

The George Gund Foundation was estab-lished in 1952 as a private, nonprofit institution with the sole purpose of con-tributing to human well-being and theprogress of society. Over the years, programobjectives and emphases have been modi-fied to meet the changing opportunities andproblems of our society, but the Foundation’sbasic goal of advancing human welfareremains constant. The Foundation has grant-making interests in the art, civic affairs, economic development, education, environ-ment and human services. The primary focus of this grantmaking is in the greaterCleveland area and the state of Ohio.

Rocky Mountain Institute

www.rmi.org

Rocky Mountain Institute is an entrepreneurial nonprofit organization that fosters the efficient and restorative use of natural, human and other capital to make the world more secure, just, prosperous, and life sustaining.

We do this by inspiring business, civil society, and government to design integrative solutions that create true wealth.

This report would not have been possible without the generous support and able assistance from the following organizations:

Acknowledgements

CUYAHOGA COUNTYPLANNINGCOMMISSION

Page 4: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 5: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley InitiativeA Model of Regeneration

A report to the

Cuyahoga County Planning Commission

by

Rocky Mountain Institute

Supported by

The Joyce Foundation

and

The Gund Foundation

April 2004

Authors

Will Clift

Catherine Greener

Michael Kinsley, principal investigator

Jenifer Seal

Robert Wilkinson

Ramola Yardi

Page 6: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

The Cuyahoga County Planning Commissionand Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) grate-fully acknowledges the financial support ofthe Joyce Foundation in the development,production, marketing, and distribution of thisreport. Many individuals contributed to thecreation of this document.

Contributions were made by Michael Kinsley,Will Clift, Jenifer Seal, Catherine Greener,Robert Wilkinson Ramola Yardi, and Holly Harlan.

RMI’s Cameron Burns edited the report; Ben Emerson did the graphic design; and BillSimon prepared and posted the document onRMI’s website. Stephen Manka, of the UrbanDesign Center at Kent State University,did the drawings and digital montages.Photographs are courtesy the CuyahogaCounty Planning Commission.

Published by Rocky Mountain Institute 1739 Snowmass Creek RoadSnowmass, CO 81654-9199, USAphone: 1.970.927.3851 fax 1.970.927.4178www.rmi.org

Type: Palatino (body text) and Univers (supporting text elements)

Paper: Eureka!® 100 (100% PCW, PCF) and Living Tree VanguardTM

(90% PCW, 10% hemp/flax; PCF)

Printed in the United States of America

© 2004 Rocky Mountain Institute.All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproducedin any form without the written permis-sion of the publisher

First Edition

ISBN 1-881071-08-1

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 7: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 1

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Recommendations

Regenerative Development Zone . . . . . . . 19

Industrial Symbiosis . . . . . . 27

Healing Cuyahoga Watercourses . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Green Buildings . . . . . . . . . 41

Using Water Wisely . . . . . . . 47

Storm Water as an Asset . . . 53

Energy Investment Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Energy Cogeneration Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Waste to Energy . . . . . . . . . 71

Wind Turbines . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Page 8: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

2 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

In 2003 and 2004, a team from Rocky Mountain Institute worked with theCuyahoga County Planning Commission and its circle of advisors todevelop recommendations for regeneration of the environment, economy, and community of the Cuyahoga River Valley. Rocky MountainInstitute’s (RMI) methodology for such tasks is whole-system integrationof the activities, products, waste streams, commercial activities, and industrial and manufacturing processes of the people, businesses,institutions, and industries located in the Valley.

This report is succinct by design. Its introduction summarizes RMI’s recommendations, then describes integrated solutions and how to buildcommunity capacity to put the Cuyahoga Valley vision to work. Each following section briefly describes a recommendation or set of recommendations, then outlines benefits, reasons the ideas will work inCuyahoga County, barriers to implementation, and steps to overcome the barriers. Readers who require more information may refer to several appendices.

Introduction

Page 9: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

From the Burning River to a Model for Regenerative Development

The goal of the Cuyahoga Valley Initiative (CVI) is to “revitalize theValley and make it once again an economic force, environmental treasure,and unifying element for the region.” Cuyahoga County PlanningCommission’s (CPC) mission is to provide the tools necessary to achievethis vision. Those tools will include programs, codes, guidelines, andincentives.

RMI believes the “burning river” that precipitated the Clean Water Actin the 1970s can lead the way toward regeneration of ecological, social,and economic systems, and sustainable management in the twenty-firstcentury. The recommendations offered in this report are specific expres-sions of the Valley vision. They are the basis upon which programs,codes, guidelines, and incentives can be developed by local government,private businesses, and nonprofit organizations to move the Valleytoward a sustainable future.

Restoration,

Regeneration,

and Value

Restoration of a gritty old industrial area will require many millions ofdollars, normally a significant burden for any city. But regeneration isdifferent from, and better than, restoration. It’s a whole-system approachthat, in addition to restoring the environment, rebuilds value in the economy and the community. Whole-system thinking—in which all partsof a system, including the entire system’s external influences, are consid-ered in unison—transforms many problems into opportunities and creates value even where none seemed evident. This can pay back manyof the costs of restoration by increasing land value, generating revenues,and creating jobs in all three sectors: private, public, and nonprofit.

Certainly regeneration requires investment, but when done correctly andcarefully it has the capacity to generate substantial revenues—dollarsthat will emerge from the Cuyahoga Valley’s “next industrial revolution.”(See p. 1A Appendix)

IntroductionThe Vision

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 3

Integrated solutions find value even where none seemed evident.

Page 10: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Based on their on-the-groundresearch and interviews withCleveland-area experts, the authorspresent the following recommen-dations as potential and practicalways to transform the CuyahogaValley into a model of economic,environmental, and societal sustainability:

1. One portion of the Valley could be selected as a Regenerative

Development Zone, marking itfor special attention so that itserves as a model for the entireValley’s regeneration. It could be a laboratory for fresh ways of doing business—returninglost value to the land. It mightreceive and create exceptionalincentives and programs thatdemonstrate harmony betweenindustry and nature, consolidateindustrial facilities, returnburied watercourses to theearth’s surface, test ways forbusinesses to share resources,create new pollution–mitigationand industrial clean-up busi-nesses, and demonstrate clean energy and ecologicalrestoration.

2. Industrial Symbiosis is an inno-vative form of industrial collabo-ration that redefines waste andby-products as inputs to otherindustrial operations. It “engagestraditionally separate industriesin a collective approach to com-petitive advantage involvingphysical exchange of materials,energy, and/or by-products.”1

It offers development opportuni-ties in the Valley regardless ofprospects for future industrialexpansion, creating more wealthwithin the existing mix of industries.

3. Healing Cuyahoga Watercourses:

The river that has been a national symbol of pollution canbe a model of restoration whenthe community helps it and itslocal tributaries reestablish theirnatural biological capacity torepair and sustain themselves.To achieve that natural capacityrequires human interventionand the restoration of aquaticlife and the natural flow ofwatercourses. It also requiresstabilizing stream and river-banks using permeable bulk-heads and riverbank vegetationthat will treat many urban pollutants while reducing sedi-mentation.

Introduction Recommendations — A Summary

Industrial Symbiosis creates more wealth

regardless of future industrial expansion.

4 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

1 Marion Chertow (Director of Yale’s Industrial Environmental Management Program), Industrial Symbiosis: Literature and Taxonomy, Annu. Rev. Energy Environ.2000 25:313-37

Page 11: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

4. Green Buildings are more afford-able, comfortable, and livable for occupants, and can be moreprofitable for investors and own-ers than typical buildings. Thiscreative development practice issuperior to conventional designbecause it seeks to integrate eachbuilding into a larger system.Like many whole-system solu-tions, green buildings integratemultiple goals: financial success,resource efficiency, environmen-tal sensitivity, and human well-being.

5. Using Water Wisely:

Better and cheaper water servicecan be provided by improvingthe efficiency and effectivenessof the water and wastewaterinfrastructure, and by usingrebates, incentives, and educa-tional programs that encourageconsumers to use water wisely.Also, such technologies as efficient toilets, washingmachines, and spray nozzles can help reduce water demandwhile, in many cases, providingthe same water services at lowercost. These efficiencies save evenmore money by not requiring as much energy as would havetypically been required to pump,treat, and distribute wastedwater.

6. Storm Water as an Asset:

Because rainwater is directedinto combined sewer systems,rainfall can be an indirect causeof significant water pollution.Heavy rainfall exceeds systemcapacity, forcing urban runoffand sewage into the river andthe lake. To eliminate this pollu-tion and save money on infra-structure, urban landscapes canbe retrofitted and redesigned toabsorb water into the soil whereit falls, which in turn rechargesgroundwater and nourishes bio-logical systems.

7. An Energy Investment Strategy

that included an innovative andforward-looking mix of energyresources—notably renewableenergy sources and energy effi-ciency—in the Cuyahoga Valleyand the surrounding regionwould lead to greater energysecurity, lower consumer costs,less air pollution, local job cre-ation, more reliable power,increases in the local economicmultiplier effect,2 and economicdevelopment.

8. Energy Cogeneration Network:

Due to its high concentration of industrial facilities, theCuyahoga Valley offers anunusual opportunity to realizethe benefits of capturing andusing waste heat from the gen-eration of electricity, whichsaves money and reduces pollu-tion by using fossil fuels moreefficiently.

Introduction

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 5

2 “Multiplier effect” refers to the circulation of moneywithin an economy. Whena community keeps moremoney at home, the moneyrecirculates, increasingthe local multiplier. Each extra time a dollarchanges hands before itleaves the community, it creates more value, pays more wages,finances more invest-ments, and creates morelocal economic develop-ment opportunity.

Page 12: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

9. Waste to Energy: Two processes for converting wastes into energy show promise in theCuyahoga Valley: methane-gascapture at landfills and the gasi-fication of industrial, medical,and municipal wastes. Theseprocesses transform problems—pollution and storage—into eco-nomic value and jobs.

10. Wind Turbines harness currents of air to create renewable, zero-emission electricity—the devel-opment of which may also create local jobs and even newbusinesses in Cuyahoga County.Offshore areas of Lake Erie andvarious parts of the lake’s edgeoffer locations where wind tur-bines can generate electricity atprices competitive with fossilfuel-fired power plants.

These recommendations are presented in no particular order.

Subsequent sections of this reportdescribe each of these opportunitiesin more detail including:

• Benefits to the community, its economy, and the environment;

• An explanation of why each idea will work in the Cuyahoga Valley;

• Barriers;

• Implementation strategies (overcoming the barriers); and

• Next steps.

Introduction Recommendations (continued)

6 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 13: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

The challenges that confrontAmerica’s cities are daunting. Thelist is long and need not be repeatedhere, but one thing is clear: we needfar better ways to confront ourcities’ problems. Working everharder with conventional toolsdoesn’t generate the results com-munities desire and often leads togross inequities between thosereceiving community benefits andthose paying for them.

Americans do not hesitate to con-front their problems. Unfortunately,however, we tend to break themdown into their constituent partsand single-mindedly push toward

our chosen goal. Though thisapproach reveals our considerablededication to and ability for prob-lem solving, it also reveals a majorweakness: focusing on individualproblems in isolation.

Take, for example, this hypotheticalsituation: most of our cities haveinsufficient affordable housing. Theusual response is to appoint a com-mittee, open an agency, or start anonprofit organization to buildhousing as inexpensively as possi-ble. Since the goal is affordability,the objective—the sole objective—becomes low capital costs. Thatgoal then becomes a search for inex-

IntroductionLegacy and Opportunity

Cities around the world face challenges similar to Cleveland’s: water andsoil pollution, energy and resource constraints (especially clean water), andeconomic dislocation. Demonstrating integrated ways to overcome thesechallenges, and selling the concepts, services, products, and forms of socialand economic organization needed to do so, can provide another form ofdevelopment. Cleveland could become an international standard for regen-erating industrial brownfields.

The Valley has shown in the past that industries can coordinate activitiesand cooperate for mutual benefit. An expanded version of this importantlegacy would become an example for other, similarly degraded, valleys. It could demonstrate success by documenting increases in various forms ofvalue—economic, environmental, and social—resulting from such initia-tives as those described here. The Valley could become a destination—a living laboratory, so to speak—for those who seek to learn how to emu-late Cleveland in restoration and sustainable management.

For background on the Cuyahoga Valley, explore www.cuyahogavalley.net and www.ecocitycleveland.org/pdf_files

Integrated Solutions:Practical Ways to Confront the Cuyahoga Challenge

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 7

Page 14: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

pensive land, design, materials,infrastructure, and constructioncosts to ensure lowest possible capi-tal costs.

What could be a nobler quest? Itwas the quest of Isles, a nonprofithousing-development organizationin Trenton, New Jersey. And theydid it well. They built lots of afford-able units and housed hundreds oflow-income residents.

However, Isles CEO Marty Johnson(an Ohio native) was not convincedthat his organization’s methods fordeveloping affordable housing wereas refined as they should have been.He looked deeper. He sought feed-back. He noticed what happened tothe families that moved in to inex-pensively built housing—their utility bills we so high and unpre-dictable that, combined with theirmortgages, monthly expenses wereoften out of reach.

Another group might have had theattitude that high heating and cool-

ing bills were not their problem.They might see their job as buildinginexpensive housing, period. Ineffect, this hypothetical, thoughtypical, group would contend thatenergy consumption is not withinthe “box” it had defined for itselfwhen it dissected the problems oflow-income people and chose hous-ing as its focus. The group (and itsfinancial backers) probably wouldnot have examined the larger sys-tem to understand, for example,that buildings with adequate insu-lation and advanced windows leakmuch less heat in the winter andremain cool in the summer—savingtremendous amounts of energy.Unfortunately, even when a devel-oper does know that, most assumesuch measures are too expensive forlow-income residents.

But the folks at Isles are systemthinkers. They look at the big pic-ture, at the long-term, at inter-rela-tionships—no matter how myriadand complex—between many dif-ferent factors. They refuse to con-fine themselves to some artificialbox; they seek integrated solutions.

Isles officials’ said to themselves,"Wait a minute, our job is not tokeep the first cost of the house low,

Introduction

Buildinexpensive

housing

Lowcapital

cost

Lowmortgagepayment

1

Integrated solutions

generate multiple

benefits that offer an

even greater return

on upfront cost.

8 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Buildinexpensive

housing

Draftybuildings

Highutility bills

Lowcapital

cost

Lowmortgagepayment

Affordablehousing

UN

Highmonthly bills

2

Page 15: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

it’s to keep monthly payments low.Also, we know that the capital costsof aggressive energy-efficiencymeasures, carried in a mortgage, arefar less than the monthly savingsthey achieve. And as a bonus, wecan help clean the air by reducingdemand on the local coal firedpower plant.”

Isles and CEO Johnson have discov-ered an important system-thinkingparadigm: when the answer to aquestion leads to counterproductiveanswer, consider a different ques-tion. The Isles mission “to developaffordable housing,” however commendable, had resulted in thewrong question (how to keepupfront costs low) being posed, ultimately leading to high monthlyenergy bills. So, Isles changed itsmission statement to: “foster moreself-reliant families in healthy, sus-tainable communities.”

Isles not only started thinking sys-temically, the group institutional-ized system-thinking. In addition tochanging its mission statement, thegroup developed a set of indicatorsto keep it focused on genuinely pro-ductive outcomes and to clearlyindicate real and substantial sav-ings, regardless of internal account-ing schedules. (For more on indica-tors, see“Measuring Progress”p.13.)

Though seemingly counter-intuitive,increased capital costs for energyefficient technologies and tech-niques are now reducing monthlyhousing bills in Trenton and many

other places.3 Energy efficiency inparticular, and resource efficiency in general, are excellent examples of integrated solutions discoveredthrough system thinking.

Like many integrated solutions,energy efficiency often addressesmultiple problems, even some thatweren’t regarded as problems. Forexample, when the municipal elec-tric utility in Sacramento invested$59 million to save electricity,instead of investing in a new powerplant, it enabled its customers tosave nearly that same amount. As aside effect, the investment createdjobs for 880 local people installingefficiency devices and enacting effi-ciency measures (instead ofemploying many fewer non-resi-dents building the power plant farfrom the community). Sacramentohad increased the local multipliereffect and plugged big leaks in thelocal economy.

System thinking is challenging.Most technical experts are taught tofocus on one specialty, and mostpolitical rhetoric is narrowlyfocused. That’s why those seekingsystem solutions stress the value of

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 9

Introduction

Build greenbuildings/

retrofit old ones

Lowermonthly

costs

Moredisposable

incomeSelf reliant

families

Real Goal

Less fossil fuels Cleaner air

3

3 State-of-the-art design, now incorporated into awide variety of buildings,is so efficient that heatingand cooling systems canoften be omitted from construction without lossof comfort. The additionalcost of the efficiencymeasures is often lessthan the savings achievedthrough elimination of the mechanical systems.Therefore, advanced building design can reduce both operating and capital costs.

Page 16: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

collaboration among people withwidely different skills and experi-ences. Integrated solutions are seldom found by an individualworking alone; instead, they requiremany different kinds of people putting their heads together.

Fortunately, system thinking is precisely what’s happening inCuyahoga County. The PlanningCommission has initiated a multi-year, collaborative process — TheCuyahoga Valley Initiative (CVI)—to transform Cuyahoga River Valleyfrom blight to beauty; to reinventthe Valley with shared commercial,recreational, and natural assets.

From the beginning, this visionaryeffort has drawn on the consider-able strengths of the private sector,government at all levels, and localnonprofit organizations. It has convened people with differ-ent ideas, skills, and experiences to find integrated solutions.

Listed at the end of this introduc-tion are many of the people whohave been working with CuyahogaCounty Planning Commission andRocky Mountain Institute thinkingsystemically about the CuyahogaValley.

Introduction

10 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Magnified BenefitsEach recommendation in this report yields genuine benefits. However, when the various projects and programs are woven together, total benefits are magnified to create a healthy, vibrant, thriving community. The whole is, in fact, greater than the sum of the parts.

In later sections of this report, more detailed diagrams will illustrate relationships and effects specific to energy, water, green building andindustrial symbiosis initiatives. The last page of the report includes a final, more detailed version of the above diagram.

System Thinking:

- Examine inter-

relationships

- Think long-term

- Pursue multiple

benefits

- Seek feedback

- Find the right

indicators

- Ask the right

question

1. reduced costs

2. increased biological diversity

3. increased business activity

4. increased tax base

5. reduced pollution

6. restored land and watercourses

7. increased real estate

8. increased livability

Regenerative Development Zone

GreenBuildingInitiative

EnergyInitiative

IndustrialSymbiosisInitiative

WaterInitiative

Page 17: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Champions

The Cuyahoga Valley Initiativerequires action on many fronts—many projects and programs. To succeed, each must have a cham-pion, an organization or individualcommitted to achieving the goal of the project or program. CVI sup-porters must become and recruitchampions.

Although essential, the idea of proj-ect champions is not new. What isnew is that the very nature of theCuyahoga Valley Initiative—inte-grated solutions—requires that eachchampion think systemically, out-side the boundaries of their project,program, or organization; and thatthey seek multiple solutions, multi-ple benefits, and ways each individ-ual project can be designed to serveor be served by other CVI projects.

CVI will not succeed if each cham-pion proceeds in heroic isolation.That may be the path to individualsuccess, but it’s also the path tocommunity failure. Regeneration ofthe Cuyahoga Valley requires a newbreed of champion: collaborativeadvocates committed to communitysuccess, not focused on personalvictory. The champions must bepart of, even beholden to, a muchlarger team or organization whosemission is the overall success of theCuyahoga Valley Initiative.

Organization

Successful regeneration of theValley requires that a lead organiza-tion oversee, coordinate, and drivethe process. The organization couldplay many roles. This report’sauthors suggest it:

• Coordinate the overall implemen-tation of CVI, including the rec-ommendations in this report;

• Develop criteria for prioritization of potential projects and pro-grams based on the Valley visionand eventually based on indica-tors of regeneration. (See“Measuring Progress” p. 13.)Similar criteria could be used todetermine the compatibility offuture development ideas;

• Prioritize the various recom-mended and proposed projects;

• Convene project and program champions periodically;

• Explore ways to capture (and share) the value of appreciatingpublic assets;

• Constitute or create a redevelop-ment organization that leads theRegenerative Development Zone;(see p. 19)

• Organize and advocate an industrial symbiosis program (see p. 27); and

• Develop indicators of regen-eration;

IntroductionPutting the Vision to Work —

Building Community Capacity

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 11

Page 18: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Reach out to (seek the participa-tion of) champions who mayadopt and proceed with someregeneration projects independentof this organization;

• Work with local universities to measure and track increasing economic, environmental, andsocial value generated by the CVIeffort; and

• Market CVI and regeneration to the community.

