Larchmont sets goal of 20 percent reduction in ‘carbon footprint’

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LARCHMONT - The village has cut its energy use or “carbon footprint” by 12 percent since 2005, and hopes to get to 20 percent by 2015.

The village board, in adopting the new benchmark, called it a goal, not a mandate.

The reduction is described in a new report from the village’s Committee on the Environment.

The emissions documented in the report are associated with heating and powering village buildings and the operation of its vehicle fleet, sewer and water pumps, and traffic and street lights.

Between 2005 and 2007, the village installed new thermostats and upgraded the library’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, according to the report.

In 2008, the village made many more upgrades, including replacing old vehicles with hybrid gas-electric vehicles for non-emergency workers, and installing solar panels at the village yard.

Village trustee Marlene Kolbert, who heads the Committee on the Environment, which prepared the report, said other variables may have come into play, including variations in winter temperatures.

Meanwhile, energy costs continue to rise - from $281,444 in 2005 to $315,742 in 2007.

Water and sewer costs actually decreased by $378, according to the report.

Westchester County has set a goal of reducing its footprint by 80 percent by 2050, but that number is not realistic in the tiny village of Larchmont, Kolbert said.

“For us to get to 80 percent by 2050, there would have to be incredible new technologies, because the way life is, there’s only so much you can do,” she said. “So we have opted to meet this goal and see how things have changed in the world, and make, perhaps, an interim goal (later on).”

The next step the environmental committee will take is to brainstorm ways to further reduce carbon emissions within the village.