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Promoting Air Quality and Climate Protection with Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency in the Metropolitan Washington Area

State and local governments in the Washington region have demonstrated their leadership in energy efficiency and renewable energy (EERE) by developing aggressive programs such as Renewable Portfolio standards or diverse programs to increase energy efficiency in buildings. As these programs are being implemented, it becomes increasingly important to quantify and capture their air quality and climate benefits, thus leveraging and integrating air quality, climate, and energy programs.

As a part of a project supported by the US Department of Energy, MWCOG has developed several tools to assist State and local governments with this goal:

• An emission calculator: this spreadsheet allows users to calculate the NOx, Ozone, SO2 and CO2 emissions benefits of selected EERE measures, based on the amount of energy saved or clean energy generated. Time-matched marginal emission rates have been developed specifically for the Washington region to provide more accurate estimates of the benefits of EERE measures.

• A regional protocol recommendation for inclusion of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in State Implementation Plans for Air Quality and Climate Change.