Sharing the latest Eco-City Alexandria announcements, events, and tips.

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January-March 2025

Welcome to the very first Eco-City Newsletter! This is a new quarterly newsletter from the City of Alexandria, bringing you news and stories about what the Eco-City team is doing out and about in the city, along with announcements, events, and useful information on how to take action.

We have a jam-packed issue this quarter! Here’s a quick guide to what’s in store below:

The Green Read:

• Check Out the New Eco-City Homes Program
• Eco-City Tip: Weatherize Your Home
• Success Story: Reducing Gas Usage and Increasing Comfort in City Recreation Center

Employee Spotlight: Meet Valerie Amor, Energy Manager, and Coline Hay, Recreation Manager, with this issue’s employee spotlights!

Take Action by signing the Eco-City Pledge.

Upcoming Events

• The Alexandria Libraries and Jerome “Buddie” Ford Nature Center have an exciting slate of activities for all ages, from hands-on learning to volunteering to crafting.
• April is Earth Month! Get ready for a full month of activities. Stay tuned for more details.
• The Annual ALX Dog Walk will be on April 5.
• Save the date for the City’s Eco-City Festival: Saturday May 10 at Ben Brenman Park!

News and Announcements

• Nominations are open for 2025 Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award
• Our Department of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities (RPCA) earned national accreditation for excellence
• City receives $197,700 for Energy Education
• Join the Eco-City Multi-Family Dwelling Peer Group

Check Out the New Eco-City Homes Program

City of Alexandria Launches Eco-City Homes: The City of Alexandria is excited to announce Eco-City Homes, a new program to recognize Alexandrians for being sustainable at home, and help you save energy and money while making your home more comfortable, efficient, and healthy. 

Here’s what Alexandrians are saying about the program:

• Super useful information! I didn’t realize that the City had a tax exemption for solar.
• Thanks for the guidance—I’m taking action now to save energy at home.
• Love the yard sign! My neighbors have asked me about it and I’ve seen people scan the QR code when they walk by.

Check out the Eco-City Homes page for more details! 

Eco-City Tip: Weatherize Your Home

When the weather outside is frightful, how do you make the indoors delightful? Weatherization! (Not as catchy to put in a song, but hey—it’s the truth.)

Weatherizing your home means stopping the outside from getting in—usually, by using insulation and sealing any gaps and air leaks. The benefits of weatherizing your home include being more comfortable (say goodbye to drafts) and lower energy bills, plus health benefits from keeping unwanted pests, pollution, allergens, and moisture out.

Before running around with a caulk gun and rolls of insulation, you’ll want to identify what your home needs in order to be weatherized. There are DIY approaches, such as using a thermal camera (available for checkout from Alexandria libraries!), as well as professional options, which will give you a more thorough understanding and prioritized next steps. There are income- and age-qualified programs for free professional audits, available for both homeowners and renters. If you end up paying for a professional audit, you can be eligible for a federal tax credit of 30% of the cost, up to $150. Just make sure that you hire a certified professional who meets the requirements of the tax credit.

Once you have your list of what needs to be done, you can tackle your weatherization projects. Larger issues generally require insulation. If you have an attic, that’s a prime target—a properly insulated attic can go a long way towards improving home energy efficiency and comfort. Smaller gaps and air leaks can be addressed with caulk and weather stripping. If you’re a renter, then coordinate with your property manager(s) to confirm what actions you can take. You might want to opt for more temporary measures, such as seasonal window cling. For homeowners, you may be eligible for a federal tax credit of 30% of the cost of insulation materials and high-performing windows, skylights, and doors, up to $1,200 annually.

For more guidance on how to go about a home energy audit and weatherization, check out the City’s Eco-City Homes website. And, once you take these steps, apply for recognition as an Eco-City Home! There are applications for renters, condo owners, and homeowners, and both energy audits (DIY or professional) and weatherization are part of the short online application.

Success Story: Reducing Gas Usage and Increasing Comfort in City Recreation Center 

Have you ever been in a building that felt like each room was a different environment—hot and humid in one, and then chilly and chapped in another? A likely culprit behind these big swings in temperature is a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in need of an upgrade.

A few years ago, City staff noticed this issue at the Chick Armstrong Recreation Center. The building was suffering from old HVAC components, which were making some rooms overheat in the winter—which then also called for new HVAC systems to handle that extra heat. In response, City staff fixed the source of the HVAC issues and installed a new Building Automation System in 2022 and 2023. 

As a result, the rec center’s HVAC can now be controlled to match the instantaneous use of certain zones, while providing the right amount of space heating and cooling. Now, not only are rec center visitors more comfortable, but the building’s gas usage has significantly decreased. In 2024, the gas usage had lowered by 60% relative to pre-pandemic levels. This is the lowest known gas usage since the City of Alexandria started recording energy use 14 years ago!

In each issue of the Eco-City Newsletter, we’ll be sitting down to chat with City staff to hear more about what they do and how it ties into making Alexandria an Eco-City. Today, we’re talking with Energy Manager Valerie Amor and Recreation Manager Coline Hay.

Valerie Amor, Energy Manager

How would you describe your role? I focus on how the City gets and uses energy for facilities and operations, and work to help the City reach our Environmental Action Plan 2040 (EAP2040) goals to reduce emissions from City buildings by 50 percent by 2035 (compared to 2018 levels) and to improve the energy efficiency of City facilities and operations.

