Mecklenburg County Environmental Sustainability
End-of-Year Report FY15
2015 is Best Year on Record for Environmental Performance
Fiscal Year 2015 was Mecklenburg County’s best year on
record for environmental performance. The County
continued to successfully reduce both electricity and fuel
use, purchased 419 acres of land for preservation and
conversation, and met its commitments to purchase
environmentally preferable products. The County also
had a stand-out year for employee engagement,
exceeding its 2015 goal of 2500 hours by 14 percent.
Reflecting this result, 59 percent of County Departments
achieved a “Green Light” (which signals that they hit 85%
or more of their departmental goals) on their
Environmental Action Plans.
Overall, these results are reflected in Mecklenburg
County’s Environmental Leadership Index score of 99%.
The goal each year is to have 85% of its operations
performed in a manner that conserves and protects the
County’s air, water and land resources, making 2015 an
exceptional year for Mecklenburg County.
Environmental Leadership Index
Goal: 85%
46%
59%
71% 79%
89%
99%
73%
FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015
Target
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Result
Mecklenburg County Environmental Sustainability
End-of-Year Report FY15
Mecklenburg County’s
Environmental Leadership Index Results
6.6%
reduction in
energy use
(kBTU/sq. ft.)
Goal: 6%
419
Goal: 460 acres
Goal: 2500 hours
50%
Goal: 58%
of purchased
office supplies
were
environmentally
preferable
59%
of departments
reaching a “green
light” on their
environmental
action plans
Goal: 0.5%
acres acquired for parks,
nature preserves,
greenways, and
watershed protection
2820
32%
reduction in
NOx emissions
from fleet
hours of employee
participation in
alternative commutes
and environmental
volunteering and
education
Goal: 85%
Mecklenburg County Environmental Sustainability
End-of-Year Report FY15
Mecklenburg County Environmental Sustainability
End-of-Year Report FY15
DepartmentParticipationinWorkGreen
(hours)
111%
800
700
600
500
100%
400
281%
300
200
100
0
44%
0%
19%
33%
38%
HR
PRK
REG
CAO
DSS
61%
SHF
128%
61%
ELE
73%
83%
AUD
CJS
114%
102%
LUE
MGR
HoursCompleted
Halfwaythroughfiscalyear2015,10departmentsachievedat
least40percentoftheirend-of-yeargoalsand2departments
exceededtheirgoalsthroughparticipationinenvironmental
educationprograms,environmentalvolunteeropportunities,
and/oralternativecommutemethods.Bytheendofthefiscal
year,11departmentshaveexceededtheirWorkGreenemployee
participationgoals,andtheLandUseandEnvironmentalServices
Agencymatchedtheirgoals.
IT
MED
128%
PI
AFM
155%
160%
FIN
CSS
188%
TAX
HLT
570%
1160%
PSO
CSE
Goal
ChildSupportEnforcementhasthehighestexceedancerateout
ofallthe21departments.Thesehighnumbersareduetothe
department’scommitmenttolearningabouttheCounty’s
Sustainabilityprogramandalternativecommuting.
9countydepartmentsdidnotmeettheirWorkGreengoals,but
programmingopportunitiesandadjustedgoalswillgivethese
departmentsanopportunitytomeettheirgoalsintheyearto
come.
Mecklenburg County Environmental Sustainability
End-of-Year Report FY15
DepartmentPaperUse
(sheets) 9,000,000
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
-
1%
Below
6%
Below
33%
Below
29%
Below
23%
Below
4%
Below
22%
Below
1%
Below
9%
Below
FY15PaperUseTotal
Thisfiscalyear,paperusewastrackedfor17individualCounty
departmentsandtheformerlyBusinessSupportservicesAgency
groupingofAssetandFacilityManagement,Information
Technology,HumanResources,andPublicInformation.
Ofthese18groups,9departments–ProvidedServices,Tax
Collections,BoardofElections,LUESA,MedicalExaminer’s
Office,CountySherriff,ChildSupportandEnforcement,
DepartmentofSocialServices,andtheCountyManager’sOffice
–usedlesspaperthantheirFY15goals.
3%
Above
5%
Above
14%
Above
15%
Above
15%
Above
30%
Above
172%
Above
New
New
Baseline
Baseline
Goal
TheCountyAssessor’sOfficeandtheHealthDepartmentdid
notsetpaperusegoalsandareusingthisfiscalyear’ssheetsas
abaselinetoformfuturegoals.TheProvidedServices
OrganizationandAreaMentalHealthdepartmentsusedthe
leastamountofpaperproportionaltotheirpaperusagegoals.
