Multnomah County’s commitment to sustainability includes minimizing the environmental impact of County operations. This September staff from the Office of Sustainability and Department of County Assets briefed Multnomah County Commissioners on findings from the 2023 Resource Conservation Report.
The report includes four key performance measures, including greenhouse gas emissions (scope I & II), energy use, water use, and waste.
Thanks to an enterprise-wide commitment to sustainability, Multnomah County staff have tracked resource use across these four areas since 2007. The data collected allows staff to oversee utility costs and usage, and ensure that buildings are safe, welcoming, and operating efficiently. At the same time, staff review the data to continuously seek out opportunities to decrease the County’s environmental footprint and reduce costs.
“We try to walk our talk by constantly looking for opportunities across the enterprise to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and reduce the cost of county operations,” said Multnomah County Sustainability Director John Wasiutynski. “This report helps to keep us accountable to the goals the Board of County Commissioners have set and ensures a process of continuous improvement.”
Greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from the organization in FY23 were 67 percent below the 2007 baseline year. It is important to note that the information in the report is not a community-wide calculation, and is solely of Multnomah County’s internal operational emissions such as operating buildings, and fleet vehicles. Temperature extremes, driven by the climate crisis, mean that the County has to use more energy heating and cooling our buildings, which led to a slight increase in emissions year over year.
Buildings and Electricity
Electricity from the grid is becoming cleaner over time. Still, Multnomah County seeks opportunities to reduce its environmental impact. The primary strategies that have helped the reduction of electricity use in recent years include:
- Solar generation on County facilities, wherever feasible, including the Library Operations Center, the County’s first net-zero building.
- Participating in PGE’s Green Future Impact. This program allows the County to purchase electricity from a new solar facility called Pachwáywit Fields, located on ceded lands of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs in Gilliam County. And,
- Renewable energy credits (RECs).
As the County’s portfolio of buildings and their uses change over time, a consistent way to measure performance is Energy Use Intensity (EUI). EUI measures energy use per square foot and helps the County track energy efficiency throughout its buildings. The EUI dropped during the pandemic. Thanks to investments in energy efficiency, even as operations returned to more normal levels, the EUI has remained steady.
Water
The County’s water use saw its lowest point in FY21. Fewer people were using County-owned buildings during the pandemic resulting in lower water use. This was after several years of declining water use that resulted from investments in water efficiency investments at Inverness Jail. FY21 saw a 45% reduction in total use from baseline. Almost $1 million in avoided water utility costs resulted from that year alone.
Water use went up in FY22 and FY23. Water demand increased as the number of people in buildings increased, and the County added new shelter sites to its portfolio. Extreme heat also plays a role in water use because some buildings use cooling towers that rely on water for reducing indoor temperature.
Waste
The amount of waste generated and discarded continues to be a major challenge. Pounds of garbage, recycling, and compost are all trending up, and a smaller percentage of the total amount is being diverted from the landfill. Renewed outreach and engagement is needed to improve in this area.
As Multnomah County continues to invest in programs and services that build climate resilience and support climate justice, the organization continues to strive to uphold its strong commitment to its own resource conservation.
Watch Multnomah County staff present the 2023 Resource Conservation Report to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners in September 2024.