The organization could also:

• Develop alternative scenarios for the Valley, which could positionthe community to respond rapid-ly and constructively to changesimposed on local industry byexternal economic forces; and

• Sponsor system-thinking semi-nars for champions, board mem-bers, and citizens.

Some have suggested that theCuyahoga County PlanningCommission should lead CVI. This suggestion is a tribute to thevisionaries who govern and staffthe Commission. However, CVIcannot succeed if driven by thepublic sector alone.

To be fully owned by the private,public, and nonprofit sectors, aswell as all community factions andinterests, and to mobilize the talentneeded to understand, design, and manage the complexity of theCuyahoga Valley Initiative, the

authors recommend that the driv-ing force be a nonprofit organiza-tion governed by people from awide array of local interests andwith varied skills. Such an organi-zation may be new or an adaptationof an existing group.

Selection of the board of directors ofthis organization may be the singlemost important step in the CVIprocess. The selection procedure isboth simple and crucial, and shouldinclude the following three steps:

1. List every group and faction that is likely to be interested in whathappens in the Cuyahoga Valley,including the private, public, andnonprofit sectors;

2. Identify two or three people from each group who are thoughtful,respected by the group, and whocan see the bigger picture—notfiery advocates, but thoughtful“elders.” (Elders are wise but not necessarily old.)

A key point: directors of the non-profit must not be formal “represen-tatives” of any particular group.Representatives are often ham-strung—obligated to bring only theirgroup’s inflexible position to thetable, often to the exclusion of otherpoints of view. In sharp contrast, elders come to the table with theirgroups’ underlying interests andideas. Representatives tend to argue,while elders discuss.

Some of the directors may also bechampions.

Introduction Organization (continued)

12 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 19: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

3. Recruit one of those two or three people to serve on the board ofdirectors. Hopefully severalgroups will respect many of theseindividuals so that the number ofboard members is smaller thanthe number of groups.

When people from all relevant factions and interest groups feelcomfortable that at least one direc-tor will articulate their interests, the right balance will have beenachieved.

The board may be quite large, withpossibly thirty or forty members,which is too large for day-to-daygovernance. Everyday governanceshould be the responsibility of amuch smaller, elected executivecommittee.

Each board member should commit to:

• System-thinking and integrated solutions that benefit the commu-nity, its economy, and environ-ment; and

• Fully communicating the activi-ties of the organization to his orher constituents and vice versa.Feedback is essential to systemthinking and long-term success.

The nonprofit should have a profes-sional staff. CVI will succeed whensmart people are employed to bringits ideas to fruition, which willinclude managing the process, coor-dinating volunteers, and findingfinancing.

Each local government shouldassign one person to support thenonprofit and lead regeneration ineach of the twelve local govern-ments. This dozen or so shouldmeet regularly.

Measuring Progress —

“Indicators of Regeneration”

Every community uses indicators.Typically indicators are such meas-ures as sales tax revenues, housingstarts, and industry trends. Thoughuseful, these conventional measuresoffer only a partial picture of whatoccurs in a community. Worse, com-munity leaders often focus theirefforts on these indicators becausethey’re regularly measured, regard-less of whether they’re genuinelyimportant to the community.Moreover, in isolation these narrowindicators often paint a false orincomplete picture, indicating thatthe community is better or worseoff than it really is.

Compare community indicatorswith the “indicators” on the dash-boards of our cars. If we could seeonly read-outs for tire air-pressureand passenger-compartment air-quality, for example, they wouldn’thelp us avoid running out of gas. In our communities, we often moni-tor property values for example,but those numbers may not help usavert a crisis in housing affordability.Often we have a far clearer pictureof the operation of our cars than theprogress of our communities.

Introduction

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 13

Page 20: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

In order for a community to meas-ure genuine progress, it must firstdecide what’s important, which isusually a mix of factors that relateto community values (e.g., newbornweight), environmental conditions(e.g., water quality), and economicindicators. However, in general thecommunity must probe the econo-my more deeply (e.g., housingaffordability), examining more thanconventional measures.

In order for the Cuyahoga commu-nity to understand its progresstoward the Valley vision, a programshould be initiated to developCuyahoga indicators and bundlethem so that, for example, localleaders can better understand thereal value of CVI and better knowwhere to focus limited resources.

Based on a fully developed Valleyvision, the indicators might includejobs, land values, land assembly,multiplier effects, water quality,public use of new green space, volume of waste recycled, energyintensity, miles of trails built, acres of wetlands restored, miles ofstreams daylighted, and even picnickers on Sunday afternoons. But these are only examples; thecommunity must say what it wantsand develop its own indicatorsaccordingly.

Implementation of some elementsof CVI will require objective infor-mation, hard science, and creativedesign. These resources may beforthcoming from several local aca-demic institutions, or they might behoused in a new institution, possi-bly a Cuyahoga Institute, withwhich local academic institutionsmay wish to partner.

This institute could play many possible roles, for example:

• Research and development;

• Incubation of new businesses;

• A testing ground for regenerative land and water research, and pos-sibly a center for regenerativestudies;

• An enterprise network of private businesses; and

• A training academy for innova-tive restoration and sustainablemanagement practices.

14 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Introduction

When carried out,

many of the

recommendations

in this report

will generate real

costs that will be

easily measured,

reported by the

press, and under-

stood by the public.

Also, they will

generate significant

and substantial

value, the measure-

ment of which is

less straightforward.

When that value

is clearly measured

and understood,

money to sustain

the regeneration

effort will follow.

Technical Capacity

Page 21: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Here are some of the people who have been working with CuyahogaCounty Planning Commission and Rocky Mountain Institute thinking systemically about the Cuyahoga Valley:

Becky McCleary City of Cuyahoga FallsBetsy Yingling Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer DistrictBill Zawiski Ohio EPABrad Masi Northeast Ohio Food AllianceBrian Schneiderman Shorebank Enterprise GroupClaire Posius City of Cleveland Planning CommissionConnie Perotti Maingate BDCDave Humphrey Cuyahoga Valley National ParkDavid Beach EcoCity ClevelandDavid Goss Greater Cleveland Growth AssociationDennis Mersky EDGDiane Koslowski U.S. Army Corps, Buffalo DistrictEric Lofquist General Environmental ManagementGeorge Cantor City of Cleveland Planning CommissionGrant Marquit Enterprise Development, Inc./Jumpstart Inc.Herb Crowther CAPHoward Katz Cuyahoga County Treasurer's OfficeHugh Shannon County Commissioner Peter Lawson JonesJackie Nameth Clean Air ConservancyJames Hiendlmayor Bio-Gas TechJay Myers City of Cuyahoga FallsJennifer McMahon Cuyahoga Valley National ParkJim Kastelic Cleveland MetroparksJim Krimmel Zaclon, Inc.Jim Pressler Flats Oxbow CDCJim White Cuyahoga River Remedial Action PlanJoe Pustai eQuestJoe Turgeon Zaclon, Inc.Kareemah Williams CIRIKari Moore Northeast Ohio Foodshed NetworkKate Grimberg StudentKatrina Fritz Case Advanced Power InstituteKen Pasterak Multi-LynxLinda Robson CWRU Dept. of Organizational BehaviorLisa Hong eQuestMark Conti US EPAMarlane Weislan Slavic Village CDCPatty Stevens Cleveland MetroparksSadhu Johnston Cleveland Green Building CoalitionSally Parker CurrereScott Theal Multi -LynxSteve Litt Cleveland Plain DealerTim Donovan Ohio Canal Corridor CoalitionTom Zawodzinski Case Advanced Power Institute

And this is just the beginning

Introduction

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 15

Page 22: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Rocky Mountain Institute

RMI is an entrepreneurial nonprofitorganization that fosters the effi-cient and restorative use of natural,human and other capital to makethe world more secure, just, pros-perous, and life sustaining. It doesthis by inspiring business, civil soci-ety, and government to design inte-grative solutions that create truewealth. Its staff helps businesses,communities, individuals, and gov-ernments create more wealth andemployment, protect and enhancenatural and human capital, increaseprofit and competitive advantage,and enjoy many other benefits—largely by doing what they do farmore efficiently. Its work is inde-pendent, nonadversarial, and tran-sideological, with a strong empha-sis on market-based solutions.

RMI Involvement in CVI

Exploratory workshop — April 23–24, 2003

RMI conducted the session, withapproximately 50 participantsfrom private, public, and non-profit sectors who were intro-duced to Valley details, systemthinking, and the economic, envi-ronmental, and social aspects ofthe project. They then identifiedassets and problems on the testsite, explored linkages amongthose characteristics, identifiedchanges that could regenerate thesite, and explored guidelines,practices, and incentives thatmight result in those changes.

Site visit — January 15-16, 2004

RMI returned to the Valley withmore of its experts, examined oneportion in particular, met withdozens of local experts frommany fields, and developed pre-liminary findings.

Innovation workshop —February 9-10, 2004

RMI’s presented its preliminaryideas to local experts; heard theirthoughts on what should beadded, subtracted and changed;then developed this reportincluding those responses.

16 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 23: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

RMI Team

Michael Kinsley, Project manager,RMI Community Services

Will Clift, RMI Energy Services

Catherine Greener, RMICommercial & Industrial Services

Holly Harlan, Entrepreneurs forSustainability, Cleveland

Steve Manka, Urban DesignCenter, Kent State

Jenifer Seal, RMI GreenDevelopment Services

Joel Swisher, RMI Energy &Resources Services

Sara Weiss, RMI Commercial &Industrial Services

Robert Wilkinson, University ofCalifornia at Santa Barbara

Ramola Yardi, RMI Commercial &Industrial Services

Cuyahoga County

Planning Commission Team

Paul Alsenas, Director

Chris Alvarado

Carol Thaler

Jim Danek

Lynn Garrity, now with the Delta Institute

Patty Stevens, now withCleveland Metroparks

Consultants

Carol Franklin, AndropogonAssociates

Colin Franklin, AndropogonAssociates

Richard Nalbandian, R.M.Nalbandian & Associates

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 17

Page 24: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative
Page 25: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

The authors of this report recom-mend that the centerpiece of theCuyahoga Valley Initiative be a“Regenerative Development Zone”that serves as a model forCuyahoga Valley regeneration and a laboratory for fresh ways of doing business.

The Zone would include creativecodes, guidelines, incentives, and programs that:

• Test innovative ways for industries to share resources—ways thatreduce waste and emissions, and promote ecological health;

• Foster business and create new jobs in, for example, industrialclean-up and environment tech-nologies;

• Demonstrate clean-energy production and ecological restora-tion techniques for land andwater;

• Implement natural storm water management strategies;

• Restore natural vegetation, for example, under highway over-passes;

• Use non-toxic, energy-efficient biological-wastewater-treatmentsystems;

• Establish new opportunities for revenue-generating restorativeenterprise and industrial tourism;

• Design new buildings and reno-vate old ones using green devel-opment principles;

• Create scenic overlooks and educational material (signs, etc.)for a scenic byway and recre-ational tow-path;

• Include an “ecological theme park” using old industrial struc-tures and promoting the idea ofindustrial tourism;

• Create a living laboratory for area universities and colleges, possiblyvia a “Cuyahoga Institute.” Itmight provide an incubator fornew businesses and a testingground for regenerative land andwater research; and

• Create a home for the proposed Cuyahoga Urban LandConservancy.

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 19

Regenerative

Development Zone

Page 26: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

The CVI process is generating awide range of action ideas, includ-ing those in this report. Thoughsome of the ideas suggest communi-ty-wide and policy changes, mostrecommend projects that can beundertaken on particular sites in theValley, such as the site that RMIexamined most closely, the areaaround Maingate, ISG, Zaclon, and General EnvironmentalManagement. Implementing a pack-age of mutually reinforcing ideasfirst on a single site would increasethe potential for synergistic effects(i.e., benefits that are multiplied andincreased by combining severalactions). For example, restoration ofa Cuyahoga tributary that is nowculverted would provide surfacewater for revegetation of a buildingsite, making the site more attractivefor an office building. The officebuilding might be heated withwaste steam from a nearby industry.Its design could include featuresthat capture storm water on the sitefurther beautifying it.

If the Regenerative DevelopmentZone were located within theMaingate Business DevelopmentCorporation, it could build on thebusiness inter-connects developedby Maingate and the environmen-tally-creative work of such leadingcompanies as General Environ-mental Management (GEM) andZaclon. Zone incentives and pro-grams could:

• Bring the now buried Kingsbury Run back to the surface, restoringits natural course and ecologicalintegrity including wetlands(landscape architects call this“daylighting”);

• Create greenways that connect the river with the Tremont andSlavic Village neighborhoods andbusinesses; and

• Consolidate Zaclon facilities, leaving roughly 26 acres availablefor redevelopment.

For information on examples of brownfielddevelopment, biological wastewaterecosystems, and Cuyahoga County’sGreenspace Plan, see Appendix 2.

Regenerative Development Zone

20 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Integrating industry and nature —daylighting tributaries

Page 27: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 21

When communities make degradedareas more attractive, people inhab-it them and use them. As areas ofurban decay are transformed into neighborhood amenities, more people appear on the street. Morepeople on the street reduces crimeand the costs associated with crime(e.g., security expenses, loss of arearetail revenues, real estate prices,etc.). Carefully redeveloping aneighborhood, suburb, or entire cityyields tremendous benefits. In thecase of the Cuyahoga Valley, it:

• Increases the attractiveness and value of property along the riveredge;

• Helps build Cleveland’s next economy;

• Creates a model for restoration of industrial sites;

• Reestablishes biodiversity by strengthening habitat communi-ties, eradicating invasive exoticspecies (weeds), and reintroduc-ing native species;

• Creates opportunities for new businesses, including such inno-vative businesses as aquacultureand a new farmer’s market (pos-sibly part of Maingate’s FoodCapital of Ohio);

• Demonstrates the artful integra-tion of more ecologically-respon-sible solutions, for example, natural storm water systems;

• Provides learning opportunities for building green;

• Offers an attractive and interest-ing route for the recreational tow-path and provides regenerativeeducational opportunities alongthe way;

• Employs modular biological wastewater treatment systems,which:

•• saves the expense of piping effluent to more remote locations;

•• reduces chemical inputs by treating wastewater naturally;

•• generates saleable “by-prod-ucts” such as plants and fish;and

•• attracts tourists.

• Promotes worker attraction and retention by providing an appeal-ing work and living environment;and

• Creates access for neighborhoods to new parks and a restored river(e.g., Tremont and Slavic Village).

Regenerative Development Zone

Benefits

Biological wastewater treatment

Page 28: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Cleveland’s momentum toward and interest in innovation andsustainability is well underway(e.g., Eco-City Cleveland,Entrepreneurs for Sustainability,and the Cleveland Green BuildingCoalition);

• The City of Cleveland has a 15-year history of land banking;

• The County was instrumental in creating the U.S. EPA’sBrownfield Program, making thecommunity the cradle of thenational brownfield redevelop-ment effort;

• Maingate Business Development Corporation has a 14-year track-record of successful businessdevelopment and is strategicallylocated at the intersection of amajor transportation hub;

• Already, there are natural spots along the river where people picnic (e.g., near Maingate). They describe enjoying the river,the natural vegetation, and thewildlife;

• Biological wastewater treatment systems are being used success-fully around the country for indi-vidual buildings and for munici-palities, and have been used torestore Superfund and heavy-metal-contaminated sites;

• History of funding success (e.g., The Robert Wood JohnsonFoundation awarded SlavicVillage $14 million for brownfieldredevelopment. Clean Ohio BondFunds awarded $2.8 million toCleveland for a 550,000-square-foot clean-up. The U.S. EPABrownfield program would liketo fund Cuyahoga brownfieldcleanup and urban revitalization;and

• The recently formed Brownfield Coalition is comprised of repre-sentatives from the City, theCounty, and certain suburbs who have recently applied for $3 million from the U.S. EPA towork on projects.

Why this idea will work in the Cuyahoga ValleyRegenerativeDevelopment Zone

22 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 29: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

There are many real and perceivedbarriers to redevelopment in theCuyahoga Valley, including the following:

• Some residents suggest that the “mindset of local leadership”is a barrier;

• While the Valley’s gritty character and messy vitality can be appeal-ing, some residents note thatsmells in the Valley might be abarrier to redevelopment;

• Lack of readily available land. Certain industrial facilities arenow inefficiently spread out ontheir sites;

• Buying out and relocating some businesses;

• Remediation programs and incentives for clean-up are currently lacking;

• Much of the current zoning in the Valley allows industry only;

• Some industries may perceive nearby public access to the riveras a liability risk; and

• Securing financial partners to engage in the Zone.

The authors recommend the follow-ing strategies for creating then man-aging the RegenerativeDevelopment Zone:

• Amend zoning codes to allow a mix of uses in the area. In addi-tion to industry, allow limitedrecreational, office, and retaildevelopment. This zone couldbegin to change the risk percep-tion of residents regarding riveraccess;

• Include an “economic-develop-ment easement” in the Regenera-tive Development Zone, whichwould offer:

•• Increased property value;

•• Special tax benefits;

•• A new set of performance-based codes that promote thekind of regenerative activitiesdescribed in this report;

• Develop incentives and programs to encourage experimentationwith the concepts outlined here.Incentives will encourage pioneers to step forward;

• Guarantee long-term public access to public assets. As theCuyahoga Valley Initiativebecomes successful, real estatevalues will increase on privatelands in the Valley and there willlikely be attempts to close themoff to the public. Using the Trustfor Public Land’s model, workwith river-edge land owners toplace a conservation easementalong the river1 in return for thebenefits they receive from theInitiative;

Regenerative Development Zone

Barriers Implementation strategies

1 Several cities have experienced intense real estate speculation on river-front properties as they are cleanedup and redeveloped. (Both Miami and Chicago haveexperienced this intense speculation.) In some cases,preclusion of public access along the corridor createsdiscontinuities in the system and cities must pay greatsums to get easements. The idea suggested here is towork with landowners in a partnership at the beginning of the process so that both the community and thelandowner benefit. The Trust for Public Land works withcommunities on “greenprinting” efforts and in theprocess helps acquire key parcels to make the systemswork.

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 23

Page 30: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Conduct a risk-based remediation plan. Start with U.S. EPA-fundedPhase I EnvironmentalAssessments for each property oracross the entire area, which willidentify specific environmentalproblems, if any. From this assess-ment, identify “quick-win” rede-velopment options to demon-strate success;

• Utilize such tools as Community-Viz, a three-dimensional model-ing and economic indicator tool,to aid community understandingand planning of the cumulativeeffects (positive and negative) ofproposed development. Illustratethe regenerative opportunitiesand economic effects of decisions;

• Seek development partners (e.g., Forest City Enterprises) to engage in green-developmentinitiatives;2

• Develop a revitalization plan for the river channel by workingwith the Army Corps ofEngineers and ecological restora-tion experts such as Andropogon;

• Hold “ecological innovation strategy” meetings with such sus-tainability experts asEntrepreneurs for Sustainabilityand Maingate businesses;

• Plan this Zone to be compatible with Cuyahoga County’sGreenspace Plan;

• Complete the tow-path to encour-age residents to visit the Valleyand notice opportunities forregeneration;

• Initiate a technical design-review support network to eventuallyspread valley wide. Comprised ofmembers from such groups asEntrepreneurs for Sustainability,this network could be a soundingboard and offer technical feed-back as projects are proposed inthe Zone;

• Develop beautiful and artistic natural storm water managementstructures by working with cre-ative local designers (e.g., Eco-city Cleveland and Kent State’sUrban Design Center).

Regenerative Development Zone

Implementation strategies (continued)

Before and after: Photo of a Pittsburgh culvert outfall today (this page) and a drawing of how theculvert would appear if creatively designed (next page)

2 Forest City’s Denver office is working on the redevelop-ment of the former StapletonAirport as a mixed-use,green development project.

24 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 31: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Establish a green-roof initiative for the Zone as part of the naturalstorm water management strate-gy. Green roofs:

•• cut the amount of storm water run-off by as much as half;

•• lower ambient air temperature by reducing the amount of heatre-radiating from the roof;

•• improve air quality by produc-ing oxygen, absorbing carbondioxide, and filtering the air;

•• provide native-species habitat;

•• conserve energy by increasing the roof’s insulation value;

•• can extend the life of the roof many years; and they

•• are beautiful and improve livability.

• Support natural storm water retention methods in road projects;

• Develop incentives to encourage proper site development, man-agement and maintenance;

• Coordinate the Regenerative Development Zone program withEcoCity Cleveland’s WatershedPlanning Partnerships and theBioregional Plan for northeasternOhio;

• Write the story of the regenera-tion of the Valley and distribute it locally, nationally, and interna-tionally;

• Work with the Cleveland Green Building Coalition on its GreenBuilding Code project and othermunicipalities developing greenbuilding guidelines. A revisedcode would require buildings tobe more energy and resource efficient, non-toxic, and environ-mentally responsible; and

• Use this Regenerative Develop-ment Zone as a model for whatcould happen along the rest of theValley corridor.