What are you most excited about? We’ve been piloting a new City Building Performance Program and are in the process of launching it for all City-owned buildings. This program takes a holistic approach to reducing building energy use to help meet our EAP2040 goals. I’ve been really happy to notice that just talking with building managers has led to changes even before we’ve fully implemented the program—once people are part of the conversation, they’re eager to jump in and take action to reduce their building’s energy usage.

Mind sharing a fun fact about yourself? Even though I have a formal background and certifications in sustainable architecture, I’ve also spent a long time in the restaurant and agricultural industries! I enjoy finding things at the local farmers’ markets that I’ve never tried before.

Coline Hay, Recreation Manager

How would you describe your role? I oversee programming and operations at the Jerome "Buddie" Ford Nature Center, and our main focus is on providing free environmental education to residents, including for Alexandria City Public Schools. 

What’s something that you want Alexandrians to know about your work? A lot of people don’t even know the Nature Center exists!* I’ve lived in Alexandria my whole life and didn’t know until I started working here. Entrance is free, and we’ve got a lot of great programs—including a pretty big animal ambassador collection. One thing we have that’s pretty cool is a partnership with Master Gardeners—they turned our garden into a native pollinator garden. There’s always an opportunity for people to volunteer with them if they want to literally get their hands dirty!

Mind sharing a fun fact about yourself? I’m really into herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians), especially snakes. I got certified in venomous snake handling—though thankfully, I don’t have to use that here at the Nature Center!

*For those who are curious, you can visit the Nature Center at 5750 Sanger Ave (next to the 50-acre Dora Kelley Nature Park), a short walk from DASH route 35’s stop at N Beauregard St & Sanger Ave.

Sign the Eco-City Pledge: Signing the Eco-City Pledge is an easy way to show your commitment to being sustainable. Plus, you'll get access to resources and guidance on actions that can help you save money and energy, support yourself and your community, and protect the environment.

Stay Tuned for Earth Month! The City of Alexandria will host events throughout the month of April to celebrate Earth Month. We’ll have opportunities for all ages to learn, volunteer, and have fun! More details will be announced in March. Visit the Earth Month website for more details.

The Annual ALX Dog Walk will be on Saturday, April 5 from 7 to 11 a.m. in Oronoco Bay Bark in Old Town.

Save the date for the City of Alexandria’s Eco-City Festival! The festival will be held on Saturday, May 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Ben Brenman Park. The Eco-City Festival is a FREE, family-friendly event where you can take part in fun games and activities to learn more about environmentally friendly practices and interesting programs happening in our community. 

The Alexandria Libraries are always hosting sustainability-related events, such as hands-on learning, volunteering, and monthly discussions. Check out their calendar of events (heads up that the link is filtered to events with the ‘sustainability’ tag) for more details.

• Trash Trekkers – Walking and Litter Pickup Club: Saturday March 8, 10-11 a.m. at the Burke Branch
• Menopause, Hormones & Herbs: Saturday March 8, 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m. at the Duncan Branch
• Mending Sampler Pincushion: Tuesday March 11, 6-7:30 p.m. at the Barrett Branch
• Period Products 101 - Exploring Reusable and Disposable Options for Young People: Thursday March 13, 6-7:30 p.m. at Ms. Moxie’s Moon Shop (102 N. Fayette St.)
• Eco:mmunion – Conversations to Sustain People and Planet: Tuesday March 25, 6:45-7:45 p.m. at the Barrett Branch

As Coline mentioned in her spotlight, Alexandria’s Jerome “Buddie” Ford Nature Center (5750 Sanger Ave) has plenty of programs for all ages, such as:

• First Friday Bird Count: Friday March 7, 9-11 a.m.
• Nature Play: Saturday March 8, 10:30-11:30 a.m. 
• Nature Discoveries: Friday March 14, 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m. 
• Health of Holmes Run: Saturday April 5, 3-4 p.m.

Nominations are Open for the 2025 Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award: Help celebrate Earth Month by recognizing the environmental work or educational efforts of a resident, group, club, organization, or corporate neighbor. Submissions must be received by Friday, March 14 using the online nomination form. The award will be presented to this year’s recipient on Sunday, April 27 at the Del Ray GardenFest. Visit the website for more details and the nomination form.

RPCA Earns National Accreditation for Excellence: By achieving accreditation from the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies, RPCA joins an elite group of park and recreation agencies across the nation. This prestigious honor recognizes RPCA’s excellence in operation and service, highlighting our commitment to enhancing the quality of life for Alexandria’s residents and visitors. Learn more about our programs and services at alexandriava.gov/Recreation.

City receives $197,700 for Energy Education: Through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grants, the City of Alexandria received funds that will be used to promote energy efficiency and home electrification through direct engagement with and incentives for residents.

Join the Eco-City Multi-Family Dwelling Peer Group: Looking for resources or technical assistance for EV charging at your multi-family dwelling, or workplace? Send us a note by completing this form to share information with your neighbors and learn from industry experts about EVs and other sustainability topics. 

For more information about Alexandria’s climate, energy, and environmental programs and initiatives and sustainability resources, check out the Eco-City Alexandria website.

Love this newsletter? Check out the Flood Action Alexandria newsletter for detailed updates on the City’s initiatives to address flooding issues and build community resiliency.

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