Manatee County Government
Manatee County achieves Green Local Government Certification
MANATEE COUNTY, FL (April 25, 2011) – Manatee County Government has achieved a Green Local Government Certification through the Florida Green Building Coalition.
Brenda Rogers, Manatee County Community Services Director and leader of the County’s Green Team, learned of the news earlier this week six months after submitting an extensive application to become certified. The rating system has certified silver, gold and platinum levels. Manatee has obtained the silver level and will be striving toward gold over the next year.
“The Green Team worked on the application for about a year, including several months of intense work,” Rogers said. “A lot of staff members reported on their piece of the application. We had involvement from the School District, FP&L and our Constitutional officers. It’s truly been a collective effort.”
For more than a year Manatee County staff and the Green Team, comprised of representatives from each County department, worked toward the certification. Over the past 18 months there has been an organization-wide effort to conserve energy, to improve recycling habits and to cut down on carbon emissions.
The most high profile of these initiatives has been a retrofit of energy efficiency systems and lighting systems at the county’s four largest facilities resulting in an annual taxpayer savings of $479,309. David Thompson, Building Maintenance Division Manager, said that represents a 24 percent savings in the County’s electrical costs at those buildings.
“These improvements will pay dividends for years to come. We’re very proud of this distinction,” Thompson said. “The Green Government Certification really says we’re working together and we understand the need to be environmentally conscious. We’ll continue to look for additional ways to become more environmentally aware, conscious and careful.”
Other green initiatives include:
• Improving trash service and adding recycling bins throughout the Manatee County Administrative Center. Most individual trash cans have been eliminated in favor of communal trash cans;
• Installing centralized printers and energy efficient appliances;
• Recycling buildings such as the Valentine House and the Parrish Schoolhouse;
• Ridding Manatee County’s publicly owned natural preserves of invasive vegetation.
Rogers said the Green Government Certification “shows that we’re definitely making an aggressive effort to making our County Government as sustainable as possible, and county workers are doing this by performing their everyday jobs in a more efficient, more sustainable ways.”
For more information on the Florida Green Building Coalition, visit floridagreenbuilding.org . For an extensive report on Manatee County’s green initiatives, view Green Steps to Sustainability.