Regenerative Development Zone

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 25

Page 32: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Establish a nonprofit redevelop-ment organization to drive thisconcept and create an under-standing of the long-term effectsof conventional versus regenera-tive development;

• Create the position of “Cuyahoga Regenerator” for every municipaljurisdiction. This regenerationcoordinator would drive the con-cept within local government,develop an understanding ofregeneration within local govern-ment, and work with local regen-eration experts;

• Secure grants (e.g., Clean Ohio Bond Fund, EPA $400,000 fundfor Phase I assessments, RobertWood Johnson Foundation, etc.);

• Work with the AIG Global Real Estate Brownfield Program,which seeks equity investment inbrownfield projects. AIG is look-ing to partner with a solid, sea-soned local developer on pioneer-ing projects (e.g., land purchase)before remediation has occurred;

• Engage Shorebank’s brownfield redevelopment EnvironmentalKnowledge Network in a “quick-win” project in the RegenerativeDevelopment Zone based onPhase I environmental assessmentstudies. EKN is a group of attor-neys, developers, brownfield con-sultants, and brokers.

• Develop a “green loan fund” to support redevelopment ideas.The fund would provide moneysfor small businesses for Phase Ienvironmental assessment, attor-ney fees, etc. Also, consider as amodel, Delta Institute’s GreatLakes Redevelopment InitiativeFund, which provides $30 millionin flexible financing for brown-field redevelopment.

• Encourage local community development corporations andothers to attend the DeltaInstitute and Lincoln Institute ofLand Policy community redevel-opment brownfield seminar, apractical how-to session onfinancing, liability, risk avoidance,and environmental assessment inDetroit, in September 2004.

Regenerative Development Zone

Next steps

Cuyahoga Valley Redevelopment Entity.

26 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

RegenerativeDevelopment

Focus of“Experiment”

Lifting of certain

regulations/regulatory rules

Assemble land &

remediate

Knowledge economyEngage local

land owners (this effort

will not require eminent domain

Conduct masterplan

of area

Create incentives to attractgreendevelopers

Create business opportunity incubator for these regenerative ideas

Page 33: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 27

The Cuyahoga Valley is famousfor leading the early stages of theIndustrial Revolution with suchpioneering entrepreneurial ven-tures as Standard Oil, GrasselliChemical, and a wide range of production activities that generat-ed substantial wealth. Less knownis that much of this success wasbuilt on industrial supply-chaincollaboration. Unfortunately, thesesuccesses also generated a substan-tial amount of waste and otherunintended consequences that theValley and the surrounding com-munities are continuing to addresstoday.

Fortunately, much of that waste, solong a problem, is now beginningto be considered an emergingopportunity. Taking root in theCuyahoga Valley is a modern formof industrial collaboration thatredefines waste and by-productsas inputs to other industrial opera-tions. It includes sharing utilitiesand resources, and creating localsources of energy to generate heat,steam and other inputs. It’s oftencalled “industrial symbiosis,” after its biological counterpart,which is a close association of different species for mutual benefit. Appendix 3 includes threeexamples of industrial symbiosis in North America and one inDenmark. The Danish exampleanswers many questions aboutthis intriguing phenomenon.

Industrial Symbiosis

Waste = Opportunity

Increasedbusiness activity

Increased jobs

Creation ofnew productsfrom “waste”

Increaseduse of

industrial sites

Reduced costof disposal

Reducedrisk

Increasedtax revenue

Reducedwaste disposal

Increasedcompanyrevenue

Increasedbusiness activity

Increased jobs

Creation ofnew productsfrom “waste”

Increaseduse of

industrial sites

Reduced costof disposal

Reducedrisk

Reducedwaste disposal

Increasedcompanyrevenue

Increasedbusiness activity

Increased jobs

Creation ofnew productsfrom “waste”

Investment inwasteopportunities

Investment inwasteopportunities

Investment inwasteopportunities

These diagrams only begin to illustrate the inter-relationships among many factors. They do not reflect full complexity or all opportunities.

Much freed-up company revenue will be re-invested. Increased business activityand jobs will increase tax revenue, which can be reinvested in discovering even

more waste opportunities, reinforcing the industrial symbiosis cycle.

Investments in waste opportunities reduce waste disposal costs and risk, whichfrees up company revenue. Additionally, increased business activity may lead to

increased use of old industrial sites.

1

2

3

Page 34: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Viewing the Valley with this newindustrial model in mind, a widerange of business opportunitiescome into focus. A factory nowventing vast quantities of steammight pipe that steam to anotherindustry that’s paying for heat. Achemical manufacturer, now pay-ing dearly to dispose of a certaintoxic by-product, might pay less toanother business that can createnew products and new revenuestreams. Appendix 4 is a prelimi-nary inventory of industrial inputsand outputs in one portion of the Cuyahoga Valley.

Pursued aggressively, this innova-tive model of industrial match-making offers many businessopportunities in the Valley, regard-less of prospects for future indus-trial expansion. Industrial symbio-sis creates more wealth within theexisting mix of industries. It’s thefoundation for the next industrialrevolution.

• Job and business creation;

• Improved competitiveness through reductions in operatingcosts in existing businesses;

• New design paradigm that can stimulate innovative product creation;

• The building of relationships between business leaders andtheir businesses thus improvingbusiness retention, resilience, andparticipation in the community;

• Accelerated use of existing indus-trial “brownfield” sites;

• Attraction of industries to the Valley that fit with current indus-try material flows;

• Elimination or reduction of risk from waste and by-product disposal;

• Reduction of dependence on, and use of, municipal servicessuch as wastewater treatment and landfills;

• Source of heating and cooling for low-income housing; and

• A positive image.

Industrial Symbiosis Benefits

Industrial

symbiosis

creates

more wealth

within

the existing

mix of

industries.

Located in the Cuyahoga Valley,General Environmental Management isalready practicing industrial symbiosis. The successful firm uses

chemical treatment, micro-fine filtration, and biological polishing toproduce fuel oil, solvents, and inert residual solids by recycling suchindustrial wastes as fuels, solvents, paints, oily wastewater, and refinery wastes.

General Environmental Management

28 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 35: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Various industrial symbiosis examples exist in other locations(e.g., Midlotheon Texas; Tampico,Mexico; Alberta and Montreal,Canada; and Kalundborg,Denmark);

• The valley’s industrial heritage includes infrastructure that wasestablished around industrial col-laboration and the economics ofsharing resources. There may beopportunities to revitalize physicalresource sharing infrastructures(e.g., piping) that were installedduring earlier operations;

• Regional clusters of economic development and clustering oflike businesses make the area ripefor this approach;

• The Maingate Business Develop-ment Corporation has assembleda group of business leadersfocused on revitalization througheconomic collaboration; and

• Entrepreneurs for Sustainability is matching emerging markets andneeds, and seeking new businessopportunities for the region.

Barriers

• Lack of familiarity with the inputs and outputs of other enter-prises;

• Little knowledge of whole-system product and process design, per-petuating the “take-make-waste”business model;

• Lack of relationships among business leaders, managers, andlocal economic development specialists;

• Initial investment may be needed to install or upgrade infrastruc-ture in order to share utilities;

• Potential dependence of collabo-rating companies (i.e., one com-pany could become dependent onthe waste stream of another); and1

• Certain environmental regula-tions may not adequately accountfor the environmental value ofindustrial symbiosis.

Why this idea

will work

in the Cuyahoga Valley

Industrial Symbiosis

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 29

1 See “Managing the Risks of Interdependency” on p. A9 of the Appendix.

Page 36: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Create a trading market, possibly similar to bartering, for industrialsymbiosis;

• Develop a collaborative dialog between business leaders, EPArepresentatives, economic devel-opment specialists, and othergovernment representatives toreview existing regulations andpolicies, understand potentialbarriers, and develop ways toovercome them;

• Identify capital investment resources to improve existing systems;

• Establish research relationships with academic institutions todevelop alternative economicmodels for participating compa-nies. This effort would includecharting the practical effects onparticipating companies’ balancesheets;

• Develop a marketing campaign to attract new ventures and opera-tions; and

• Create a green-business standard, which could become a universalstandard for industry, as did the U.S. Green Building Council’sLEED standard for green build-ings.

• Inventory and map resource, waste, and by-product flows, aswell as rates of consumption andeffluent for a wide range of Valleyenterprises;

• Document local experiences and lessons, and tell success stories toencourage more participation;

• Generate awareness of industrial symbiosis and whole-systemdesign among the Valley’s busi-ness leaders;

• Build relationships among busi-ness leaders, managers, and eco-nomic development professionalswho can take this idea to the nextstage, which might be:

•• Enlisting a local nonprofit organization to fill the role of aCleveland green businesscouncil. Such a council could,among other things: • Promote the idea of indus-

trial symbiosis by, for exam-ple, establishing an appropri-ate mix of effective incen-tives and policies; and

• Investigate industrial resource and output sharing(“waste-matching”), includ-ing specific suggestions forstarting a business.

Industrial Symbiosis Implementation strategies Next steps

30 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 37: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 31

Industrial Symbiosis

Industrial Symbiosis in the Cuyahoga Valley (potential linkages)

waste-water concentrated materials

mineral tailings

foodproduct

was

te-

wat

er

syn

gas

syngas

plants

slagcem

ent

asph

alt

green

products

steel

biowaste

biowaste

wastewater

steam

steam

CO2 and heat

clean water soil nutrientszinc aq

uacu

lture

aquaculture

oily wastewater

fish and

fish byproducts

fruits and

vegetablesherbs

heat

secondary steel galvanizer

EcoMachineparks

landscaping

mining industry

gasifier

municipallandfill

greenhouse hydroponics

aquaculture

Maingate Terminalherb garden

landscaping

cement kiln

I S G

building constructionproducts

asphalt plant

storm water design

composting

meth

ane

methane

kiln feed

Page 38: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

32 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Baima Canal, essentially an open sewer for 12,000 people in Fuzhou, China. In 2002, Ocean Arks International (www.oceanarks.org) installed a bioremediation system that uses floating rafts of plants, microorganisms and aquatic life,

combined with an aeration system. Drawing upon natural technologies found in ponds, marshes and streams, the system has dramatically improved canal water quality.

Page 39: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Rivers have an extraordinarycapacity to heal themselves. Giventhe right help, even those withbleak histories can make come-backs. The challenge facing suchregions as Cuyahoga County ishow to assist the river in thisprocess. One way is to regardstorm water as an asset (see p.53,Storm Water). Another is to devel-op a comprehensive program ofwatercourse stewardship to healthe river and it tributaries.

Two principal techniques are oftenused to restore urban riparianareas (i.e., riverbanks and wet-lands) and reestablish watercours-es’ hydraulic and biological sys-tems of. These techniques includeinstalling permeable bulkheads toprotect aquatic habitat, filter pollu-tants, and prevent erosion; and“daylighting” previously buriedstreams. (Daylighting is theprocess of returning a buriedstream to as close to its originalcondition as possible; oftentimesthe process requires recreatingwetlands.)

The result will be a healthyecosystem that can maintain a stateof dynamic equilibrium and mini-mize algal blooms, toxicity, andaquatic diseases. A restored rivercan also increase property valuesfor nearby businesses and resi-dents and offer recreational ameni-ties along the river.

These practices are especiallyeffective when supported byactions that prevent combinedsewer overflows (CSOs) into theriver (see p. 53 Storm Water).

Healing Cuyahoga Watercourses

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 33

Healthy RiverWatercourseRestoration

Increased $$ availablefor restoration projects

Area moreattractive

Area moresecure More people

recreate near river

Increased tax base

Increasedreal estate value

Investmentin revegetation,daylighting

3.

Healthy RiverWatercourseRestoration

Area moreattractive

Increased tax base

Increasedreal estate value

Investmentin revegetation,daylighting

2.

Healthy RiverWatercourseRestoration

Investmentin revegetation,daylighting

1.

Page 40: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

The Lower Cuyahoga River has a“Total Maximum Daily Load(TMDL)” limit in effect.1 The TMDLis part of the Clean Water Act. Itsgoal is to limit the pollutants abody of water receives in order tomeet Clean Water Act specifica-tions. The Cuyahoga has come along way since 1969, but it still hasa way to go before children cansafely swim in it and families cansafely eat fish from its waters.Currently, the river is not in compli-ance with water quality standardsas shown in the diagram.

The EPA recommends restoration ofTMDL-limited watercoursesthrough regulatory, non-regulatory,and incentive-based action.2

Implementation strategiesdescribed here—permeable bulk-heads and daylighting—can helpthe river reach its full regenerativecapacity.

Riverbank vegetation

and permeable bulkheads

For close to 50 years, bulkheadshave maintained a stable bank forshipping and navigation. But afterdecades of important service, manyhave corroded to the point that theymust be replaced, costing landown-ers anywhere from $20,000 to $2million. Worse, they have preventedthe river from sustaining itself. Inparticular, vertical, steel bulkheads:

• Alter natural hydraulic processes;

• Shift erosion points either upstream or downstream, whichincreases stream velocity;

• Eliminate the diversity of plant and animal species;

• Displace riverbank vegetation that normally protects fish fromprey and swift currents; and

• Displace riverbank vegetation that would filter sediment andpollutants before they enter thewatercourse.

Natural riverbanks may look pretty, but they also provide severalpractical services for free: they arehabitat for many organisms, includ-ing edible fish. They are filters that allow selective penetration ofmaterials and organisms, therebytreating water pollution and mini-mizing sedimentation. But naturalriverbanks aren’t compatible withnavigation.

Healing CuyahogaWatercourses

The primary sources ofpollution are municipaldischarges, combinedsewer overflows, urbanrun-off, and industrialdischarges. TDML non-attainment areas areshown in red.

Source: Division of Surface Water,OHEPA, www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/tmdl/LowerCuyahogaFinalTMDL.html

34 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

1 The Lower Cuyahoga River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) report was approved by U.S. EPA on September 26,2003 under Section 303(d) of The Clean Water Act. www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/tmdl/LowerCuyahogaFinalTMDL.html

2 For more information on the actions, refer to pages 90-93 of the TMDL report at http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/tmdl/LowerCuyahogaFinalTMDL.html

Building on a condition that already exists on the site, the bulkhead is perforatedto create a cool resting place for fish. This is connected to the daylightedstream by a filtration wetland.

Source: www.cudc.kent.edu/Valley/team3.htm

Page 41: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Healing CuyahogaWatercourses

So, what to do? The U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers may have foundan answer: new designs that offerboth biological services and naviga-bility. The agency has embarked ona Habitat Feasibility Study todesign an innovative sheet-pilingsystem that is ecologically viable.3

Liberating watercourses

through daylighting

Daylighting is the process of bring-ing a watercourse that was previ-ously hidden from view, usuallyculverted and buried, into the “day-light”—to the surface of the land,where it can be seen, heard, and,hopefully, enjoyed. Daylightingreestablishes a watercourse in itsold channel where feasible, or in anew channel threaded betweenbuilding, streets, parking lots, andplaying fields. Daylighting projectsrecreate wetlands, ponds, and estu-aries. Subsurface drainage systemscan be daylighted to facilitategroundwater recharge and waterquality improvements that are provided by natural processes. A promising site for a restorationproject in the Cuyahoga RiverValley is Kingsbury Run.

3 Cuyahoga River Valley Initiative Idea Package Summary Working River, p. 3www.ecocitycleveland.org/pdf_files/workingriver1.pdf

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 35

Page 42: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

36 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Healing CuyahogaWatercourses

Benefits

Economic

• River restoration improves property values;

• Riverbank vegetation creates a buffer between the urban areasand the river, filters storm waterand urban runoff, and maintainsa stable bank. These biologicalservices would supplement thecost and maintenance of bulk-head infrastructure; and

• Daylighting streams would similarly encourage naturalprocesses and decrease the costand maintenance of culvert andpiping infrastructure.

Community

• A healthy river and tributaries revitalize surrounding neighbor-hoods by providing new ameni-ties that reconnect people tonature; and

• A healthy river and tributaries offer educational opportunitiesfor schools and communitygroups studying urban water-sheds.

Environmental

• Riverbank restoration and permeable bulkheads help returnrivers to dynamic equilibrium byimproving water quality, normal-izing water temperature, fosteringriverbank vegetation, reducingwater velocity, and protectingaquatic animals;

• Daylighting exposes streams to natural processes and to humans,who often start riverbank vegeta-tion initiatives;4 and

• A healthy river attracts people and increases awareness of“green infrastructure” and thefragility and restorative capacityof natural ecosystems in urbanareas.

4 For full details on Benefits of Daylighting refer to the Appendix 6.

Before and after daylighting

Source: Zürich Sewage Dept.

Page 43: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Healing CuyahogaWatercourses

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 37

Inspiring examples of watershedrestoration are available as indica-tions of what is possible. Perhapsthe most notable is the restorationof the Chicago River and the leader-ship exercised by the Friends of theChicago River: a non-profit organi-zation created in 1988. The ChicagoRiver suffered many of the usualmaladies experienced by urbanrivers: changes to natural flows,storm water and sewage pollution,loss of riverbank vegetation, anddeclining aquatic populations.Friends of the Chicago River iscommitted to restoring the river by“providing public access and show-ing that the Chicago River can beboth ecologically healthy and a cat-alyst for community revitalization.”5

The organization’s successesinclude:

• Establishment of the Chicago River as a model for restoration,including the opening of a newriver museum on the MagnificentMile;

• Leadership in shaping develop-ment ordinances and guidelines,including the award-winningChicago River Urban DesignGuidelines and the City ofChicago River Corridor Plan;

• Project such as the Gompers ParkWetlands, the Laflin StreetCleanup, and the NorthbrookRiverwalk Project and NatureTrail;

• Education for over 1,200 people per year through volunteer-ledcanoe trips, walking tours, bicycletours, and cruises;

• Creation of the Chicago River Schools Network, which has over200 teachers and their classesinvolved in water monitoring,cleanup, and advocacy; and

• Restoration workdays such as the annual Chicago River RescueDay, which involves over 2000volunteers at over 40 sites.

Daylighting watercourses is a rela-tively new approach to water man-agement. It is a reversal of the engi-neering approach that favored lin-ear, underground piping systems.The daylighting of StrawberryCreek at a park in Berkeley,California took place in 1984. Whileother projects, such as in Napa,California and Urbana, Illinois, re-exposed creeks in the 1970s, theStrawberry Creek project is widelyconsidered the archetypal daylight-ing project, and it has inspiredmany other projects.6 In the pastdecade, daylighting activity hassteadily increased across the UnitedStates, and is even more wide-spread in parts of Europe. InZürich, Switzerland, more than ninemiles of brooks and storm drainshave been brought back to the sur-face since 1988.

Why these measures will work in the Cuyahoga Valley

5 For more information refer to their website at www.chicagoriver.org.6 Its designer, Douglas Wolfe, now deceased, may have coined the term ‘daylighting’ to help describe the project to the community.

Page 44: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Before and after: Daylighting Kingsbury Run

Barriers to healing watercoursesinclude:

• A lack of awareness of the value of healthy watercourses and theimportant biological services theyprovide;

• A lack of awareness of the ways a healthy watercourse can supporteconomic growth and communityrevitalization;

• The river and stream banks tra-verse privately-owned properties.Negotiating public-private accessis difficult, especially for naturetrails along rivers’ edges;

• Property owner buy-in is required at the start of the projectso that when restoration progress-es and land values increase, theseowners do not sit on their landhoping for greater financial gainin the future; and

• Heavily polluted rivers and streams can take years to returnto health and the benefit ofrestoration activities may not beimmediately visible.

The October 2003 CuyahogaRemedial Action Plan (RAP) reportstudied all undeveloped public andprivate land in the County and cre-ated an inventory and assessmentof wetlands.7 The study identifiedinvasive plant species, levels of dis-turbance, impacts, and restorationpotential. A computer map anddatabase were created to show theapproximate location of all invento-ried wetlands. A similar process canbe carried out for restoration withinthe urban landscape. A new studycould identify opportunities forriverbank vegetation, permeablebulkheads, and daylighting wherethey are most effective in restoringthe river.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineershas made important progress in thearea of permeable bulkheads. It iscurrently developing a habitat feasi-bility study in the region to re-design the sheet-piling so that it ismore ecologically sensitive. TheCorps8 has created a five-stepprocess for installing bulkheadsthat have a restorative impact onriparian zones:

• Identify areas suitable for potential restoration;

• Develop conceptual restoration alternatives;

• Prepare “typical” design drawings of alternatives;

• Develop cost estimates for construction of alternatives; and

• Prepare a recommendations report.

