City Building Decarbonization Plan

At a glance

Based on human-uploaded captions that may contain errors.

What: a joint presentation by Climate Equity Action and Property Services on decarbonizing the roughly 60 city-owned buildings.
Where it stands: received and filed. The City reached 100% renewable electricity for operations in 2024 and a 67% cut in operations greenhouse gas emissions; the goal is net zero by 2040.
Next: a dedicated emissions reduction capital program, with a request of 1.5 million dollars a year for 2026-2028 and 2 million a year later (the current budget proposal is lower, with about 1 million proposed for 2027).

Natural gas is the largest source of both community-wide emissions (about 42%) and city operations emissions; about half of city buildings are in a "critical zone" where HVAC and electrical systems are near end of life, so replacing like for like should be avoided.
Examples: geothermal for the Democracy Center, a heat pump at the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center, lighting upgrades at the training center, and a solar array at Fire Station 1.
Two staff members focus on this work. Chowdhury asked for a follow-up on letting nearby businesses connect to the Democracy Center geothermal system; staff said the first well will serve the building but the parking lot could host more.

2026-10-22 - Climate & Infrastructure Committee - Presentation, praise from members, and a follow-up request on geothermal access; received and filed.

Marked agenda: report received and filed.