Why You Are Getting a Multi-family Bonus

Congratulations! By choosing to live in a condominium, townhouse, or apartment, you are helping to protect the environment. The efficiencies of multi-family neighborhoods help to conserve land, save energy and water, and produce less air pollution per resident. If you live in a multi-family building in Arlington, chances are good that you also drive less, walk more, shop locally, and use public transportation. All of this supports community sustainability. Researchers at the University of British Columbia estimate that an apartment dweller has a 40% lower ecological “footprint” than does the resident of a single family home and townhouse dwellers have a 17% reduced impact.

Action Steps

Don’t miss opportunities to leverage your decision for even greater environmental benefits. Consider starting an environmental stewardship team with your neighbors. Start a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) food buying club, a car share club, or work together on a community garden. Condominium associations have collective power to make purchasing decisions for green energy, environmentally friendly cleaning and maintenance products, and property improvements such as native landscaping, permeable paving, and green roofs. Apartment residents can influence building owners to make greener, more sustainable building and operations decisions. Don’t leave your green multi-family advantage at your front door!

Here are some specific action step ideas:

1. Start an environmental stewardship team. Educate yourself and your neighbors how to make your multi-family community more environmentally friendly.
2. Organize to bring energy conservation to your community with Energy Star lighting and appliances. Invest in renewable energy.
3. Work with your association or landlord to create an environmentally friendly property management plan, including: choosing green cleaning products; making landscape improvements with native and watershed-friendly plants; and providing easy and accessible recycling.
4. Sponsor eco-friendly seminars in your complex. Contact Arlington County, Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment, and Energy Star for ideas and presenters.
5. Make your next property renovation a green one. This could include an eco-friendly remodel of units and facilities; energy efficiency improvements through better insulation, air sealing, lighting, and equipment; solar panel installation; green roofs; and permeable paving for the outdoors.
6. Start a CSA food buying club to support a local farmer
7. Look for ideas in the rest of the Green Living Challenge and multiply their effect through collective action in your complex.
8. Start a community newsletter or e-mail list to share ideas.

Materials

A people-friendly meeting space and refreshments to get a conversation going.

Internet access to start a green e-mail list, or paper and computer for a newsletter.

Time

A few hours a month to a few hours a week.

Resources

Arlington County Community Garden Program
http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/ParksRecreation/scripts/
facilities/ParksRecreationScriptsFacilitiesCommunityGardens.aspx

Arlington County Department of Environmental Services, green building and watershed protection programs at www.arlingtonva.us or call 703-228-3610

Arlington County Recycling
http://www.arlingtonva.us/recycle

Arlington County Tree information and Commemorative Tree Program
http://www.arlingtonva.us//Departments/ParksRecreation/scripts/
parks/ParksRecreationScriptsParksTrees.aspx

Cohousing Association of the United States
www.cohousing.org

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farms
http://www.vabf.org/csa.php
http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/vagrown-july/csa.shtml

Earth Pledge Green Roofs Initiative
http://www.earthpledge.org/GreenRoof.html

Energy Star Program
www.energystar.gov

EPA Guide to Purchasing Green Power
www.epa.gov/greenpower/buygreenpower/guide.htm

Green Home Building and Remodeling Resource Directory
www.arlingtonenvironment.org/greenchallenge/green_directory.pdf

Green Home Cleaning Tips
http://www.newdream.org/newsletter/greencleaning.php

Native Plants for Conservation, Restoration, and Landscaping
(including trees) www.dcr.state.va.us/dnh/native.htm

Virginia Sustainable Building Network
www.vsbn.org