Healing CuyahogaWatercourses

Barriers Implementation strategies

38 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

7 For full details refer to www.cuyahogariverrap.org/rpt-CuyahogaRAP-report-Oct2003.pdf8 For full details refer to Cuyahoga River Bulkhead and Larval Fish Habitat Investigation:

Planning, Engineering, and Technical Assistance in Great Lakes Areas of Concern, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District. By Michael Greer et al.

Page 45: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Daylighting Kingsbury Run couldhave important ecological anddevelopment benefits for theCuyahoga River Valley. It has beenidentified as an “impaired water-way” in the TMDL report and is“dead” in the sense that it does nothave any aquatic life or biologicalvalue. It is an urban stream that hasbeen culverted for much of itslength and receives significantflows from the North East OhioRegion Sewer District’s (NEORSD)combined sewer overflow systems.The NEORSD and the old Sohiorefinery both installed in-streamtreatment devices and the currentlandowner continues to maintainthis device. As identified in theimages below, daylightingKingsbury Run would have a dra-matic restorative impact on the sur-rounding areas.

• Talk with Friends of the Chicago River to determine what workedand didn’t work;

• Consider a GIS-based wetlands inventory and restoration assess-ment (similar to the 2003Cuyahoga RAP) for the urbanreaches of the Cuyahoga River;

• Develop a detailed vision for a restored Cuyahoga River;

• Determine the status of the U.S. Army Corps’ work on bulkhead-ing in the region. Explore oppor-tunities for pilots, public-privatepartnerships, and linkages to thetow-path trail; and

• Develop a pilot project at Kingsbury Run to test ideas andgain experience.

Healing CuyahogaWatercourses

Next steps

Daylighting Kingsbury Run

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 39

Page 46: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

40 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio (www.oberlin.edu/envs/ajlc).

Page 47: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

More affordable, comfortable, and livable for occupants, “greenbuildings” can also be more prof-itable for investors and owners.This creative development practiceis superior to conventional designbecause it seeks to integrate eachbuilding into a larger system. Like many whole-system solutions,green buildings achieve multiplegoals, including:

• Resource efficiency—maximizing the efficient use of resources inthe design, construction, develop-ment, and operations of buildingsand communities;

• Environmental sensitivity—benefiting the surrounding environment;

• Attention to human well-being—fostering community indesign, construction, and opera-tions; and

• Financial success—Green Development is not an altruisticpursuit carried out by developerswilling to lose money in the name of the environment.

Green Buildings

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 41

Reducedbuilding cost

Decreasedresourcedemand

(energy, H20)

Decreasedconstruction waste

Increasedreal estate value

Increasedemployee healthand productivity

Decreased liability

Investment ingreen buildingprojects

Reducedbuilding cost

Decreasedresourcedemand

(energy, H20)

Decreasedconstruction waste

Increasedemployee healthand productivity

Decreased liability

Investment ingreen buildingprojects

Reducedbuilding cost

Decreasedresourcedemand

(energy, H20)

Investment ingreen buildingprojects

These factors increase the value of buildings, resulting in higher rents or salesand stimulating the market to increase the supply of green buildings.

These diagrams only begin to illustrate the inter-relationships among many factors. They do not reflect full complexity or all opportunities.

These projects tend also to generate less waste. Worker productivity tends toincrease in green buildings. Also, these project decrease liability, for example, by improving indoor air quality, which avoids employee lawsuits prompted by

“sick building syndrome.”

Green-building projects, especially those for commercial and industrial buildings,tend to require fewer resources. For example, well designed, they don’t requireconventional heating and cooling systems. The result is reduced building cost.

1

2

3

Page 48: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Bringing these elements togetherand capitalizing on their intercon-nections is the key to realizing mul-tiple environmental and economicbenefits. Much effort toward build-ing green is already underway inCuyahoga County. The ClevelandGreen Building Coalition (CGBC)leads this effort locally, facilitatinggreen development with a team ofconsultants, primarily locals. TheCGBC works closely with the U.S.Green Building Council to educateprofessionals using the Council’sgreen building rating system, LEED (Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design).

New building projects in theRegenerative Development Zonecould offer an opportunity for theincorporation of green buildingprinciples. Regeneration effortsfocused on existing industry struc-tures could also be explored. Site-specific design workshops (or charrettes1) could be held toexplore interconnections amongsuch factors as:

• Energy-saving design and engineering;

• Functional design concepts;

• Restorative site development;

• Worker productivity enhancements;

• Transportation and people flow; and

• Environmental sensitivity in design and construction decisions.

The process of designing, docu-menting, and completing high-levelLEED buildings in the RegenerativeDevelopment Zone would serve asa model for the Valley’s design anddevelopment professionals. Also, it would help citizens understandthe benefits of building green.

Green Buildings

42 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

1 Charrette: The term charrette is borrowed fromthe field of architectureand refers to an intensiveworkshop bringing together a group of stake-holders and experts toaddress planning ordesign. Charrettes maylast a few hours or a fewdays, and can occur aspart of the initial planningprocess or as part of thebuilding design process.Participants collaborate,sharing ideas and devisingrecommendations that can later be refined intospecific designs.

• Materials: The building industry uses 3 billion tons of raw materials—40 percent of total global use.

• Energy: 40 percent of the world’s energy is dedicated to construction and opera-tion of buildings.

• Water: The building industry uses 16 percent of global fresh water annually.

• People: The “built environment” is humanity’s largest artifact. People spend over 90 percent of theirtime indoors.

Why Build Green?

Page 49: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

The benefits of building greeninclude the following:

• Reduced capital costs;

• Reduced operating costs;

• Marketing benefits: free press and product differentiation;

• Valuation premiums (the increased value assessed on a high-performance green buildingas compared to a conventionalbuilding) and increased absorp-tion rates (faster lease-ups or sales);

• Streamlined approval in many jurisdictions;

• Reduced liability;

• Improved employee health and productivity;

• Being ahead of regulations;

• New business opportunities;

• Enhanced culture and commu-nity; and

• The satisfaction of doing the right thing.

The Cleveland Green BuildingCoalition is thriving; its projectsinclude:

• A resource mapping project;

• A deconstruction-waste-capture program;

• Various demonstration projects;

• Greening of the County admin-istration building;

• A landfill diversion project;

• Historic-building tax credits; and

• Green building codes.

The CGBC is housed in the Cleve-land Environmental Center, whichbrings together a network of envi-ronmentally minded organizations.

Green BuildingsBenefits Why this idea will work in the Cuyahoga Valley

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 43

Cleveland Environmental Center

Page 50: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Lending institutions tend not to support or incentivize best prac-tices for green building, andmany have yet to recognize itsinvestment value or its inherentvalue to building quality;

• Despite the growing popularity of green building and a numberof international showcase proj-ects, a wide gap remains betweenthe achievements of building pio-neers and the industry atlarge––between what is achiev-able from a building technologyperspective, and what is practicedin the marketplace;

• Developers, a key stakeholder group for green building, are theleast represented group in thegreen building movement.Further, little material of rele-vance to developers regardinggreen building has been pub-lished;

• Building officials, buyers, and users often don’t understand thefeatures that distinguish a high-performance green building or itsadvantages.

Green Buildings Barriers

44 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Ecotrust’s transformation of a for-mer center for goods transport inPortland, Oregon into its newheadquarters speaks well for thisconservation organization. The1895 building, known until recent-ly as the Rapid Transfer & StorageCo., was purchased with a gener-ous donation from Jean Vollumfor the Portland-based organiza-tion. EcoTrust works in coastalcommunities from NorthernCalifornia to Alaska in support ofintegrating conservation and eco-nomic development. The buildingserves as a sustainability demon-stration laboratory in an urbansetting. It is also one of the firstparts of an overall redevelopmentof the Portland River District. Ithouses a mixture of tenants, fromenvironmentally focused busi-nesses to non-profit organiza-tions. Overall, the projectachieved a 98 percent recyclingand reclamation rate on construc-

tion debris. All of the carpets aremade from recycled fibers, all ofthe paints used were of low-toxic-ity, and all materials were select-ed with their environmental andhealth impacts in mind. TheCenter was awarded the LEEDTM

Gold rating certification.Nationwide it is the first restora-tion of a historic structure to earnthis rating. It is also a PortlandGeneral Electric Earth Advantagebuilding.

Case Study

Eco Trust; Portland, Oregon

Page 51: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Support the Cleveland GreenBuilding Coalition in the followingprograms:

• Create a commercially available “green building loan program” tostimulate interest in the broadermarket;

• Launch a series of leadership profiles of developers who haveundertaken green projects, tap-ping into media opportunitiesand professional honors to high-light their achievements;

• Hold green-design charrettes on proposed building projects inthe Regenerative DevelopmentZone;

• Involve design professionals, general contractors, and buildersearly in development processes.They will inform important build-ing decisions;

• Provide training on the construc-tion of green buildings;

• Develop educational materials on green buildings specifically targeted to Cuyahoga Countydevelopers;

• Create a coordinated approach to utilizing local and/or environ-mentally responsible materials.Create a database to help informthe design community on suchmaterial choices. Start a ware-house business to facilitate theexchange/sale of green buildingmaterials;

• Encourage new businesses to be housed in green buildings; and

• Catalyze media coverage on such topics as healthy homes,indoor air quality, healthy work places and schools, energy efficiency, innovative building,and the achievements of stateleaders in green development.

Green BuildingsImplementation strategies

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 45

Page 52: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Green Buildings Next steps

• Write green-building articles in local professional journals and thePlain Dealer. For example,describe the findings of a recentstudy by Greg Kats of Capital E,“The Costs and Financial Benefitsof Green Building”—whichincludes such findings as: thefinancial benefits of green build-ings are in the range of 10–15 per-cent of the building cost and faroutweigh the usual 2 percentextra cost for building green;

• Encourage CGBC’s outreach activities to further engage pro-fessionals and building users ineducational seminars, discus-sions, collaborative workshops,and charrettes. The GreenRoundtable in Boston is a goodmodel for such events. Its “greenboot camp” sessions providepractical education for designersand their managers using realprojects as the content. Thisenables firms to begin integratingbest design into their daily practice and to recognize theimportant communication points for related disciplines; and

• Work with any proposed project in the Regenerative DevelopmentZone to ensure incorporation ofgreen principles and practice.

See Appendix 5 for green building resources.

46 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 53: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Wise use of water is effective eco-nomic development. It not onlysaves water, it also saves electricitythat would otherwise be requiredto pump, treat, and distributewasted water. These two revenuesstreams can then be spent produc-tively in the local economy. To use water wisely, the CuyahogaValley needs:

• Incentives that encourage con-sumers to install water-efficientand Energy-Star-rated fittings and appliances;

• Behavioral practices that mini-mize waste; and

• Technologies that improve the efficiency of water and waste-water infrastructure.

Demands on water and sewage systems increase as urbanizationspreads. Therefore, new tech-nology and changes in consumerbehavior are required to ensurethat water services remain afford-able and do not deplete preciousnatural resources: groundwater,rivers and lakes.

The Valley’s water supply is extract-ed from Lake Erie. Powerful pumpsdraw water into the system throughfour intakes that are located severalmiles offshore. This water travelsthrough tunnels to the system’s four

treatment plants. This raw water is treated to drinking-water quality,then distributed to consumers. The Cleveland Division of Water(CWD) delivers water to some400,000 customers through approxi-mately 5,000 miles of water mains.1

Once used, wastewater is pipedthrough the Northeast Ohio RegionSewer District (NEO RSD) networkof sanitary sewer pipes and treat-ment plants before being dischargedas effluent into the Cuyahoga Riverand Lake Erie.

Using Water Wisely“Unaware of the realities, Americans expect to receive water of the highest quality, at the lowest price,

and in unlimited quality.”

— Federal Water Policy: Toward an Agenda for Action

Lake Erie

Cuyahoga River

storm watersewage

sewage

pump

NEORSDTreatment

effluent

CSO

effluent

CWDTreatment

wat

erpr

essu

re

raw water drinking water

e

pum

pe

pump e

treat

e coolingheatinge

treat

e

Water and Energy NexusThis diagram shows how water and energy are linked.

Energy is required to pump, treat and distribute water, and storm water is anadditional burden on the wastewater treatment process.

By reducing the amount of water used through minimizing wastage and installingefficiency appliances, the community can reduce the total amount of energy

required at each step of the process.

e signifies energy used

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 47

1 For more information see the Cleveland Divisionof Water website atwww.clevelandwater.com/CWDInfo/SysOverview.htm

Page 54: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Large capital- and operating-costsavings are available to both utili-ties and consumers.

Utilities experience:

• Reduced peak power demands;

• Reduced pumping;

• Reduced wastewater treatment load; and

• Reduced capital costs.

Businesses, residents, and the public sector experience:

• Energy cost savings;

• Reduced water heating;

• Water cost savings; and

• Reduced costs to taxpayers for public sector water and energy use.

The environment experiences:

• Reduced emissions of pollutants; and a

• Reduced burden on natural resources.

48 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Using Water Wisely Benefits

The Cleveland Division of Water (CWD) supplies water to over 70 communities, including all of Cuyahoga County and portions of four sur-rounding counties. Daily pumpage can be less than 150 million gallons per day (MGD), and it can be over 400 MGD, with the average dailypumpage being 260 MGD. The process requires about 2,400 kilowatt-hours per million gallons.

Below is a calculation of the amount of energy savings that might be possible as a result of a 10 percent reduction in water consumption;such a reduction might be possible via a county-wide “Use Water Wisely” education campaign.

260 MGD @ 2,400 kWh/MG = 624,000 KWh/day

624,000 x 365 = 227,760,000 KWh/year

According to an EPA seven million kilowatt-hours per year is enough energy to power 700 homes for a year (see www.epa.gov/lmop/about)

A 10 percent savings in water consumption equates to 22,776,000 kilowatt-hours per year, which is about three times the conversion rate orenough to power 2,100 homes for a year.

Page 55: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Efficiency strategies that reducewater and energy waste have beendocumented in many cities andregions worldwide, California inparticular. Given that most waterusers are located considerable dis-tances from water sources, thewater-energy nexus poses a signifi-cant challenge for that state’s utili-ties. The high cost of transportingand treating water compels utilitiesto invest in conservation technolo-gy, incentives, and education pro-grams that are both progressive andprofitable.

The Metropolitan Water District ofSouthern California (MWD), whichis the largest water utility in thestate, embraces water efficiency asan extension of supply. In 2002 theMWD and its member agenciesmarked a major milestone in theirconservation efforts with the distri-bution of the two millionth ultra-low-flush toilet. Two million ultra-low-flush toilets save approximate-ly 88,000 acre-feet of water annual-ly. Similarly, in the upper SanGabriel Valley the SAV-A-BUCrebate program provides commer-cial, institutional, and industrialcustomers with a retrofit rebate forefficient water-use fixtures andequipment. For example, industrialcustomers may receive up to $700for cooling tower conductivity controllers, or up to $450 for coin-or card-operated high efficiencywashing machines.

Market tools of various kinds havebeen successfully applied in watermanagement. The cost of these pro-grams is typically less than the costof simply delivering the water tousers, so there is a net benefit towater providers and to end-users(and to the economy and environ-ment).

Using Water WiselyWhy this idea will work in the Cuyahoga Valley

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 49

Page 56: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Barriers

• Utility programs often focus on selling more gallons and electronsas a means to amortize debt;

• Water users tend not to think about conservation; and

• The price of water does not necessarily reflect the true cost of treatment, distribution, and discharge.

• Develop incentives to encourage utilities to provide services andperformance rather than gallonsof water and watts of electricity.Analyze the water system’s sup-ply and demand and reconsiderhow utilities value, supply, andconsume water. Ask:

•• Are we being water-wise? Do we waste water? • Have households installed

water efficient and Energy-Star-rated technologies suchas ultra-low-flush toilets,washing machines, andspray nozzles?

• Have incentives been offered to developers to use Energy-Star- or Build-America-approved fittings and appliances?

•• Are we providing water efficiently? • Have we designed pumping

systems to optimize effi-ciency through coordinatedsizing and configuration ofpipes and pumps?

• Have we located pumping stations in the most energyefficient locations so thatwater is not pumped uphill?

Using Water Wisely Implementation strategies

Lake Erie

Industry and otherappropriate uses

manage onsiteand recharge

groundwaterstorm water

effluent

sewage

drinking water quality

rawwater Treatment

Treatment

waste water

CSO

effluent

Cascading Uses of Water (potential)This diagram shows how utilities have the option to provide

treated wastewater (grey water) to industries and other appropriate uses. A large amount of energy is required to pump raw water

from Lake Erie to the community. Therefore decreasing demand for raw water will yield important benefits

by ensuring that high quality water is used appropriately (e.g., drinking and showering).

50 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 57: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

•• Are we extracting water in the most effective way and minimizing our relianceon the lake? • Do we encourage the cascad-

ing use of water—for exam-ple, using rainwater on gar-dens or using recycled waterfor irrigating golf courses?

• Are we providing incentives for industries to recyclewater and reduce theirreliance on potable water?

• Create educational programs and incentives to persuadebuilders and trades people toinstall water- and energy-savingappliances in new buildings;

• Create educational programs and incentives to encourage landscap-ers to plant native vegetation;

• Explore co-investment by water, wastewater, and energy utilitiesin decreasing consumer demandfor services through technologyand education;

• Explore the feasibility of incentive-based water-wise programs for replacement of inefficient technologies, fromshowerheads in hotels to spraynozzles in restaurants;

• Provide information on Best Management Practices (BMPs) for industry;

• Develop pilot programs to experiment with the effectivenessof water-efficient technologiesand practices (e.g., a pilot rain-water rebate);

• Distribute information about the community cost of inefficientwater and energy use;

• Encourage the continued devel-opment and use of technologicalinnovations in water and energyefficiency and renewable energy;

• Develop participatory, multi-stakeholder processes that leads to the development of betterwater and energy managementpractices;

• Explore water pricing approaches that provide more effective signals to consumers;

• Encourage research institutions to develop improved models forunderstanding hydrology andeconomics;

• Consider regional land-use policies that discourage sprawl;and

• Consider ways that regulatory policy and market-based tools(incentives and rebates) can becoupled to achieve more effectivewater management in theCuyahoga Valley.

Next step

• Analyze the magnitude of cost saving from selected water- and energy-saving programs.

Using Water Wisely

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 51

Page 58: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

52 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 59: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Rain might seem to be a plus forthe urban environment, wateringplants and keeping cities green.Unfortunately, as it runs across the buildings and vast areas ofpavement that dominate the urbanlandscape, rain also picks up oils,pesticides, trace metals, and otherpollutants. In an attempt to pre-vent these pollutants1 from enter-ing waterways, rainwater is direct-ed into the sewer system for treat-ment. When rainfall exceeds thecapacity of the system, urbanrunoff and sewage are forceddirectly into Lake Erie and localwatercourses. Called combinedsewer overflow (CSO) systems,these wastewater treatment sys-tems can be a significant source of water pollution in CuyahogaCounty.

To meet this challenge and savemoney that would otherwise beused for cleaning up waterwaysand upgrading storm water infra-structure, urban landscapes andbuildings can be redesigned toabsorb water where it falls, whichin turn nourishes local biologicalsystems and recharges groundwa-ter. Such devices and amenities as porous paving stones, cisterns,water gardens, swales, and reha-bilitated soils can be part of a larger strategy that manages stormwater as an asset rather than a liability.2

The Lower Cuyahoga River:Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)report describes limits on pollutants that would otherwise compromisethe health of the river. Unfortunate-ly, the Cuyahoga Valley and sur-rounding areas are exceeding thoselimits as a result of CSOs and other factors.

In response to this situation, waterauthorities in the greater Clevelandarea are planning to invest approxi-mately $1.6 billion dollars over thenext 30 years constructing largetunnels to control CSOs that affectthe Cuyahoga River, Lake Erie, andother area bodies of water. About$500 million has already been com-mitted. A rigorous effort to findways to capture storm water as anasset that can be used on individualsites and within neighborhoodsmay save some of the $1.1 millionbalance.

Applications of storm water strate-gies are site dependent. The exam-ples and techniques outlined in thefollowing pages are provided forillustrative purposes. Local soil conditions, permeability, and othercommunity and economic consider-ations and characteristics must be examined for each specific application.

Storm Water as an Asset

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 53

1 For more information on urban runoff refer toAppendix 6.

2 For a comparison of old and new ideas aboutstorm water refer toAppendix 6.

Page 60: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Nine Techniques

of Restorative Redevelopment3

1. Capturing roof runoff in tanks or cisterns for irrigation orindoor use;

2. Disconnecting pavement and roof drainage systems fromsewer lines and directingrunoff to adjacent areas of vegetation or to infiltrationbasins;

3. Engineering infiltration basins—“water gardens,” dry wells, and subsurfacerecharge beds—to collectrunoff and allow it to percolateinto the soil;

4. Planting trees to intercept rain;

5. Rehabilitating soils to increase infiltration rates and pollutant-neutralizing activity;

6. Reconfiguring driveways, parking lots, and streets sothat they are at least partiallycovered with pervious, vege-tated soil;

7. Using porous pavements—special varieties of asphalt,concrete, masonry, and otherporous materials that allowwater to pass through.

8. Routing runoff through vegetated surface channels(“swales”) to slow its velocity,remove pollutants, and direct itinto the soil; and

9. Restoring historic streams by excavating culverts and creat-ing naturalized open channels.

Storm Water as an Asset

3 Bruce Ferguson, Richard Pinkham, Timothy Collins,1999. Re-Evaluating StormWater: The Nine Mile RunModel For RestorativeRedevelopment, Rocky Mountain Institute,http://www.rmi.org/images/other/W-ReevalStormwater.pdf

54 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Retrofitting parking areas and other paved surfaces is also an option. In the example

below, the curb has been cut and the landscap-ing lowered to create a primary infiltration area.Once the initial flows have saturated the land-scaping, the storm drain handles the overflow.

By diverting a portion of the first flows, the design reduces demands on the storm

drain system.

Swales capture down-slope flows and directthem along contours. This slows the rate of

runoff and enhances recharge.

Page 61: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Storm Water as an Asset

Hardscapes: paving technologies are availablethat allow water to percolate through to the

ground rather than running off. While not appro-priate for all uses, these paving options offer

significant potential for storm water runoffreduction and groundwater recharge.

The role of vegetation in percolation: in all ofthese designs, plants play an important role.The roots of plants aid percolation, and they

allow biological treatment processes to occur.The illustration offers a sense of the root

structure and the important function of plants in these systems.

Impervious surfaces generate excessive runoffduring storms, which is conventionally routed

into pipes or concrete channels, robbing the soil of moisture and bypassing its

absorptive capacity. In contrast rain infiltrates into vegetated soil,

recharging ground water and supporting plants.

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 55

Revealoverflow pipefrom street

Vegetated infiltration swale

12" minimum sand

Rainwater catchment: rainwater catchment is not a new idea. Around the world, people have capturedrainwater to irrigate gardens and for domestic water supplies. Like storm water recharge strategies, thisseemingly simple management approach provides water while reducing storm water flows. Various tech-

niques can be employed to avoid mosquito problems.

Page 62: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Economic

• Savings to sewer utilities can reduce infrastructure investmentintended to limit discharge intothe river;

• Savings in the construction and maintenance of curb and gutter(storm water) infrastructure;

• Savings from not having to clean up polluted waterways;

• Increased property value as a result of the creation of green cor-ridors for managing storm wateron or near the land where it falls;and a

• Market for green development, including architects, designers,and manufactures of porous andpermeable surfaces.

Environment

• Watercourses improved or protected to TMDL standards;and

• Restored “environmental services”—the filtering of stormwater into the soil; (e.g., micro-organisms decompose pollutantsand turn them into nutrients.Water stored in the soil replenish-es ground water.)

Community

• Natural and porous surfaces, along with tree planting and vegetation, beautify and cleansethe urban landscape

Storm Water as an Asset

Benefits

This diagram illustrates CSO discharge loca-tions in the Cuyahoga watershed.

A CSO refers to old sewers that carry sanitarywastes and storm water in the same pipe.

The Westerly Waste Water Treatment Plant hasseventeen CSO outfalls.

CSO discharge locations are indicated with red dots.

Source: Lower Cuyahoga River Valley TMDL Report, p. 45

56 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 63: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

1. In 1998, the Nine-Mile-Run-Watershed community in Pitts-burgh developed options forreestablishing natural processesin its urban landscapes. Thisinvolved a three-day workshopwith 60 local and national design-ers, engineers, artists, planners,policy makers, and local citizens.4

The outcome of the workshopwas a selection of designs for fourspecific urban sites: a neighbor-hood school, a neighborhoodpark, a historic train station in acommercial center, and an under-utilized commercial site. Throughcombinations of retrofitting andredevelopment, the participantschose storm water managementtechniques shaped by and embedded in the revitalization of the sites.

2. The TMDL process encourages innovative schemes for managingwatercourse pollution,5 and theyhave been implemented in manywatersheds, including ChesapeakeBay and the Kalamazoo water-shed. It identifies point sources of pollution (utility and industrysources that have a permit to discharge into the river) and non-point sources of pollution (discharge that are not from a sin-gle location, such as urban runoffor storm water). A specific pollu-tion limit offers an opportunityfor utilities (and industry) toinvest in community-wide urbanrunoff and storm water strategiesthat will cost-effectively limit the total amount of pollutionentering the river.

Storm Water as an Asset

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 57

Why this idea will work in the Cuyahoga Valley

4 The full report, titled Re-evaluating Storm Water: The Nine Mile Run Model for Restorative Development, is available from the Rocky Mountain Institute website: www.rmi.org.

5 For more details on water quality trading schemes refer to the EPA website.

Page 64: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Lack of awareness that storm water can be separated from thecombined sewer network andprovide water quality and ecolog-ical benefits;

• Conventional methods of storm water management focus on bigpublic works projects (storagetanks, pipelines, treatment plants,etc.) to fix the storm water “prob-lem.” Approached differently, theproblem disappears and thewater becomes an asset;

• Conventional methods of land development replace agriculturaland natural ground cover withpavement and other impermeablesurfaces;

• Limited knowledge of storm water technologies; and

• New investment and funding mechanisms, such as pollutiontrading schemes using BMPs,need to be identified.

• Conduct an education campaign that broadens the concept ofstorm water infrastructure toinclude soil and vegetation,which absorb water and filter pollutants;

• Explore the feasibility of a water quality trading scheme funded by utilities in the Valley;

• Develop expertise in water systems. Identify businesses that are engaged in this field and discuss possible business ventures around Cuyahoga-specific expertise;

• Build a market for storm water friendly technology and encour-age local manufacturers to investin porous materials for roads andpaving;

• Fund best management practices (BMPs). The U.S. EPA hasendorsed BMPs6 as a method tocontrol pollution-producing activ-ities and reduce or eliminate theintroduction of pollutants intowatercourses. BMPs are propri-etary (patented and/or manufac-tured) or nonproprietary (in thepublic domain). Examples of proprietary BMP products areStormceptor and GravelPave.Examples of nonproprietaryBMPs include detention basins,grassy drainage swales, catchbasin stenciling, and public education.

Storm Water as an Asset

Barriers Implementation strategies

58 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

6 The USEPA maintains an extensive list of BMPs on its “technology fact sheets”; see www.epa.gov/owmitnet/mtbfact.htm

Page 65: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 59

An innovative and forward-looking mix of energy resources—notably renewable energy sourcesand energy efficiency—in theCuyahoga Valley and the sur-rounding region would lead togreater energy security, lower consumer costs, less air pollution,more local jobs, more reliablepower, and enhanced economicdevelopment.

Unfortunately, the current energyregulatory environment in Ohiopushes investment toward central-ized fossil-fuel power plants,which not only prevents areassuch as the Cuyahoga Valley fromrealizing innovative lowest-costenergy services, but also perpetu-ates pollution, a stagnant economy,and an unreliable electric grid.

In order to optimize energyresources, investments must bemade in other supply-side tech-nologies, such as distributedcogeneration of heat and power1

and renewable energy technolo-gies, as well as demand-side tech-nologies, such as energy efficiency.The first step toward realizing the best possible mix of energyresources for the future is toundertake an in-depth, area-specific study, such as an Energy-Resource Investment Strategy.

Energy Investment Strategy

Increasedattractiveness

of areato business

Increaseddemand

for energy

Greaterenergy

reliability

Strengthenedlocal

economy

Reduced total costof energy services

Local investmentin energy efficiencyand renewables

Strengthenedlocal

economy

Reduced total costof energy services

Local investmentin energy efficiencyand renewables

Increasedlocal revenue

from local energy sales

Increasedattractiveness

of areato business

Greaterenergy

reliability

Strengthenedlocal

economy

Reduced total costof energy services

Local investmentin energy efficiencyand renewables

Increasedlocal revenue

from local energy sales

Increased business activity leads to increased demand for local energy from new companies, providing revenues for further investment in efficiency and

renewable sources.

These diagrams only begin to illustrate the inter-relationships among many factors. They do not reflect full complexity or all opportunities.

In addition, revenue from local energy sales further strengthens the local economy.Reducing dependence on the centralized energy grid, local energy projects willincrease energy reliability, making the area more attractive to many businesses.

Also, increased business activity increases energy demand, potentially leading toadditional investments in energy efficiency and renewable sources.

By reducing demand for energy through efficiency technologies, the total cost ofenergy services will decrease, freeing up disposable income, some significant

portion of which will be spent in the local economy.

1

2

3

1 Cogeneration is the simultaneous production of electricity and thermal energy (in the form of hot wateror steam). The thermal energy that would otherwisebecome waste heat is captured and used, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of the system.

Page 66: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

The efficient use of energy throughdistributed resources2 could realizeboth economic and social benefitsfor the Cuyahoga Valley region. The economic benefits include:

• Savings on energy bills. Energy bills are reduced through the useof more efficient equipment andappliances;

• Increased power quality and fewer power outages. For manyof the industrial and commercialfacilities in the Valley, it would befeasible to cogenerate heat andpower on-site to complement theexisting power grid and to pro-vide premium power reliability,which would reduce costly lossesin productivity that result fromregional power outages; and

• A more robust local economy. Encouraging distributedresources has been shown byU.S.Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) studies to stimulatelocal economies by increasing the purchase of energy efficienttechnologies and reducing theflow of money to power produc-ers outside the region. In one EPA case study, it was estimatedthat an investment of $1 millionin energy efficiency resulted in the creation of more than tennew jobs on a net basis.

Social benefits include:

• Reduced pollution. Consuming less energy reduces the amount of fossil fuel burned in powerplants, which directly reduces the amount of harmful emissions,such as greenhouse gases, thatthese plants release into theatmosphere. The emission of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides,other chemicals and metals, andharmful particulate matter thatcause or exacerbate asthmawould also be reduced; and

• Increased safety. In addition to the economic benefits ofincreased reliability of the electricgrid, distributed resources would also enhance the region’sresiliency to blackouts, which in turn would result in increasedsecurity for residents and businesses.

Energy Investment Strategy

Benefits

2 The term distributed resources includes both energy efficiency and distributed generation. Distributed genera-tion refers to small generation systems widely distributedthroughout an area, close to the places where the energywill be used.

3 Pay-As-You-Save is a financing method in which a utility or other entity covers the up-front expenses of energyefficient technologies for an energy user. The end userthen repays this amount over time by paying back a por-tion of the value of the energy saved through the monthlyutility bill.

4 An efficiency utility is an independent, non-profit organization separate from the supply utilities that consolidates and administers efficiency programs for astate or other jurisdiction.

60 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 67: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Energy efficiency programs andpolicies have been successfullyimplemented in many parts of thecountry, notably Wisconsin,Minnesota, California, New York,

the Pacific Northwest, and NewEngland. Ohio has not implement-ed such programs vigorously todate, and therefore savings similarto those achieved in other states can be expected as a result of futureefforts in Ohio. Studies in otherstates have shown that every million kilowatts saved annually(an average medium-sized officebuilding uses three to five millionkilowatts each year) is worth about $600,000 in savings over thelifetime of the efficiency measures.Factoring in capital and operatingcosts, this is about $300,000 in net present value. Additionally,these savings reduce carbon dioxideemissions by about 1,000 tons per year.

Cuyahoga County is also nearing a point where some form of invest-ment in energy resources will be necessary in order to ensure adequate supply in the future.AMP-Ohio is currently studying the feasibility of constructing a newcoal-fired plant that would generatebetween 500 and 750 megawattsand cost between $750 million and$1 billion (Cleveland’s share wouldbe 175 megawatts).5 Conducting an ERIS could reveal other means tosatisfy the area’s increasing demandfor energy services, both at lowercosts and with less negative impacton the environment and community.

Energy Investment Strategy

5 Crain’s Cleveland, May 19-25 “Study to determine if state has need for new power plant.” See http://crainscleveleand.com/search.cms for more details.

Why these measures will work in the Cuyahoga Valley

An ERIS starts with a detailed regionalanalysis of existing resources and trans-mission capacity. Also, it identifies thecosts and other viability factors for varioustypes of new generation capacity, as wellas opportunities for improvements in ener-gy efficiency. Energy saved through energyefficiency measures, called “negawatts,”serves the customer as well or better thannew generation capacity, or “megawatts.”An ERIS analyzes several future scenariosfor the area, based on possible growth tra-jectories for energy demand, as well as theavailability and cost of new and developingtechnologies. For each of these scenarios,an optimal mix of supply- and demand-sideresources is described, based on the mini-mization of economic and environmentalcosts and risks.

The results of the ERIS inform local leadersof what investments should be made on aregional scale in order to obtain the bestpossible energy services at the lowestoverall cost. However, in order for theseinvestments to occur, existing disincentivesand barriers must be addressed throughnew policies and programs, as well asthrough innovative financing methods suchas Pay-As-You-Save,3 or a dedicated efficiency utility,4 funded through anincrease in Ohio's system benefits chargeon utility bills.

Energy-Resource Investment

Strategy (ERIS)

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 61

Page 68: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

62 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Barriers to conducting an Energy-Resource InvestmentStrategy

• An ERIS is typically funded by a public or private utility. However,given the current regulatory environment in Ohio, these enti-ties may have little incentive toundertake such a project, let aloneto put the results of an ERIS intopractice. In their absence, anotherorganization must be found to take the lead in conducting an ERIS.

Barriers to distributed resources

• From the customer perspective, barriers include:

•• A lack of information on available technologies andtheir benefits;

•• A lack of access to capital at low (or even high) cost;

•• Complex and expensive interconnection requirementsfor distributed generation;

•• Unfamiliarity with distributed resource technologies (whichoften leads to unduly high per-ceptions of risk in comparisonto other expenditures);

•• A lack of means to enable borrowing against future savings to finance capitalimprovements; and

•• Split incentives between, for example, building ownersand occupants (the ownersmake investments in efficiency,but occupants pay the utilitybills).

• As a result of the state’s dereg-ulation, old utilities and newproviders who are now enteringthe market compete only onwholesale and retail rates. Whilethis is expected to result in a moreefficient market and cheaperpower, it also creates a disincen-tive for utilities to invest in energy efficiency or distributedgeneration because such invest-ments often require a smallincrease in energy rates to covercapital costs, which could reducethe utility’s competitiveness.Often misunderstood, however, isthat these investments would alsoresult in ratepayers using lessenergy, which would actuallylower their bills on a net basis,despite the potentially higherrates. Thus new policies arerequired to realize both lowerbills and the other benefits ofenergy efficiency and distributedgeneration.

Energy Investment Strategy

Barriers

Page 69: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Strategies to overcome barriers toinvestment in energy efficiency,including distributed cogeneration,can be developed at three levels:

• Buildings and facilities.To capture its energy-efficiencypotential, a facility must identifyenergy waste, specify technologyupgrades, and finance the capitalimprovements. Third-party ener-gy service companies (ESCOs)can deliver all these services in aturnkey package. However, inmost cases, the facility shouldfirst perform an energy audit toidentify efficiency opportunitiesor use pinch analysis6 or anothermethod to find heat recovery orcogeneration opportunities.Though energy efficiency meas-ures are much easier to imple-ment and less expensive in newfacilities, many are economic inexisting facilities as well;

• Cities and communities.Local energy codes and standardsare important tools for reducingthe energy-demand burden thatnew buildings impose on thecommunity’s energy system.Local governments and nonprofitorganizations can provide infor-mation on energy use and effi-ciency opportunities, and theycan facilitate efficiency invest-ments by increasing contactsbetween energy users and ven-dors of efficiency or cogenerationservices. Municipal utilities canbe strong advocates of, andinvestors in, energy efficiency (asin Seattle and Sacramento), but

the utility industry structure inOhio currently discourages suchactivity in Cuyahoga County andother cities; and

• State. State governments create most electricity policy and regula-tions. In most cases, state regula-tory commissions are the forcesbehind utility programs that pro-mote energy efficiency. Thoughutility-based energy-efficiencyprograms are effectively discour-aged by Ohio utility policy, itmight be possible to increase thestate’s system benefits charge(SBC)7 to fund efficiency improve-ments and create an efficiencyutility separate from the energy-supply utilities. Additionally, theState could coordinate the lowerprice purchase of large volumesof efficient technologies, andinstall them in State facilities.

Energy Investment Strategy

Implementation strategies

6 Pinch analysis uses the principles of thermody-namics to maximize theefficiency of a system byanalyzing energy- andmaterial-flows.

7 A system benefit chargeis a charge added to aconsumer's electric bill.Proceeds are put into afund used to cover coststhat benefit everyone inthe community, such asenergy efficiency orrenewable energy. SBCsevolved as a type ofratepayer-funded efficien-cy program in the after-math of electric-utilityrestructuring in the 1990s.Under these restructuringinitiatives, utilities lost sig-nificant incentive to investin energy efficiency andother forms of demand-side management. As aresult, energy efficiencyfunded by electricity usersalso dropped rapidly.Several states addressedthese developments byestablishing funds ear-marked for energy effi-ciency projects.

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 63

Page 70: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Community wide

• Conduct an Energy-Resource Investment Strategy for theCuyahoga Valley or the widerregion. The best type of organiza-tion to undertake such a projectmay be an educational institutionor nonprofit organization.Because the process would bene-fit all residents and businesses inthe area, funding should come atleast in part from the State ormunicipalities.

Facilities and Communities in and around the Cuyahoga Valley

• Perform energy audits to identify efficiency options and use pinchanalyses and other methods tofind heat-recovery and cogenera-tion opportunities. Municipalitiescould mandate such audits intheir facilities. Grants (such asthose funded by a system benefitscharge) could be provided foraudits at commercial or residen-tial facilities.

• Disseminate case studies demon-strating quick and inexpensiveefficiency gains through building-energy commissioning.8

• Investigate the potential for the use of shared waste-heat acrossfacility boundaries, as describedon p. 67, “Cogeneration.”Municipalities could lead thisprocess by cataloguing existingpipe infrastructure and perform-ing audits of consumption andproduction of thermal and electri-cal energy at these facilities. A cogeneration network wouldresult in energy savings andincreased implementation of distributed resources.

Energy Investment Strategy

Next steps

8 Building energy commissioning is a process that tests a building to ensure that it performs in accordance with thedesign intent and estimated performance.

64 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 71: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Identify internal mechanisms (e.g., connecting operating to cap-ital budgets) that enable borrow-ing against future savings tofinance efficiency investmentsthat require more than a one-yearpayback. Disseminate case stud-ies. Identify external mechanismssuch as energy service companies(ESCOs) that provide turnkeysolutions. Also, identify financialservice companies that are famil-iar with the economics of energyefficiency and distributedresources and are therefore will-ing to provide loans at affordablerates. Disseminate a list of these.

• Disseminate information on energy efficiency opportunitiesand available rebates, and casestudies of the financial effects of installing energy efficient tech-nologies.

• Review municipal energy codes and standards to identify optionsfor raising standards.

State of Ohio

• Investigate the options for Ohio to create incentives for utilityinvestments in efficiency and todecouple utility revenues fromsales volume.

• The Ohio Department of Development’s Office of EnergyEfficiency is currently consideringhow to best distribute funds fromthe system benefits charge (SBC)in the form of grants and loansfor energy efficiency and/or distributed generation. The Stateshould assess the potential toincrease the SBC as a way to fund more of these projects.

• Consider using SBC funding to create an “efficiency utility” thatis separate from the supply utili-ties. Vermont and Oregon createdefficiency utilities (e.g., OregonTrust) to administer efficiencyprograms in the wake of electricutility restructuring. The efficien-cy utility is an independent, non-profit organization that must sus-tain itself with SBC funds andreturns from investments in ener-gy efficiency. It consolidates andenhances most of the programspreviously offered by the state’selectric utilities and provides astreamlined and coordinatedapproach to energy efficiency.

Energy Investment Strategy

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 65

Page 72: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Identify new and innovative financing mechanisms for energyefficiency, such as Pay-As-You-Save. Often the single largest bar-rier to widespread adoption ofenergy efficient technologies isconsumers’ unwillingness to paya higher upfront cost for efficientdevices than for conventionalproducts. PAYS® allows energyusers to acquire energy-efficienttechnologies without making up-front payments. A utility or thirdparty covers the upfront expenseof the efficient technology whilethe customer repays this amountover time by paying back a por-tion of the value of the energy

saved through the monthly utilitybill. This mechanism ensures thatthe customers who pay for theenergy-efficiency technologies are also the ones who realize thesavings.

• Support changes in regulations that would standardize intercon-nection laws based on the tech-nology. This would reduce thecost of developing a distributed-generation project.

Energy Investment Strategy

Next steps (State of Ohio, continued)

66 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 73: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

The Cuyahoga Valley is currentlywasting resources that could beput to work saving money andreducing pollution in Cuyahogabusinesses. One of those resourcesis waste heat from the generationof electricity,1 which is valuable forsuch uses as space heating andindustrial processing. Currently,much of this thermal energy issimply vented. However, capturingand using it, a process calledcogeneration, is both economicallyand technically feasible. Cogen-eration is the concurrent produc-tion and use of both electricity andthermal energy, which savesmoney and reduces pollution byusing fossil fuels more efficiently.

The Cuyahoga Valley offers anunusual opportunity to realize the benefits of cogeneration due tothe high concentration of industri-al facilities within a small area.Today, many of the industrial facilities that generate part of theirown electricity release the unwant-ed thermal energy in the form ofhot water or steam to the atmos-phere. This waste occurs eitherbecause the facility isn’t set up tocapture the heat, or because theirprocesses don’t need all of the heatavailable. However, by developinga network of hot water pipes orunderground steam tunnels link-ing these facilities, one businesscan sell excess thermal energy toanother. Cogeneration is one formof distributed generation.2

Energy Cogeneration Network

1 When electricity is generated, inefficienciesin the generation technolo-gies turn as much as 60–70 percent of the fuelburned into waste heatinstead of electricity.

2 As described in “Energy Investment Strategy”, dis-tributed generation refersto the use of small genera-tion technologies, such asmicroturbines, small fuelcells or engines, located ator near the points at whichthe energy they generatewill be used.

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 67

Page 74: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

The relationships that would resultfrom a cogeneration network wouldbe complementary for all involved,including the following:

• Producers of thermal energy, who would receive a new sourceof revenue;

• Recipients of thermal energy, who would pay a lower overallprice for it than they would ifthey were to make it themselvesor buy it from a utility. Also, theycould avoid expensive increasesin boiler capacity at their ownfacilities;

• Utilities, who could benefit by deferring investment in newcapacity;

• All grid users. Enabling an indus-trial facility to sell recovered heatat a profit would increase the eco-nomic viability of cogenerationsystems, thus encouraging instal-lations of more cogeneration sys-tems, which would increase theresiliency of the electric grid,3

which in turn could help avoidthe inconvenience, economic loss-es, and other potential hazardsassociated with power outages.

• The entire community of the Cuyahoga Valley, as well as thosebeyond it, which would benefitfrom the reduction both of natu-ral resource consumption and ofthe emission of pollutants; and

Why cogeneration will work in the Cuyahoga Valley

• The technology needed to create the infrastructure of a cogenera-tion network is well established.Indeed, the idea of distributinghot water or steam betweenbuildings or facilities dates backto the Roman era. Today, numer-ous municipalities, companies,and private utilities own andoperate district-heating systems4

through which steam or hot water are distributed from one ormore suppliers to one or morerecipients.

• Certain areas in and around the Cuyahoga Valley already containpiping infrastructure that couldbe used, converted, or upgradedto be part of a cogeneration net-work. The use of these systemscould reduce the upfront capitalcost of realizing such a network.

• Much of the existing piping infrastructure is old and probablyleaky, particularly those segmentsthat are no longer in operation.The capital cost to upgrade thesepipes and install new ones tocomplete a network could be significant.

Energy Cogeneration Network

Benefits

68 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

3 Multiple small, distributed generation units are less susceptible to widespread power outages than are large, central power plants. One reason for this is that the effect of an electrical disruption can be minimized if a large percentage of loads are served by generation close tothe load rather than from power transported from plants hundreds and thousands of milesaway via overloaded transmission lines. Additionally, under proper regulatory and technologi-cal conditions, distributed generation units can supply emergency power to others in the surrounding area.

4 A partial list is available at www.energy.rochester.edu/us/comdhlst.htm.

Page 75: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Installing new pipes beneath public thoroughfares to distributethermal energy could meet regulatory hurdles.

• Some facility managers may be hesitant to rely on thermal energy from a company thatcould move, change productionprocesses, or go out of business.

Implementation strategy

• Identify sites and facilities appropriate for inclusion in thenetwork. Estimate cost.

• Identify potential regulatory barriers to the network.

• Identify the particular cogen-eration technologies (such as fuel cells, microturbines, or recip-rocating engines) that are mostappropriate for this area. Thiscould be accomplished as part ofan Energy-Resource InvestmentStrategy (ERIS).5

• Analyze in detail the existing piping capable of carrying hotwater or steam, including bothpublic and private systems. Datashould include pipe location, age,condition, material, capacity, andownership.

• Develop a request-for-proposal (RFP) from engineering firms toestimate the cost of completingand/or repairing the network.

• Consider waiving the public right-of-way fees6 normallycharged when pipes cross publicthoroughfares. This may requirethat the network be owned andoperated by a municipality ornon-profit, or exist as a not-for-profit entity.

• Analyze energy supply and demand for all facilities in thisregion.7 Include how much ther-mal and electrical energy eachfacility is generating, and howmuch electrical and thermal ener-gy each uses. Develop loadcurves8 and production profiles9

for each facility, ideally includingdata for each hour over a year.This information is importantbecause energy is consumed andproduced at different rates at dif-ferent times of the day and year,and creating a self-sufficient net-work would require estimates ofhow much energy would bedemanded and available at anygiven hour.

Energy Cogeneration Network

Barriers Implementation strategy (continued)

5 For a more complete description of ERIS, see “Energy InvestmentStrategy,” p. 59.6 Ohio Revised Code

Chapter § 4939.05, para-graph (2) reads “A munici-pal corporation may waiveall or a portion of any pub-lic way fee for a govern-mental entity or a charita-ble organization.”

7 Again, such information would be collected as partof a detailed study such asan ERIS.

8 Load curves show the amount of energy (boththermal and electrical)used during each hour ofthe day.

9 Production profiles show, for those facilities with adistributed generation system, the amount ofeach type of energy (ther-mal and electrical) beingproduced at any giventime.

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 69

Page 76: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

70 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 77: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Many forms of waste, once regard-ed as problems, are now being con-sidered opportunities. Innovativebusinesses are converting wasteinto useful, profitable resources,including energy. There are twoprocesses in particular for convert-ing wastes into energy that showpromise for the Cuyahoga Valley:methane-gas capture at landfillsand the gasification of industrial,medical or municipal wastes.

The first process, capturingmethane gas from landfills andusing it to generate electricity, is aproven, economically viable activi-ty that holds immediate and sig-nificant potential for the area.Landfill gas is formed whenorganic waste in a solid wastelandfill decomposes. The gas usu-ally consists of about 50 percentmethane (the primary componentof natural gas) and about 50 per-cent carbon dioxide. The methanecan be captured and burned togenerate electricity, instead ofallowing it to be lost into the air.Capturing the gas is also muchsafer than allowing it to remainwithin the landfill; deadly explo-sions of landfill methane gas haveoccurred at various locations.1

The second process—gasifyingindustrial, medical and municipalwaste, and generating electricitywith the resulting gases—holdsgreat potential for the area. In general, this process convertswaste into production-ready gas in two stages.

First, waste is broken into its constituents by applying heat andpressure in a low-oxygen environ-ment. In effect, it is cooked ratherthan burned. In the second stage,the resulting gas is cleaned andburned to produce electricityand/or thermal energy. These twostages reduce the amount of pollu-tion that is released when the wasteis processed, while simultaneouslyproducing valuable energy.

Waste to Energy

1 See www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/landfill/html/ch3.html; scroll down to “Landfill Gas Explosions.”

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 71

Page 78: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

72 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

• Waste substances that previously caused storage and pollutionproblems become resources thatgenerate economic value andjobs, without increasing the rateat which natural resources areprocessed.

• There is significant potential for cogeneration from methane cap-ture at landfills in the Valley. TheOhio EPA’s Division of AirPollution Control (DAPC) esti-mates that a total of 18 milliontons of waste currently sits in the18 landfills across CuyahogaCounty. This waste is currentlyproducing over 34 million cubicmeters of methane gas each year.Of these 18 landfills, two holdparticular potential for methanecapture: the Glenwillow SanitaryLandfill and the Royalton RoadLandfill in Broadview Heights.The former was closed recently,and the latter will close later thisyear. Together, these two landfillsaccount for nearly half of themethane released in the County—over 16 million cubic meters ofmethane per year. But currently,all of this methane is being wast-ed. Capturing and burning itcould produce enough electricity(over 25 million kilowatts peryear) to supply more than 2,500local homes.2 Currently, however,there is only one active landfill-gas capture site in the County: theCuyahoga Regional SanitaryLandfill in Solon.

• Utilizing landfill gas also substan-tially reduces greenhouse-gasemissions. When methaneescapes untreated into the atmos-phere, its contribution to globalwarming is roughly 20 times asgreat as carbon dioxide’s contri-bution per unit mass. Burning themethane greatly reduces thiseffect. Capturing the methaneemitted from Glenwillow andRoyalton Road landfills and burn-ing it to produce energy will havethe same effect on reducinggreenhouse gas emissions aswould removing almost 22,000cars from the road or planting30,000 acres of trees.3

• Gasification companies could increase incomes by selling ener-gy as well as scrap (such as ironand steel) collected in the processof converting waste into energy.

Waste to Energy Benefits

2, 3 See www.epa.gov/lmop/about.htm.

Page 79: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Methane Capture at Landfills

• Of the 6,000 landfills in the United States, approximately 340 currently capture methane.The U.S. EPA estimates that asmany as 500 additional landfillscould immediately and cost-effectively turn their methane into an energy source.

Gasification

• Across the country, 29 states are now home to a total of 98 gasifi-cation-type waste-to-energy facilities, which process nearly97,000 tons of waste every day.

• In Cuyahoga County there are 238 organizations creating med-ical waste. Much of it could begasified locally using technolo-gies such as the EcoTech Medi-Waste System.4 The electrical andthermal energy produced by thisprocess could be used efficientlyby industries near the site. Sitednear an industry that could usewaste heat, one of these systemswould be an excellent example ofdistributed cogeneration.5

• The U.S. EPA is currently study-ing the feasibility of convertingcertain hazardous industrialbyproducts into gas, which couldbe used for power generation.Approved waste-gasificationprocesses are regulated like pro-duction or manufacturing opera-tions, which are subject to less-stringent regulations than haz-ardous-waste-management activi-ties. This will greatly improve theeconomics of this process.

• The waste from several manu-facturing-related facilities in theValley may be suitable for gasifi-cation.

Waste to Energy

4 See www.etwm.ca/medi/medi_main.htm.

5 Distributed cogenerationis the capture and use ofboth electrical and thermal(in the form of hot water orsteam) energy from small,modular generation tech-nologies (called distributedgeneration, or DG).

Why these measures will work in the Cuyahoga Valley

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 73

Page 80: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

• Lack of understanding and political momentum has resultedin Ohio utilities being reluctant topurchase power generated fromcaptured landfill gas, which hasreduced demand and madeinvestment appear riskier than it is.

• Both waste-to-energy technolo-gies require significant invest-ments of capital and up-frontdevelopment expenses. Obtainingfinancing for such lesser-knowntechnologies as these can be timeconsuming and expensive.

• Despite a large number of successful projects nationwide,the permitting of landfill-gas proj-ects still requires an exorbitantamount of paper work.

• Though air emissions from waste gasification comply with the EPANew Clean Air Act “MaximumControl Technology,” suchbyproducts as ash could still beconsidered burdens on the envi-ronment, and may be subject toregulatory control.

Methane Capture at Landfills

• Incentivize utilities to purchase electricity generated from landfillgas. Incentives could include arenewable portfolio standard(RPS) or the promise of demandfor this and other forms of “greenpower.”6

• Develop connections between financiers, entrepreneurs, and gas-capture and combustion-equipment manufacturers,through such venues as conferences.

Gasification

• Investigate the economic and technical feasibility of waste-to-energy projects as part of a largerenergy-resource study.7

• Initiate discussions with waste--producing facilities in the area,such as hospitals and food manu-facturers, to determine the eco-nomic feasibility of gasification oftheir waste streams. Such a dia-logue could be facilitated by thecreation of a State or regional pro-gram to promote such projects.For example, grants or loanscould be issued from funds col-lected through the electric-utilitysystem benefits charge (SBC).

Waste to Energy Barriers Implementation strategies

6 One strategy for increasing and insuring demand for this and other forms of green energy would be for municipal governments to commit to serving all or a percentage of their energy needs with energy generated from renewable energy or energy generated from landfill gas.

7 One form of energy resource study is described in depth in “Energy Investment Strategy.”

74 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 81: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Methane Capture at Landfills

• Investigate financial and technical feasibility of capturing landfillgas from area landfills, particular-ly the Glenwillow SanitaryLandfill and the Royalton RoadLandfill.

• Investigate barriers to the efficient use of landfill gas.

Gasification

• As part of the area-wide inven-tory of waste by-products (see p. 27, Industrial Symbiosis) anddistributed-generation opportu-nities (see p. 67, Cogeneration),identify opportunities for gas-ification.

• Initiate a dialogue between local and national experts in the fieldof waste gasification. This shouldbe a formal group, such as theWaste-to-Energy Research andTechnology Council at ColumbiaUniversity.8 American Ref-Fuel,9

the national leader in gasification,should be part of this group. This firm now has a fully opera-tional gasification plant inNiagara Falls.

Waste to Energy

8 See www.seas.columbia.edu/earth/wtert 9 See www.ref-fuel.com

Next steps

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 75

Page 82: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

76 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 83: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Wind turbines harness currents of air to create renewable, zero-emission electricity. In many areas,they can generate electricity atprices competitive with fossil fuel-fired power plants. Ohio has several areas with good wind energy potential, including placesalong the shores of Lake Erie and in several offshore locations.

Benefits

Besides providing clean, renewable power, there are severaladditional benefits:

Business

Local firms would benefit from theeconomic activity related to theinstallation and operation of windturbines.

• Ohio’s manufacturing industry could benefit from the windpower industry.

Manufacturing remains signifi-cant to the region’s economy.However, recent decades havebrought a change in demand formany of the products traditional-ly manufactured here. For exam-ple, raw steel production in Ohiopeaked in 1973, when 26.5 milliontons were produced. In 2001, only15.7 million tons were produced,less than 60 percent of the steel

produced during the industry’sheyday. One way to revitalizemanufacturing would be toencourage its transition to theproduction of products for inno-vative industries such as windpower, which is expected to expe-rience high growth in the comingdecades. Some existing compa-nies in the area already manufac-ture components for the windpower industry, and others could join this growing sector.The market is expected to belarge: the U.S. Department ofEnergy aims to more than doublethe installed capacity of windgeneration in the United States, to 10,000 megawatts, by 2010. The Electric Power ResearchInstitute’s (EPRI) estimate is more aggressive—nearly 12,000megawatts installed in the United States by the end of 2006.

Renewable

Energy

from Wind Turbines

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 77

Page 84: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Community

A revitalized and modernized manufacturing industry couldenhance the area’s image, whichcould help develop the tourismindustry. An array of wind turbinesalong Ohio’s coast would be a highly visible testament to theregion’s interest in moving awayfrom its polluted past while remaining true to its core compe-tencies.

Environment

Nearly 90 percent of all Ohio electricity is generated by burningcoal, which results in substantialemissions of pollutants such as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.Installing wind power wouldreduce these emissions or keepthem constant as the region’s consumption of electricity grows.

Wind power is a mature, proventechnology, with nearly 25,000megawatts of installed capacityworldwide as of 2001. The OhioDepartment of Development is completing a new wind map forOhio, which shows that parts of the state, notably coastal and off-shore areas, are well suited forwind power.1 The City of BowlingGreen recently installed two 1.8megawatt turbines, Ohio’s first. They are expected to generate 6,900 megawatt hours of electricity annually, enough for roughly 100 homes.

Renewable Energy from Wind Turbines

Benefits (continued) Why Wind Power will work in Cuyahoga County

1 Onshore areas near the edge of Lake Erie are estimated to have Class 3 wind, while offshore areas range from Class 4 (nearest to the shore)to Class 6 in areas further from shore.Given current capital and installationcosts, areas with Class 3 winds and stronger are considered to be economically viable sites for wind turbines.

78 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 85: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Despite being cleaner than any fossil fuel-based power plant, windturbines still elicit NIMBY (“not inmy backyard”) responses. Propertyowners near potential onshore andoffshore wind-power sites oftenoppose projects, citing compro-mised views and lowered propertyvalues.

Offshore turbines face several additional siting issues. For exam-ple, one technical concern is that alarge set of wind turbines has never been constructed in a freshwater setting. Fresh water freezes ata higher temperature than saltwater, and the effects on turbinesare not fully understood. Also, con-cern has been expressed that,because the bottom of Lake Erievaries greatly in depth, installationcosts could increase. In 2003,Governor Taft signed an executiveorder banning drilling for naturalgas in Lake Erie. It is possible thatattempts to license the installation of wind turbines in the Lake couldbe challenged based on this ban. For these reasons, onshore wind turbines may be more feasible thanoffshore in the near-term, with thelatter becoming more feasible later,as technology, and experiencereduce the aforementioned barriers.

Finally, the state of the electricity-transmission infrastructure thatconnects the areas where the bestwind resources exist (the shore ofthe lake and off the shore) to thegreater electric grid could signifi-cantly change the feasibility of sucha project. That is, large wires areneeded to transmit electricity gener-ated in these areas to industry andpopulation centers miles away.Therefore whoever pays for thewind turbines may be required topay to upgrade transmission lines,which could render the project eco-nomically infeasible. Fortunately,early indications are that sufficienttransmission capacity exists, butfurther attention should be paid tothis issue.

Renewable Energy from Wind Turbines

Barriers

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 79

Page 86: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Regulations and Incentives

Introduce regulations or incentivesat the State and municipal levels toincrease the amount of energy thatis generated from renewablesources. Incentives could includerebates or tax breaks for invest-ments in renewable energy tech-nologies. Regulations could includeincreased restrictions or taxes onthe emissions from fossil-fuel-basedpower plants.

Consumer Choice Program

Ohio’s community choice aggrega-tion law allows municipalities toform community-wide buyers’cooperatives to purchase electricpower, in order to ensure favorablerates. This law could allow electrici-ty users in Ohio who are willing topay a premium for electricity gener-ated from renewable sources to doso. By specifically allowing thistype of “opt-in” program, signifi-cant demand for renewable energycould materialize.

Survey transmission line capacity

Survey transmission capacity aspart of a larger-scale study (e.g., Energy-Resource InvestmentStrategy (see p. 59). The surveyshould include areas outside theCuyahoga Valley, such as areas nearLake Erie.

Renewable portfolio standard

Create a statewide renewable port-folio standard (RPS) requiring everypower producer in the state toinvest in renewable energy, whichcould include wind projects.

Green pricing program

Promote wind power by creating a“green pricing program,” whichgives consumers the option to pur-chase electricity from a providerwhose power mix contains a desig-nated percentage of renewableenergy. The provider can eitherinstall the renewable technologiesor purchase “green tags” fromanother firm. Green tags are certifi-cates that represent the added bene-fits and costs of renewable energy.Individual municipalities couldencourage providers to offer greenpricing by agreeing to buy powerfor their facilities from such a provider.

Renewable Energy from Wind Turbines

Implementation strategies Next steps

80 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 87: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Recommendations

This final diagram illustrates how integrated solutions magnify benefits, creating more value that can help pay for additional integratedsolutions, which create even more value, and so on. In various colors, it depicts the four smaller diagrams from various sections of the

report: industrial symbiosis in orange, restored watercourses in blue, green building in green, and energy in red. Each of these four diagrams depict initiatives from the four areas.

The gray connecting arrows demonstrate how initiatives are integrated and reinforce each other.

Note that, though this diagram illustrates the concept of integrated solutions and the magnified benefits that flow from them, it is far from complete. It omits many factors and includes diagrams from only four of the ten sets of recommendations in this report.

A complete diagram would be quite complex and require much more space.

Cuyahoga Valley

Integrated Solutions

Healthy RiverWatercourseRestoration

Increased $$ availablefor restoration projects

Area moreattractive

Area moresecure More people

recreate near river

Increased tax base

Increasedreal estate value

Investmentin revegetation,daylighting

3.

Increasedbusiness activity

Increased jobs

Creation ofnew productsfrom “waste”

Increaseduse of

industrial sites

Reduced costof disposal

Reducedrisk

Increasedtax revenue

Reducedwaste disposal

Increasedcompanyrevenue

Investment inwasteopportunities

Increasedattractiveness

of areato business

Greaterenergy

reliability

Strengthenedlocal

economy

Reduced total costof energy services

Local investmentin energy efficiencyand renewables

Increasedlocal revenue

from local energy sales

Reducedbuilding cost

Decreasedresourcedemand

(energy, H20)

Decreasedconstruction waste

Increasedreal estate value

Increasedemployee healthand productivity

Decreased liability

Investment ingreen buildingprojects

1. reduced costs

2. increased biological diversity

3. increased business activity

4. increased tax base

5. reduced pollution

6. restored land and watercourses

7. increased real estate

8. increased livability

Regenerative Development Zone

WaterInitiative

IndustrialSymbiosisInitiative

GreenBuildingInitiative

EnergyInitiative

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 81

Page 88: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

82 Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 89: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration 83

Appendices

Natural Capitalism . . . . . . . A1

Regenerative Development Zone . . . . . . . A3

Industrial Symbiosis . . . . . A5

Whole-System Inventory of Cuyahoga Industries . . . . A12

Green Building Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . A14

Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A16

Page 90: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration

Page 91: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A1

Appendix 1: Natural CapitalismThe Industrial Revolution made people vastly more productive when low per-capita output anda relative scarcity of people were limiting progress in exploiting a seemingly boundless naturalworld. Today we face a different pattern of scarcity: abundant people and laborsaving machines,but diminishing natural capital.

Natural capital refers to the earth's natural resources and the ecological systems that provide vitallife-support services to society and all living things. These services are of immense economicvalue; many are literally priceless, since they have no known substitutes. Yet current businesspractices and public policies typically ignore their value. As a result, natural capital is beingdegraded and liquidated by the wasteful use of energy, materials, water, fiber, topsoil, andecosystems.

The next Industrial Revolution, already emerging, is a response to the changing pattern ofscarcity. It will transform industrial processes and business practices to economize on what isnow the limiting factor of production: natural capital. Our experience shows that firms typicallyenjoy increased profit and distinct competitive advantages by doing business as if natural capitalwere properly valued, even when (as now) it is valued at zero.

The Four Principles of Natural Capitalism

Natural Capitalism is a new business model that synergizes four major elements:

1. Radically increase the productivity of resource use. Through fundamental changes inproduction design and technology, leading organizations are making natural resourcesstretch 5, 10, even 100 times further than before. The resulting savings in operational costs,capital, and time quickly pay for themselves, and in many cases initial capital investmentsactually decrease.

2. Shift to biologically inspired production ( Biomimicry ) with closed loops, no waste, andno toxicity. Natural Capitalism seeks not merely to reduce waste but also to eliminate theconcept altogether. Closed-loop production systems, modeled on nature's designs, returnevery output harmlessly to the ecosystem or create valuable inputs for other manufacturingprocesses. Industrial processes that emulate nature's benign chemistry reduce dependenceon nonrenewable inputs, eliminate waste and toxicity, and often allow more efficientproduction.

3. Shift the business model away from the making and selling of "things" to providing theservice that the "thing" delivers. The business model of traditional manufacturing rests onthe sporadic sale of goods. The Natural Capitalism model delivers value as a continuousflow of services—leasing an illumination service, for example, rather than selling lightbulbs. This shift rewards both provider and consumer for delivering the desired service inever cheaper, more efficient, and more durable ways. It also reduces inventory and revenuefluctuations and other risks.

4. Reinvest in natural and human capital. Any good capitalist reinvests in productivecapital. Businesses are finding an exciting range of new cost-effective ways to restore andexpand the natural capital directly required for operations and indirectly required tosustain the supply system and customer base.

Page 92: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A2

Innovative organizations are already prospering from these four principles. Their leaders andemployees are also feeling better about what they do: eliminating unproductive tons, gallons, andkilowatt-hours makes it possible to invest in human capital—the people who foster theinnovation that drives future success.

These ideas are fully developed in Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, LittleBrown, 1999, co-authored (with Paul Hawken and Hunter Lovins) by Rocky Mountain InstituteCEO Amory B. Lovins. The complete book can be found at www.natcap.org .

Page 93: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A3

Appendix 2: Regenerative Development ZoneBiological Wastewater Ecosystems refers to technologies that clean water by replicating naturalecosystems in a controlled environment, and by using only the sun for energy. Ocean ArkInternational is perhaps the leader in this field and for over a decade the organization has beendeveloping floating ecological technologies (called Restorers or EcoMachines) to purifywastewater, maintain pond health or restore stressed natural bodies.http://www.oceanarks.org/restorer/

Cuyahoga County’s Greenspace Plan http://planning.co.cuyahoga.oh.us/green/greenprint.html .

Green Infrastructure Database: Chicago Openlands Project (OLP) and the Center forNeighborhood Technology (CNT) have a database of the region’s green infrastructure: theinterconnected network of open spaces and natural areas that provides wildlife habitat andrecreational opportunities. CNT’s goal is to encourage natural resource protection and landpreservation across several states through the creation of an easy-to-use, interactive database.Visit www.cnt.org

Brownfield Redevelopment

EPA Brownfields Initiative: The Green Buildings on Brownfields Initiative is an EPA programdesigned to promote the use of green building techniques at brownfield properties in conjunctionwith assessment and cleanup. Through several pilot projects, the EPA is providing communitieswith technical assistance to facilitate the development of green buildings on their brownfields.Building environmentally friendly buildings on what was once contaminated land can besymbolic of a new, environmentally sound direction for communities, as well as tangible growthfor their economies.

� Green Buildings on Brownfields Initiative: Pilot Projects Publication Number: EPA-500-F-02-141 [HTML (27K) | PDF (140K) 3 pages] October 2002. www.epa.gov/brownfields/

� EPA’s Green Buildings program: www.epa.gov/greenbuilding/

Examples of Regeneration of Industrial Areas

Ruhr Redevelopment, Germany. Stretching roughly 140 miles through North Rhine-Westphalia,the Ruhr River Valley is a heavy-industry corridor. At its height in the middle of the last century,the region was, in effect, a giant integrated-metal-processing machine, dominated by coalminesas well as coke, iron, and steel plants, and the railroads and autobahns that linked them.

In 1989, the Westphalian government chartered an organization called the IBA, a flexible,independent planning corporation, to transform the Ruhr’s image with innovative architecturaland cultural projects. IBA’s first major initiative was a park on the grounds of an old steel mill inthe northern part of the city of Duisburg. The IBA vision is to create a new high-quality urbanarea, and regenerate the natural landscape along the Emscher River between Duisburg andDortmund, an area of 800sq km. This huge reclamation project (of over 100 projects) is in theformer Ruhr coal and steel-producing region that has high levels of pollution. Projects rangefrom restoration of watercourses to building new houses, business parks, and research centers. www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/html-doc/emscher.htm or www. metropolis.com

Vancouver BC: Vancouver is a success story for long-term city planning and brownfieldredevelopment. Local leaders have refused to bisect the city with freeways and have maintainedpublic access to the waterfront, similar to CVI ideas. These planning measures along with theirnew growth and environmental policy (Port 2010), which was enacted in 1994, have helped

Page 94: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A4

Vancouver to strengthen its economy without sacrificing the environment. Its website features 23individual neighborhoods. www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/community_profiles/CommunityList.htm

One Vancouver neighborhood of particular relevance to the Cuyahoga Valley, Granville Islandwas strictly an industrial area until it was transformed by creative public and private, residentialand commercial development into an exciting arts, entertainment, and tourism area in which theindustrial past in celebrated in the design of new and renovated buildings. Several industriesremain operational, flanked by trendy restaurants, interesting shops, artists’ studios, and arenowned arts school.www.granvilleisland.com/en/about/development

Southeast Granville Slopes Neighborhood

Pittsburgh’s three rivers (Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio) were a key factor in creatingAmerica’s largest inland port, just as they are key to the city’s continued vitality. Following anew city plan in 1989, Pittsburgh acquired substantial riverfront property. According to itswebsite, “Pittsburgh is committed to capitalize on its greatest asset by adding the value that gooddesign, thoughtful land use and public access bring to development. A riverfront divided, parcelby parcel, ignores the enormous development potential of a single, unifying riverfront greenway.Thus, a push for continuous public access is a call for the full development of the city’s mostimportant natural and economic resource.” www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/downloads/documents/river2.pdf

Most of Pittsburgh’s steel mills occupied prime property because they are located on the water toaccess transportation. In an attempt to regenerate the city’s river areas, the sites of several formersteel mills have been re-developed. One example is a former industrial dump, the 240 acre NineMile Run, which was acquired by Pittsburgh Urban Renewal Authority. Written in 1999 by RockyMountain Institute, Re-evaluating Storm water: The Nine Mile Run Model for Restorative Developmentportrays natural storm water management that can reduce sewer overflows, restore urbanwatersheds, and revitalize communities. www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid277.php .

Boston MA: The most effective brownfield redevelopments involved not only designprofessional, but also citizens, who then had ownership over the final design. Rather thanpresenting final designs, experts presented design ideas and lead discussions.www.unhabitat.org/register/item.asp?ID=1022

Fitchburg, MA : Riverfront Park is a reclaimed rubber-plant site and a good model for theRegenerative Development Zone idea. An EPA website includes photos documenting progresson the site over time.http://www.epa.gov/region1/brownfields/success/fitchburg_hrf_agp.htm

Page 95: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A5

Appendix 3:Industrial SymbiosisThis appendix explores four examples of industrial symbiosis. The three examples from NorthAmerica are described briefly. The Danish example is explored in more detail and well worthcareful scrutiny. Its example answers many frequently asked questions about this intriguingphenomenon. It reveals that this remarkable idea may prove practical and profitable in such aresource-rich place as the Cuyahoga Valley.

North America — New Jersey, Texas, and Alberta

The US Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) is the organization behind severalsuccessful examples of industrial symbiosis in North America. The US BCSD uses the term “by-product synergy” to describe the process of matching under-valued waste (or by-product)streams with potential users and creating new revenue or savings for the organizations involved.

In particular cases, the US BCSD has sought the support of the US EPA and examined ways tochange regulations that block companies from developing environmentally beneficial symbioticactivities. In New Jersey for example, the EPA and state regulators are working as part of asynergy review team and documenting solid waste, energy and air emission implicationsassociated with industrial reuse of by-products.

The following is a brief overview of several projects led by the US BCSD. For further informationand case studies refer to their website.

1. New Jersey

Begun in February 2002, the New Jersey project involves 15 facilities owned by such companiesas Dow Chemical, Mannington Mills, Public Service Enterprise Group, Burlington CountyRecovery Complex, NJ American Water and OTC-Burlington County. Also, the EPA is using theNew Jersey project as a pilot to understand and measure benefits from the BPS process, and arefunding a non-governmental organization, the Center for Clean Air Policy, to carry out theresearch.

The facilities have explored more than 50 possible synergies, and approximately 12 are beingpursued by participating companies. For example, Dow Chemical is exploring the use of ‘whitewater’ a wastewater stream that is a by-product from the production of latex for paints. Whitewater is generally transported to a treatment plant, but alternative uses such as a dust control inroad construction and agricultural operations are being considered.

Also, Dow currently uses waste cuttings generated in the production of rigid polyurethane foamboards, for use as a building insulation. Approximately 5% of the foam board is lost when cutdown to size. The foam scraps can be shredded and added to potting soil to increase aeration

2. Texas In the early 1990s, management of Chaparral Steel investigated synergies between the steelcompany and the operations of its parent company Texas Industries, a manufacturer of PortlandCement. The most successful synergy discovered was the use of steel slag as a raw material forcement. The steel slag contained calcined lime formed by the high temperatures of thesteelmaking process and also a primary resource for Portland cement. By using the steel slaginstead of purchased lime, which would be heated to calcinations, Texas Industries reduced theenergy requirements and related emissions (CO2, NOx, SO2) from the cement making process.Profits for both companies increased and the technology, CemStar, has been patented.

Page 96: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A6

3. Alberta The project was initiated in February 1999. It involved 16 corporate and research participantsincluding Petro-Canada, Shell Canada, Air Liquide, Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association,Alberta Science and Research Authority and Wascana Energy Inc. The focus of the project was toensure that the natural resource-based economy remained competitive and productive.

Initial synergistic opportunities arose between the Weyerhaeuser Kraft Mill and a Huskyrefinery. It was found that spent caustic (NaOH with contaminants) from the refinery couldpotentially be used in the Kraft process. The idea was tested and implemented in 2000. Instead oftransporting spent caustic to injection sites, the material was sent directly to the Mill plant withan estimated saving of $300,000 per year for the two companies.

A total of 25 possible opportunities were selected by the participants and pursued under fivemain classifications: energy, inorganics, sulphur and high-sulphur coke, industrial gases and eco-industrial parks. A full analysis of this project is available from the engineering consultantsinvolved in the project at www.hatch.ca

Denmark — Kalundborg

Kalundborg is an industrial zone on the coast of Denmark that is perhaps the most celebratedand studied example of industrial symbiosis. It evolved over the course of decades through aseries of partnerships between various companies. In almost every case, the companies sought toreduce their costs and make money by finding uses for their “waste” products.

The Kalundborg industrial ecosystem in Denmark comprises six core partners:! Asnæs Power Station is Denmark's largest power station (coal-fired, 1,500 megawatts

capacity)! Statoil Refinery is Denmark's largest refinery with a capacity of 3.2 million tons per year

(recently increasing to 4.8 million tons per year)! Gyproc is a plasterboard factory making 14 million square meters of gypsum wallboard

annually! Novo Nordisk is an international biotechnological company with annual sales over

CA$2.6 Billion. The plant produces industrial enzymes and pharmaceuticals (including40% of the world's supply of insulin)

! The City of Kalundborg supplies district heating to 20,000 residents, as well as water tohomes and industries

! A/S Bioteknisk Jordrens specializes in soil remediation. Sewage sludge provides thenutritional matter for this process, which cleans roughly 500,000 tons of soil annually.

How Did It Start?

Kalundborg’s industrial symbiosis did not the result from a plan by some farsighted leader.Rather, it was the result of several distinct bilateral deals between companies seeking to reducewaste-treatment and disposal costs, and to gain access to cheaper materials and energy, whilegenerating income from production residues. Each relationship resulted from a normal two-partynegotiation. Ideas sometimes took years to become formal arrangements1.

Several relationships began the series of connections:1. In 1961, in order to conserve groundwater supply, a project was initiated to use

surface water from Lake Tissø for a new oil refinery. The city of Kalundborg took theresponsibility for building the pipeline while the refinery financed it.

2. In 1972, Gyproc located its facility to Kalundborg to take advantage of low-cost fuel-gas available from Statoil. Previously, the Statoil refinery had been flaring its excessgas.

1 http://www.rps.psu.edu/0205/economics.html

Page 97: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A7

3. In 1981, the municipality of Kalundborg eliminated the use of 3500 oil-firedresidential furnaces by distributing heat from the power plant through a network ofunderground pipes. Homeowners pay for the piping, and receive cheap, reliableheat in return.

Kalundborg Chronology :2

1959 Asnæs Power Station commissioned 1961 Statoil Refinery commissioned; water piped from Tissø Lake 1972 Gyproc A/S established; excess gas is piped from Statoil Refinery 1973 Asnæs Power Station draws water from Tissø Lake through a pipeline after

expansion 1976 Novo Nordisk starts delivery of sludge by trucks to farmers for fertilizer1979 Asnæs Power Station starts to supply fly ash to cement producers,

including Aalborg Portland 1981 Asnæs Power Station produces heating for the municipality of Kalundborg 1982 Asnæs delivers process steam to Statoil and Novo Nordisk 1990 After installing a desulphurization plant, Statoil Refinery starts delivery of

a hot liquid sulfur byproduct to Kemira (a sulphuric acid producer inJutland)

1991 Statoil delivers treated waste water to Asnæs power plant to meet variouswater consumption needs

1992 Following desulphurization, Statoil’s surplus refinery gas becomes cleanenough for Asnæs Power Station, replacing some of the station’s coal use.

1993 Asnæs sells the byproduct calcium sulfate (gypsum) from itsdesulphurization process to Gyproc

1995 Asnæs constructs a re-use basin to capture water flows for internal use andto reduce dependency on Lake Tissø

1997 Asnæs switches half its capacity from coal to orimulsion; begins to send outfly ash from vanadium/nickel recovery

1999 A/S Bioteknisk Jordrens uses sewage sludge from the municipality ofKalundborg as a bioremediation nutrient for contaminated soil

Other waste exchanges that emerged during this period:! Asnaes Power Station now draws some of its cooling water from the fjords, lessening

dependence on Tissø Lake. The hot salt-water byproduct is used by a local fish farm.! The fish farm’s water treatment plant produces sludge, which is used as an agricultural

fertilizer for farmers.! Surplus yeast from insulin production at Novo Nordisk goes to farmers as pig food.

Some Economic and Environmental Outcomes:

Net annual savings are estimated to be between $12 million and $15 million. Financial gain isestimated at $16.8 million per year, on an overall investment of $84.1 million3.

Annual savings through interchanges at Kalundborg 4:Water savings

o Statoil: 1.2 million cubic meterso Asnæs: total consumption reduction 60%

2 ‘Industrial Symbiosis: The Legacy of Kalundborg’ John Ehrenfield, Marion Chertow in R. Ayresand L Ayres Handbook of Industrial Ecology Edward Elgar Publishing 2002Industrial Ecosystems: Developing Sustainable Industrial StructuresBy Nicholas Gertler http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/business/ng_chp2.shtml 3 http://www.statoil.com 4 ‘Industrial Symbiosis: The Legacy of Kalundborg’ John Ehrenfield, Marion Chertow in R. Ayresand L Ayres Handbook of Industrial Ecology Edward Elgar Publishing 2002

Page 98: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A8

Fuel savingso Asnæs: 30,000 tons of fossil fuel saved by using Statoil fuel gaso Community heating via steam from Asnæs

Input chemicals/productso Fertilizer equivalent to Novo Nordisk sludge (about 1300 tons nitrogen and 550

tons phosphorous)o 97,000 cubic meters of solid biomass (NovoGro 30)o 280,000 cubic meters of liquid biomass (NovoGro)o Commercial fertilizers of 20,000 hectares of farmland using Statoil sulfuro 170,000 tons of gypsumo Recovered vanadium and nickel

Wastes turned into usable goods through interchangeso 50,000 – 70,000 tons fly ash from Asnæso Scrubber sludge from Asnæso 2800 tons sulfur as hydrogen sulfide in flue gas from Statoil (air)o water treatment sludge from Novo Nordisk (landfill or sea)o 380 tons of sulfur dioxide avoided by replacing coal and oil (air)

What Were the Incentives? 5

Financial: Initial links between the companies tended to involve the sale of waste productswithout any significant pretreatment. This pattern includes the initial sale of Statoil’s fluegas, Asnæs’ sale of fly ash, clinker, waste heat and process steam, as well as the use ofcooling water to heat fish farm ponds. These arrangements were based on a re-routing ofwhat used to be waste, without the need to alter the byproduct to any significant extent.

Regulatory: Links over the last seven years or so have tended to be dependent upon theapplication of pollution control technologies. These links, which comprise just over half ofthe symbiotic arrangements, do not simply move regular process byproducts around, butalter the processes and disposal practices to make them more environmentally benign. Forexample, scrubbing for SO2 by the power plant and desulphurization at the refineryconditioned the waste stream to turn what used to be pollution into fuel gas, sulfur, andgypsum.

Community General water scarcity, plus community and regulatory pressure to eliminatethermal pollution of the fjord, was a major impetus for the power station’s use of the oilrefinery’s cooling water. Changes in regulations regarding water pollution rendered thetreatment and distribution of Novo Nordisk’s sludge the least-cost disposal alternative.Pressure to alleviate water pollution compelled the refinery to invest in a wastewatertreatment facility, which now cleans the water clean enough to be re-used by the powerplant.

Whose Idea Was It?

Valdemar Christensen, a product manager at the Asnæs Power Station, coined the term"industrial symbiosis" and emerged as an architect of its evolution in Kalundborg. Severalcharacteristics of this phenomenon have emerged:

� Companies did not act on their own regarding opportunities outside their core business.� They tended to act irrespective of environmental benefit or government intervention.� Though each company considers the others when making decisions, each evaluates its

own agreements independently.� There is no Kalundborg-wide assessment of performance because participating

companies believe that this would be a complex and unrewarding standard6.

5Industrial Ecosystems: Developing Sustainable Industrial StructuresBy Nicholas Gertler http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/business/ng_chp2.shtml 6 Industrial Ecosystems: Developing Sustainable Industrial StructuresBy Nicholas Gertler http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/business/ng_chp2.shtml

Page 99: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A9

Information Exchange:

An important aspect of Kalundborg is that industrial engineers and managers live together in asmall community and interact regularly. The resulting exchange of technical information thatoccurred naturally may not occur in a large city without purposeful intervention by some third-party convener.

Basic requirements for a symbiotic relationship:

! Participants must complement each other but be different! They must produce large and continuous flows of waste/by-products! Projects must be commercially viable! Participants must be geographically close! The mental distance between them must also be small

Barriers and Opposition:

According to Christensen, no one opposed linkage decisions because they earned money andthus were like any other business decision. Each company has its own economic interest in mind:negotiations are reportedly intense and just like those for any other business deals.

However, some Kalundborg locals initially opposed the city’s requirement that all residentsreplace their individual oil furnaces with piping necessary for district heating, which uses hotwater from the power plant’s excess heat. But they have since acquiesced7.

Managing the risks of interdependency 8

Several factors could make the types of waste exchange described above risky for the companiesinvolved, in particular, the potential for:

� Supply disruptions;� Limits on one participant’s scale of operation as a result of symbiotic contracts; and� Changes in the profitability of the symbiotic relationships.?

Regarding each of these factors:

Disruptions: The system has proven fairly robust. Examples include:! Gyproc receives gas from Statoil. The gas is so light that it cannot be easily liquefied.

Therefore, Gyproc uses it as a continuous flow from the refinery. To cope with anydisruptions in the flow of gas from the refinery, Gyproc has a large butane tank thatserves as backup. Also, Statoil informs Gyproc of any pending reductions or cessations ingas flows.

! Gyproc gets its gypsum (its main raw material) from the scrubbers of Asnæs and anotherpower plant. This material is easily stockpiled. Furthermore, Gyproc buys mined gypsumbecause it uses a mixture of the two. Asnæs supplies could easily be replaced by virginmaterial or material from another power plant.

! Novo Nordisk relies on Asnæs for all its steam needs. If Asnæs decided to buy electricityfrom hydro power plants, it would still have to run some boilers to meet its contractualsteam supply obligations to Novo Nordisk. The price of steam to Novo and Statoilincludes a premium as insurance against this possibility.

Scale: Within a reasonable range of variation, symbiotic relationships have not limited theparticipant’s ability to alter the scale of their operations. For example:

! Statoil is expanding its capacity and will produce more gas and use more cooling waterand process water. The excess gas is expected to be burned by Asnæs in place of coal.

7 Industrial Ecosystems: Developing Sustainable Industrial StructuresBy Nicholas Gertler http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/business/ng_chp2.shtml 8 Industrial Ecosystems: Developing Sustainable Industrial StructuresBy Nicholas Gertler http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/business/ng_chp2.shtml

Page 100: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A10

! Novo Nordisk must be able to dispose of its sludge by applying it on farmland. It has builta 70 km pipeline network (with plans to expand) and also uses a large number of tankertrucks. Expansion of production could be limited by an inability to dispose of all thesludge, but such an eventually seems unlikely.

Economic viability: The market price of alternative and virgin material is consistently higherthan the cost of symbiotic arrangements. Each link has either makes economic use of abyproduct or represents a low cost mechanism for compliance with environmentalregulations. For example, the elaborate infrastructure that Novo Nordisk built to convert itsby-products to fertilizer and distribute to local farmers was the least-cost way to complywith regulations.

What Role Did Government Play?

Though the local council encouraged the symbiosis, all the arrangements have been established atthe initiative of the companies themselves and on the basis of commercial assessments9. Thatsaid, regulation inspired linkages and compelled the use of pollution-control technologies thatmade some of the linkages possible. According to Valdemar Christensen, economics alonegenerates a certain amount of symbiosis, at least the low-hanging fruit, but some symbioticarrangements require the impetus of government action, for example, pollution-controls andprice adjustments.

For example, Danish power plants were recently required to decrease aggregate SO2 emissions.Decisions regarding how to distribute the emission reductions was left to the industry. Though,not all power plants built scrubbers, Asnæs did because it could sell the scrubber by-product toGyproc.

In addition, the flexibility of the Danish regulatory framework made possible arrangements thatmight have been prohibited in North America. For example, the flue gas that Statoil pipes toGyproc and the liquid sulfur that Statoil sells to Kemira probably would not have been approvedin North America because both substances would be classified as "hazardous waste."Furthermore, the new resources created from these by-products would also have been treated ashazardous under the United States’ "mixture and derive from" rule, which classifies as "waste"new products that incorporate industrial waste10.

The Asnaes Power Station is the hub of the network of materials and energy by-product exchanges atKalundborg. The Statoil refinery is to the North, beyond the stacks. Novo Nordisk and Gyproc plants areabout a kilometer to the South.

(diagram on next page)

9 http://www.statoil.com 10 http://www.iedm.org/library/art148_en.html

Page 101: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A11

Diagram: Industrial symbiosis at Kalundborg, Denmark 11

11 ‘Industrial Symbiosis: The Legacy of Kalundborg’ John Ehrenfield, Marion Chertow in R. Ayresand L Ayres Handbook of Industrial Ecology Edward Elgar Publishing 2002

Page 102: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A12

Appendix 4:Whole-System Inventory of Cuyahoga IndustriesA Beginning

The table below is the start of a detailed inventory of potential industrial symbiosis in theCuyahoga Valley or in a newly established Cuyahoga Regenerative Development Zone. Theinventory would point to rewarding symbiotic arrangements. It would identify:

1. Waste and by-products of certain businesses that could be used as inputs to others, and2. Opportunities for utility and resource collaboration among similar operations.

The table illustrates the concept only; it does not represent all the transactions occurring at theorganizations displayed, nor does it include all possible organizations. However, it does includea few operations and types of industries that do not now exist, but which might be attracted to aninnovative Cuyahoga Regenerative Development Zone.

Industry Inputs Process Outputs NotesZaclon(ChemicalManufacturing)

Secondary zinc,natural gas forboilers

Produces zincchloride,galvanizing fluxes,ammoniumchloride, sodiumbisulfate, andpotassium silicates

Mud from process20% solids, iron,zinc, potassiumsilicate, heavymetals, lead,cadmium

35-50 trucks peryear

Air Products Dry air (78%nitrogen, 21%oxygen, 1% argon,natural gas,electricity

Compression,distillation andcooling - Airseparation whichwill yield excessheat

Hydrogen, Argon,nitrogen, Oxygen

The cost of poweris a significantexpense

Aggregate Drilling andextractionequipment, trucktransportation

Mining, extractionand processing ofmaterials

Ground materials –grinding could alsobe used forceramics?

ISG Limestone, coke,iron ore, oxygen,water

Continuous caststeel, secondaryprocessing, treatand recycle waterduring steelproduction

Slag, waste heat,steam, carbonmonoxide, EAFdust

EAF dust containsrecoverable zincoxide. There is anon-site landfill –primarily disposalof iron oxide,waste watertreatment sludgeand filter medium– may be capped 3-4 years

Fuel CellManufacturing

Biomass, naturalgas,Specialty ceramicmaterials (whichrequire heat)

NETL and theStrategic Center forNatural Gasthrough the Deptof Energy’s Officeof Fossil Energyhas supporteddevelopment ofsolid oxide fuelcells for large-scalestationary powerapplications.

Recovery andEnvironmentalServices (e.g.,GEM)

Industrial wastewater and otherindustrial wastematerials

Process waste toseparatehydrocarbons andrecover valuablematerials

Mid-rangerecovered fuel(boiler and furnaceapplications)

Remediation,emergencyresponse,hazardous materialhandling

Page 103: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A13

Industry Inputs Process Outputs NotesSecondary SteelProcessing(galvanizing,pickling)

Steel, heat, variouschemical treats

Waste acid, wastezinc

Cement Steel slag Carbon dioxide,waste heat

Asphalt Aggregate,emulsions, heat

Gasification Electricity,industrial andmunicipal waste

Energy May avoid theneed for industrialland-filling

Bio-remediationIndustry

Contaminated soils Clean Soils, cleanbrownfields,revitalizedvegetation

Possible matcheswith compost, foodwaste, mushroomindustries.

Living WaterMachines

Municipal andindustrial wastewater

Use of staged tankswith variousbiologicaltreatments to treatwastewater.

Clean water,greening thelandscape

May replace needfor waste watertreatmentdepending onvolume of watertreated. Tankproduction existsin Cleveland

Aquafarming Clean water, fish,fish food, heat,electricity, oxygen

Use of indoortanks andcontrolledconditions to farmraise fish

Mature fish, fishwaste, wastewater, 75degreeCo2 rich air

Maingate hasrelationships withsources of inputsand outputs.H20hio may beinterested

Page 104: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A14

Appendix 5:Green Building Resources Cleveland Green Building Coalition3500 Lorain Avenue, Suite 200Cleveland, Ohio 44113(216) 961-8850

EcoCity Cleveland3500 Lorain Avenue, Suite 301,Cleveland OH 44113(216) 961-5020www.ecocitycleveland.org (see Citizen’s Bioregional Plan for NE Ohio.” 2000)

Community Viz. A tool designed for planning consultants and municipal planners to simulatedevelopment decisions, create the predicted long-term effects of each, and take a virtual walkthrough of the resulting development. The software’s outputs include solutions for: land use andzoning, parks and recreation management, neighborhood planning, redevelopment strategies,wildfire risk assessment, forest management plans, habitat fragmentation evaluation, landevaluation and suitability analysis, and environmental visioning. (303) 442-8800 [email protected]

Environmental Building News. This monthly newsletter is full of clear, concise information onenvironmental design and construction. Also available Product Catalog: Green Building resource,and searchable CD-ROM of past issues. Environmental Building News, 28 Birge Street,Brattleboro, VT 05301, (802) 257-7300; www.buildinggreen.com

Green Building Advisor CD-ROM. BuildingGreen, Inc. An interactive CD-ROM for Windowsand the Macintosh featuring specific design strategies that can improve the environmentalperformance, cost-effectiveness, and healthiness of a building and its site, from pre-designthrough to occupancy. This tool draws from a database of over 700 green building checklists.Each strategy links to a detailed explanation, in-depth case studies and sources of furtherinformation. Updated in 2001. (800) 861-0954, www.BuildingGreen.com

Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate. Rocky Mountain Institute: AlexWilson, Jenifer L. Seal (Uncapher,) Lisa McManigal, L. Hunter Lovins, Maureen Cureton, WilliamD. Browning. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1998. If you’re a developer, architect,planner, contractor, lender, or city official, this book speaks your language. Every stage of thedevelopment process is examined in detail: market research, site planning, design, approvals,financing, construction, marketing, and occupancy. Also included are lists of project vitalstatistics and contacts, books and other information sources, and development strategies. GreenDevelopment is based on 80 case studies drawn from Rocky Mountain Institute’s extensiveworldwide research and consulting work. From these real-world experiences, it distills provenprocedures, potential pitfalls, and practical lessons that will help shorten the learning curve onthe path to environmentally sound, community-supportive, and financially rewarding real estatedevelopment. www.rmi.org

Green Developments 2.0 CD-ROM. RMI 2002. Version 2.0, a companion to the GreenDevelopment book, features expanded information on each project as well as a larger screendisplay, added images, updated resources, and weblinks. The CD-ROM serves as an excellentresource to a wide variety of design professionals (including architects, engineers, and designers),community leaders, and real-estate financiers. This new version contains more than 200 casestudies of green buildings and projects from around the world. The resource describes an excitingfield of creating fundamentally better buildings and communities- more comfortable, moreefficient, more appealing, and ultimately more profitable. Green Developments 2.0 wasdeveloped in cooperation with and funded by the United States Department of Energy and theKettering Family Foundation. Additional funding was provided by the United StatesEnvironmental Protection Agency. Produced for Rocky Mountain Institute by SunnywoodDesigns. www.rmi.org

Page 105: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A15

Ecological Architecture: Bioclimatic Trends and Landscape Architecture in the Year 2001. King,Julie ed. New York, NY: Loft Publications, 2001. This book describes recent projects from aroundthe globe that have effectively incorporated energy-saving devices and ecological principles intobuilding design. Great photography that captures the essence of daylighting.

LEED Green Building Rating System. Washington, DC: US Green Building Council. Extensivebackground information and guidance for meeting the requirements of the USGBS’s ratingsystem for commercial buildings. Lists the intent, requirements, submittals, andtechnologies/strategies for each credit, and also includes the LEED checklist. www.usgbc.org .

Page 106: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A16

Appendix 6:WaterThis appendix enumerates the benefits of daylighting streams, discusses how conventionalthinking about storm water is changing, describes the challenges of urban runoff, and includesbackground information on “total maximum daily load.”

Benefits of Daylighting

There are several, often interrelated reasons to return a buried stream to natural conditions.Daylighting and open waterrcourses:

� Revitalize surrounding neighborhoods by providing new amenities. Stream investments helpmotivate investments in nearby properties and businesses. Commercial businessesexperience increases in walk-in customers who come to enjoy a stream and stay to buysomething;

� Increase property values, for example the Strawberry Creek project in Berkeley, Californiaand Arcadia Creek in Kalamazoo, Michigan;

� Create jobs and job-training opportunities in the planning, building and maintaining ofdaylighting projects;

� Improve water quality by exposing the water flow to sunlight, air, and soil, which allowsgrowth of aquatic and riparian vegetation that takes up organic and inorganic pollutants;

� Improve hydraulic capacity: Open waterways can be designed to slow and infiltrate runoff,preventing downstream flooding and erosion. Designed differently, they can speed thepassage of runoff more effectively than culverts, which often clog and choke flows,flooding upstream areas;

� Save money by avoiding the incremental cost that culverts impose on centralized stormwater collection and treatment systems;

� Are easier to monitor for damage than are buried culverts;� Create natural habitat and wildlife corridors: For example, projects in the state of Washington

included restoration of salmon passage and habitat as primary objectives;� Are educational, bringing aquatic and stream-bank ecosystems closer to students, and

adults;� Create recreational and leisure opportunities, which may range from a challenging new water

hazard on a private golf course to places for kids to splash. The aesthetic and amenityvalue of water is quite high. At a regional level, restored creeks can define a network ofurban greenways and paths. At the local level, a creek can be a valuable attraction, even afocal point, in a public park. People familiar with the Strawberry Creek project inBerkeley, California note that its local impact is out of proportion to its small size—theopportunity to hear the soothing sound of running water is a huge draw for people inurban environs; and

� Reconnect people to nature: Surveys show that residents support creek restoration because,for example they regard fish habitat and teaching their kids about natural history asimportant. Many regard “Setting right something we messed up” as important.

Source: Adapted from Richard Pinkham, 2001, Rocky Mountain Institute www.rmi.org

Page 107: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A17

Understanding Storm Water as an AssetThis table compares old and new ideas about storm water runoff.

The Old Paradigm The Emerging Paradigm

Storm water is a nuisance. Convey Stormwater away from urban areas as rapidlyas possible.

Storm water is a resource. Harvest stormwater as a water supply, and infiltrate orretain it to support urban aquifers,watercourses, and vegetation.

Build to demand. It is necessary to buildmore capacity as demand increases.

Manage demand. Demand managementopportunities are real and increasing. Takeadvantage of all cost-effective optionsbefore increasing infrastructure capacity.

Demand is a matter of quantity. The amountof water required or produced by waterend-users is the only end-use parameterrelevant to infrastructure choices. Treat allsupply-side water to potable standards,and collect all wastewater for treatment inone system.

Demand is multi-faceted. Infrastructurechoices should match the varyingcharacteristics of water required orproduced by different end-users: quantity,quality (biological, chemical, physical),level of reliability, etc.

One use (throughput). Water follows a one-way path from supply, to a single use, totreatment and disposal to theenvironment.

Reuse and reclamation. Water can be usedmultiple times, by cascading it from higherto lower-quality needs (e.g. usinghousehold gray water for irrigation), andby reclamation treatment for return to thesupply side of the infrastructure.

Gray infrastructure. The only things wecall infrastructure are made of concrete,metal and plastic.

Green infrastructure. Besides pipes andtreatment plants, infrastructure includesthe natural capacities of soil and vegetationto absorb and treat water.

Bigger/centralized is better. Larger systems,especially treatment plants, attaineconomies of scale.

Small/decentralized is possible, often desirable.Small scale systems are effective and canbe economic, especially whendiseconomies of scale in conventionaldistribution/collection networks areconsidered.

Limit complexity: employ standard solutions.A small number of technologies, well-know by urban water professionals,defines the range of responsibleinfrastructure choices.

Allow diverse solutions. A multiplicity ofsituation-tuned solutions is required inincreasingly complex and resource-limitedurban environments, and enabled by newmanagement technologies and strategies.

Integration by accident. Water supply,storm water, and wastewater systemsmay be managed by the same agency as amatter of local historic happenstance.Physically, however, the systems shouldbe separated.

Physical and institutional integration bydesign. Important linkages can and shouldbe made between physical infrastructuresfor water supply, storm water, andwastewater management. Realizing thebenefits of integration requires highlycoordinated management.

Collaboration = public relations. Approachother agencies and the public whenapproval of pre-chosen solutions isrequired.

Collaboration = engagement. Enlist otheragencies and the public in the search foreffective, multi-benefit solutions.

Human waste is a nuisance. To be disposedof after the minimum required treatmentto reduce its harmful properties.

Human waste is a resource. It should becaptured and processed effectively, andput to use nourishing land and crops.

Source: Richard Pinkham, 2001. Rocky Mountain Institute, www.rmi.org

Page 108: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A18

Urban Runoff Challenges

(Source: 2000 California Urban Runoff Management Survey):

Urban runoff has become a significant water pollution problem. According to the USEPA:Runoff from urban areas is the leading source of water quality impairments to surveyedestuaries and the third largest source of water quality impairments to surveyed lakes. Inaddition, population and development trends indicate that by 2010 more than half ofthese rapidly growing urban areas will continue to degrade coastal waters.

To understand urban runoff it is necessary to know the difference between point source and non-point source pollution.

Point-source pollution has an identifiable location and can usually be measured. It is thedischarge of pollutants, associated with industries or municipalities, to water bodies at such apoint as a storm pipe or storm channel. An example is effluent discharge from a wastewatertreatment facility. Regulatory agencies from all levels of the government have made strides inmanaging point-source pollution through regulatory programs such as the National PollutionDischarge Elimination System, which establishes discharge limits, which result in a notice ofviolation when exceeded.

Non-point source pollution refers to pollution that occurs over a wide area and is usuallyassociated with land-use activities. No exact location or producer can be pinpointed as the origin.Thus regulation of non-point source pollution is a challenge.

Urban runoff is a non-point source of pollution that is the “result of water from rainfall,snowmelt and other water use activities such as car washing, irrigation and street cleaning thatbecomes contaminated as it travels along the land surface and makes its way to a water body.Regardless of the [ultimate] point of entry ‘into the receiving water body, urban runoff hasdiffuse origins and, therefore, is difficult to manage and control.” (EPA, 1993). Urban runoff iscategorized as either wet-weather flow or dry-weather flow.

Page 109: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Appendix Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: A Model of Regeneration A19

Total Maximum Daily Load Report

TMDL reports identify and evaluate water quality problems in impaired water bodies andpropose solutions to bring those waters into attainment. The goal of a TMDL process is fullattainment of the Water Quality Standards.

The Lower Cuyahoga River TMDL report was approved by U.S. EPA on September 26, 2003under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. (Ohio EPA, Lower Cuyahoga River Total MaximumDaily Load Report, http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/tmdl/LowerCuyahogaFinalTMDL.html

The Lower Cuyahoga River TMDL report notes that the Clean Water Act and USEPA regulationsrequire that Total Maximum Daily Loads be developed for all waters on the section 303(d) lists. ATMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive andstill meet water quality standards. The process of formulating TMDLs for specific pollutants is amethod by which impaired water-body segments are identified and restoration solutions aredeveloped. The goal of Ohio’s TMDL process is full attainment of biological and chemical WaterQuality Standards (WQS) and, subsequently, removal of water bodies from the 303(d) list. TheOhio EPA believes that developing TMDLs on a watershed basis (as opposed to solely focusingon impaired segments within a watershed) is an effective way to achieve this goal.

Lower Cuyahoga River Total Maximum Daily LoadBasin: Lower Cuyahoga River in the Lake Erie BasinStudy Area: Lower 50 miles of Cuyahoga River and its tributaries.Goal: Attainment of the appropriate Aquatic Life UseMajor Causes: Organic enrichment, toxicity, low dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and flowalterationMajor Sources: Municipal discharges, combined sewer overflows, urban runoff, andindustrial discharges.Measure: Total nitrogen, phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, bacteria, biological and habitatindicesRestoration Options: Long term control plans for combined sewer overflows, urbanrunoff controls, habitat protection and restoration, septic system improvements, pointsource controls, and public education

Page 110: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative - United Diversitylibrary.uniteddiversity.coop/.../Cuyahoga_Valley_Initiative-A_Model...entrepreneurial nonprofit organization ... Cuyahoga Valley Initiative

Cuyahoga Valley Initiative mission

To provide the tools necessary for the community to revitalize the Valley

and make it once again an economic force, environmental treasure,

and unifying element for the region.