Theremaining7departmentshaveexceededtheirpaperusage
goals.
*BecausethedepartmentsthatformerlymadeupBSSAarestillbilledas
amostlysingleunit,thesemetricshavebeencombinedforFY15.
Mecklenburg County Environmental Sustainability
End-of-Year Report FY15
DepartmentRecycledPaperPurchases
(PercentofDollarsspentonPaper)
120%
91%
100%
95%
95%
95%
97%
98%
98%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
82%
80%
56%
60%
40%
20%
11%
0%
Compliance
AlltheofficepaperusedinMecklenburgCounty’scontracted
IKONprinterscontainrecycledcontent.Additionally,Office
Depotmakesiteasierthanevertoorderrecycledpaper,
whichiswhyrecycledpaperhassuccessfullybecomethe
standardinMecklenburgCountyGovernmentoperations.
MostofMecklenburgCounty’sdepartmentshavestrongly
supportedthisstandard.
Departmentrecycledpaperpurchasesarecalculatedby
comparingtheamounteachdepartmentspendsonpaperto
thetotalamountspentallofficepaper.
Goal
Infiscalyear2015,recycledpaperwastrackedfor18
individualdepartments,aswellasBusinessSupport
ServicesAgencygroupingofAssetandFacility
Management,InformationTechnology,andPublic
information.
Ofthese19groups,8departmentswerefellbelowtheir
goals,6departmentsreachedtheirgoals,and3
departments–CommunitySupportServices,Parkand
Recreation,andTaxCollection–exceededtheirFY15goals.
98%
Mecklenburg County Environmental Sustainability
End-of-Year Report FY15
DepartmentRemanufacturedPrinterCartridgePurchases
(Percentofdollarsspentonprintercartridges)
120%
99%
100%
77%
80%
60%
38%
48%
50%
35%
40%
20%
0%
47%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
AFM
HRS
PSI
MED
ELE
3%
3%
MGR
SHF
7%
ITS
12%
21%
15%
21%
Baseline N/A
PSO
CJS
CSE
Compliance
Remanufacturedcartridgesarelessexpensiveandhaveamuch
smallerenvironmentalimpactthanbrandnewones.Many
MecklenburgCountydepartmentsaremakingacommitment
totakeadvantageofthesebenefits.
Infiscalyear2015,remanufacturedprintercartridgepurchases
weretrackedfor21individualdepartments.
9departments–Sheriff’sOffice,ProvidedServices,Criminal
JusticeService,ChildSupportEnforcement,Health
HLT
LUE
REG
FIN
DSS
CSS
PRK
TAX
CAO
AUD
Goal
Department,LUESA,CommunitySupportServices,Parkand
Recreation,andTaxCollections–haveexceededtheirFY15
goals.TheCountyAssessor’sOfficeisusingthisyear’s
remanufacturedcartridgepurchaselevelstosetabaseline
foryearstocome.
MecklenburgCountydepartmentscanworktoincreasetheir
compliancebyrequestingtheirremanufacturedprinter
cartridgesfromOfficeDepotand/orSunBelt.
Mecklenburg County Environmental Sustainability
End-of-Year Report FY15
DepartmentGreenOfficeSupplyPurchases
(percentofdollarsspentonofficesuppliesexcludingprintercartridges&paper)
70%
64%
60%
50%
50%
40%
34%
30%
22%
20%
10%
22%
23%
27%
37%
38%
38%
38%
40%
40%
42%
46%
36%
30%
13%
4%
0%
Compliance
“Green”officesuppliescanhaveavarietyofimportant
characteristics.Itmaymeanthatproductsweremadewith
recycledmaterials,areeasilyreusable,areenergyefficient,or
madeusingrenewableenergy.
MostMecklenburgCountyOfficesarecommittedtointegrating
greenofficesuppliesintotheirdailyoperations.Ofthe19
groupstrackedforthegreenofficesupplypurchases,7
departmentsexceededtheirFY15goals.Thatbeingsaid,2
Goal
departmentsmettheirgoals,and5departmentsfelljustshort
oftheirgoals.
Greenofficesupplypurchaseswerecalculatedbycomparing
theamountadepartmentspendson“green”suppliestothe
totalamountspentonallofficesupplies.
Countydepartmentscancontinuetoincreasetheirgreen
officesupplypurchasesbyprioritizingthoseitems
characterizedbyOfficeDepotasenvironmentallypreferable.