Source: Cincinnati Business Courier, Chris Wetterich
Kroger will help lead a new effort to make urban properties green, Mayor John Cranley announced in his annual state-of-the-city speech on Tuesday.
The nation’s operator of traditional supermarkets will be a founding member of Cincinnati’s 2030 District.
Cincinnati would be the 21st such district in the world. It is a public-private partnership spearheaded by the local environmental group, Green Umbrella. About $310,000 has been raised for the effort.
“The vision of the network is to establish a global network of thriving high performance building districts and cities, uniting communities to catalyze transformation in the built environment and the role it plays in mitigating and adapting to climate change,” according to the 2030 Districts website.
Cincinnati’s environmental goals include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 84 percent below 2006 levels by 2050. Establishing a 2030 District, whose first phase would include most of downtown, is a part of the 2018 Green Cincinnati plan. Buildings and transportation are two of the city’s largest emission sources. Downtown contains about one-third of the city’s commercial square footage.
Future phases would include Over-the-Rhine and Uptown as well as Covington and Newport in Northern Kentucky.
Other cities with districts include Albuquerque, N.M.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Austin, Texas; Burlington, Vt.; Cleveland; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Ithaca, N.Y.; Los Angeles; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Portland, Maine; San Antonio; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Stamford, Conn. and Toronto.
Other local members include the Newsy Brand Studio, Emerson Design, Xavier University, Sol Design + Consulting and Rojas Design.
Kroger will commit to slashing its buildings’ energy and water use and transportation emissions by 50 percent by 2030.
They have lots of real estate,” Cranley said.
Kroger’s subsidiary, consumer data firm 84.51, also will join the effort along with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
The mayor also hailed Kroger for eliminating plastic grocery bags by 2030.
Source: Cincinnati Business Courier, Chris Wetterich, 10/24/18
