The U.S. Green Building Council of West Michigan, the City of Grand Rapids, and the Urban Core Collective partner in the Grand Rapids Building Policies and Programs for Equitable, Healthy & Zero Carbon Buildings (E.H.Zero).
The origins of e.h.zero
The Zero Cities Project, established in 2017, revealed how carbon emissions are distributed across the Grand Rapids built environment, how disproportionately our Grand Rapids Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities are impacted, and what policy and program options are available to equitably decarbonize our buildings. The E.H.Zero Project takes the information, relationships, and resources developed during the Zero Cities Project and transform them into equity focused policies that are co-created by the community and presented to the City Commission for approval.
Key Objectives of E.H.Zero
Objective 1:
Conduct community-wide engagement for commercial building and single-family residential decarbonization, focusing on BIPOC engagement and empowerment.
- Outcome 1: Educate and engage at least 750 residents (500 of which will be BIPOC) and 500 commercial building stakeholders.
- Outcome 2: Organize events to educate on how commercial decarbonization affects all commercial building owners and residents.
- Outcome 3: Share best practices and lessons learned with other cities to replicate success and equitable outcomes.
Objective 2:
Create a policy package and implementation plan for building decarbonization that centers and leads with equity and is informed by technical analysis and community engagement.
- Outcome 1: Complete a building carbon emissions inventory and a city-wide climate vulnerability assessment to inform policy creation.
- Outcome 2: Establish a set of equitable building decarbonization policies through authentic community engagement.
- Outcome 3: Create and present a package of equitable building decarbonization policies for City Commission approval.
Objective 3:
Promote accessible, healthy and affordable housing for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.
- Outcome 1: Identify a community housing partner.
- Outcome 2: Create and implement a process to consolidate and educate on available housing resources (finance, energy, carbon, health, safety) for residents to retrofit their existing housing and pursue opportunities to engage with other partners working to produce neighborhood equity through slowing gentrification and promoting BIPOC wealth generation.
- Outcome 3: Complete a top to bottom and full wrap around residential pilot for five diverse residential spaces and measure the outcomes generated (health, finance, energy, carbon) from this investment.
Budget and Funding Sources
The total budget for the E.H.Zero project is $1,324,250. So far, we have secured:
- $600,000 from the Wege Foundation,
- $150,000 from the Kresge Foundation,
- $46,428 from the Summit Foundation, and
- $148,000 of in-kind support from our partners and additional partners at RMI and the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
The funds we have secured so far will allow our project to begin work, while we continue to fundraise for the remaining $379,822 needed to complete our budget.
Ways to Get Involved
- Sign up for E.H.Zero updates HERE.
- For questions, email EHZero@grcity.us
- For commercial building stakeholders:
E.H.Zero is brought to you in partnership by:
