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Climate Smart Communities Certification Report

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bronze Certified

This is the Climate Smart Communities Certification Report of Madison County. Madison County is a bronze certified Climate Smart Community.

Madison County was certified on September 19, 2022 with 123 points earned from 18 completed actions. Listed below is information regarding Madison County’s Climate Smart Communities efforts and materials associated with its certified actions.

The certification for Madison County will expire on September 30, 2027.

Contact Information

The designated Climate Smart Communities contact for Madison County is:

Name:Sarah Krisch
Title/Position:Planner / Madison County Planning Department
Address:PO Box 606
Wampsville, NY 13163

Actions Implemented

Each approved action and supporting documentation for which Madison County was approved for in 2022 appears below. Note: Standards for the actions below may have changed and the documentation listed may no longer satisfy requirements for that action.

  • 1. Build a climate-smart community.

    1.1 Pass a Resolution Adopting the CSC Pledge

    4 Points

    Program Summary:

    PE1 Action: CSC Task Force

    20 Points
    Bronze Mandatory Silver Mandatory

    Program Summary: On March 8th, 2022, Madison County passed a resolution creating a Climate Smart Communities Task Force for the County and appointing Senior Planner Stefan Lutter as CSC Coordinator.

    PE1 Action: CSC Coordinator

    8 Points
    Bronze Mandatory Silver Mandatory

    Program Summary: On March 8th, 2022, Madison County passed a resolution creating a CSC Task Force and Appointing Senior Planner Stefan Lutter as CSC Coordinator.

    PE1 Action: National/Regional Climate Program

    3 Points

    Program Summary: The supporting documentation shows that Madison County is participating in the NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities (CEC) program. Attached is an image showing the County's CEC activity as per NYSERDA's CEC map located at https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Clean-Energy-Communities/Tracking-Progress/CEC-Map. The County is designated as a Clean Energy Community through participation and completion of actions in the CEC program. The County is continuing to pursue CEC actions at this time, including Clean Fleets- Charging Stations and Clean Fleets- Light/Medium Duty EVs, by currently carrying out our grant project awarded through the CEC program round 1 (grant funds are currently being used for installing EV charging stations, purchasing EVs for the County's fleet, and to implement a mini-grant program for energy efficient "Main Street" rehabilitation projects). Attached is a meeting summary from Gwenyth Widrick, NYSERDA CEC grant project manager, from May 2022 showing participation in this program in the last year. The Clean Energy Communities program provides grants and technical assistance to municipalities in implementing clean energy actions that advance NYS climate goals.

  • 3. Decrease energy use.

    PE3 Action: Government Building Energy Audits

    16 Points
    Bronze Priority Silver Priority

    Program Summary: At time of SmartWatt Investment-grade audit in 2016 (ASHRAE level 2 with full forecasting of savings and investment analysis), this document covered all County operated buildings, providing an investment grade audit complete with recommendations for energy and cost savings for all buildings' electric, gas, and water usage. The report recommended lighting upgrades, new HVAC equipment, building envelop improvements, and more. This audit served as a valuable guide with many of the recommended actions taken within a couple years of the report being issued. Attached is the Project Overview from the 90+ page plan. Three County buildings constructed post-audit.

    PE3 Action: Interior Lighting Upgrades

    5 Points

    Program Summary: In 2016, Madison County replaced the lighting in approximately 80% of total county owned property (240,744 of 299,961 square feet). The attached audit report shows the list of upgrades that were made to the lighting fixtures in county-owned buildings. Appendix D provides a more detailed account of locations and upgrades, including both cost and energy projections.

    PE3 Action: HVAC Upgrades

    3 Points

    Program Summary: Total building square footage is 350,150 square feet. Between the newly constructed garage in 2021 and the upgrades that were done to the County Office Building in 2021 and in light of the Smart Watt audit in 2016, we have installed new HVAC equipment in 249,906 square feet of buildings within the past 10 years, or 71.37%. Total square footage replaced by SmartWatt Audit Spec’d HVAC : Veterans (24,200) DDS (47,200) Public Safety (55,440) Total square footage: 126,840 or 36.2%

    PE3 Action: Benchmarking - Municipal Buildings

    4 Points

    Program Summary: Attached is the NYSERDA CEC map and visualization data showing that Madison County has been approved for the Benchmarking-Municipal Buildings action. Since this action was approved years ago, NYSERDA was not able to find the approval email to share with current County staff and suggested using this as proof of completion of the action. The County's benchmarking resolution is also attached. The County has 2015 and 2016 reports currently posted at https://www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/375/Current-Projects, as per the attached screenshot - the reports provided cover 24 months of energy use information and include Portfolio Manager reports for county buildings/facilities.

  • 4. Shift to clean, renewable energy.

    PE4 Action: Solar Energy Installation

    20 Points

    Program Summary: In July of 2021 Madison County held a ribbon cutting for the new Highway Garage South, which featured a 345 kw solar installation consisting of 888 TSM-390 DE15H Panels (390 Watt Peak Power Watts). The solar system was activated in December of 2021, and as of July 8th, 2022, the system had produced about 100 MWh of electricity. Due to the very rural location and lack of natural place to put educational signage, we issued a Facebook post regarding the rooftop solar system, it's capacity power, how much energy it has produced to date, and the carbon offset impact.

    PE4 Action: Power Purchase Agreement for Renewables

    14 Points

    Program Summary: Madison County has two solar PPA agreements. One is a 2013 50kw system, and the second, installed in 2017, is a 2MW system that alone covers over 70% of County electric demand.

  • 5. Use climate-smart materials management.

    PE5 Action: Recycling Bins in Government Buildings

    3 Points

    Program Summary: Madison County ensures access to recycling bins for both employees and the public. Recycling bins are made available in every place there is a trash bin, both in common areas and work spaces.

    PE5 Action: Waste Reduction Education Campaign

    2 Points

    Program Summary: In 2019 and 2020, the Madison County Department of Solid Waste’s Recycling Coordinator launched an updated county-wide recycling and waste reduction campaign. The campaign is called “Rethink Waste in Madison County.” The purpose is to continue educating County residents on waste reduction, recycling, and reuse practices. The campaign is ongoing, and the recycling coordinator’s education and campaign goals are highlighted on page 4 of the 2019 Madison County Solid Waste Management Plan. In 2019 the recycling coordinator reached 1,858 community members through various presentations. Since the campaign’s launch, the coordinator has presented a table of information at SUNY Morrisville’s welcome week, the annual Madison County Fair, DeRuyter’s Firemen's Fair, and the Great Swamp Conservancy’s Earth Day celebration. In addition, SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry engineering students took a tour of the transfer station and recycling operations.

    PE5 Action: Residential Organic Waste Program

    2 Points

    Program Summary: Madison County provides yard waste drop off facilities (page 23 of attached solid waste plan): In 1988, the County established voluntary yard waste composting and brush chipping sites at each of the transfer stations. The following year, the County banned green waste from going into the landfill. Since then, the County has continued to collect yard waste such as grass clippings, leaves, wood chips and brush at their transfer stations. This diversion of organic material has played a role in extending the life of the landfill and composting the material into a wood chip and mulch byproduct that is available to residents at no charge. The County anticipates continuing the yard waste collection program through the next ten years.

  • 7. Enhance community resilience to climate change.

    PE7 Action: Climate Vulnerability Assessment

    4 Points
    Bronze Priority Silver Priority

    Program Summary: The County wide NY Rising Resiliency Plan deals with the anticipated flooding impacts of climate change across the county. The public engagement process is described on page 226. Additionally, chapter 3 of the attached County Hazard Mitigation Plan addresses climate hazards and their anticipated impacts throughout the County: https://www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/1533/Madison-County-Hazard-Mitigation-Plan

    PE7 Action: Climate Adaptation Plan

    3 Points
    Bronze Priority Silver Priority

    Program Summary:

  • 8. Support a green innovation economy.

    PE8 Action: Buy Local/Buy Green Campaign

    2 Points

    Program Summary: Campaign 1: Madison County started the "Buy Madison" campaign back in 2013 as a creative way to support county-wide local businesses. As a result, the County created a website called "Buy Madison County." Our website contains actively changing deals of the week and general deals from various local businesses. Local businesses that recently appeared on our website include Canastota Custom Framing LLC, an artisan soap producer known as the Country Artist, and Napoleans (restaurant). In addition, local businesses can use our website and the Buy Madison County Facebook page to display deals. Campaign 2: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, local businesses, especially our food industry, were significantly impacted. The County wanted to encourage residents to support local restaurants, resulting in the "Madison Local Eats" program in 2020. Customers pay $25 for a $50 voucher, $50 for a $100 voucher, or $100 for a $200 voucher towards a restaurant of their choosing on the Buy Madison website. The other half of the voucher is paid for by Madison County to the restaurant of the customer's choosing. In total, 4,900 vouchers were claimed, and 45 businesses participated in the program. Due to the program's successes, the County reinitiated the program in 2021. A significant number of vouchers were sold within a few days of its relaunch due to high demand. Fifty-two restaurants participated in the program and are listed below. In total, local restaurants received $765,000.00 in 2020 and 2021. Many of these restaurants found new patrons due to the program.

    PE8 Action: PACE Financing

    7 Points

    Program Summary: Attached is the dated copy of the approval from NYSERDA that indicates completion of the PACE- Authorize Open C-PACE Locally action. Also attached is EIC's list of participating municipalities that shows Madison County as a current EIC member having authorized the Open C-PACE product.

  • 9. Inform and inspire the public.

    PE9 Action: Local Climate Action Website

    3 Points

    Program Summary: The planning department launched the Climate Action Website in the past year, which can be found here: https://www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/2862/Climate-and-Sustainability Included on the page is a summary of some of the County's efforts, as well as a guide for members of the public to take action. https://www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/2863/Planning-for-Climate-Change https://www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/2864/Individual-and-Community-Action

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