Mission Verde

City Gives Update on Mission Verde Plan

February, 2011

In January San Antonio Office of Environmental Policy Director Laurence Doxsey gave an update on Mission Verde, the city’s sustainability plan, to the COSA Citizens’ Environmental Advisory Committee. Advancements cited included:

  1. An invitation for bid has been posted for a solar installation at the Mission Verde Center.
  2. The OEP is working on a pilot downtown carshare program based on a recently completed car share study.
  3. Participation in the Green Shade Tree Rebate Program is increasing. As of early January the number of “treebates” awarded was 796 with another 93 pending.
  4. The city’s five Priuses have been converted to plugins, with mileage reaching 99.9 mpg.
  5. As of early January, CasaVerde SA had weatherized over 1,515 homes with approved applications that will allow the program to reach its goal of 2,300 homes weatherized with federal stimulus money.
  6. A 50 kW solar installation is pending at the West Side Senior Center.
  7. The OEP was seeking City Council approval for an agreement with Bexar County for a San Antonio Food Bank Solar Water Harvesting Project.

Mission Verde was launched in January 2009 and later approved by City Council. Its goals are to provide an economic approach to sustainability, to position San Antonio to be a leader in the 21st century global economy, and to create new jobs and industries in a time of economic downturn.

The Citizens’ Environmental Advisory Committee, on which serve several Sierra Club members, was approved by Council in April 2009. The committee’s purview is to:

provide recommendations on effective environmental projects, programs and policies to city staff and City Council and [to] serve as a forum for the community to offer input concerning environmental sustainability.

The meetings occur at 7:30 am the first Friday of each month. A citizens to be heard segment precedes each meeting.

 

About Mission Verde

On February 4, 2010, the San Antonio City Council formally adopted the Mission Verde Sustainability Plan. Mission Verde is San Antonio’s plan to build a 21st Century economy around green technologies and initiatives that improve energy efficiency, utilize renewable materials, improve air and water quality and advance sustainability.

The plan's goals are to:

  1. Build a 21st Century urban energy infrastructure in San Antonio with distributed energy
  2. Create a multi-tech venture capital fund in San Antonio
  3. Create a Green Jobs Program in San Antonio
  4. Use the City's economic development strategies to foster development of a 21st Century sustainable economy
  5. Adopt a green, high-performance building code for new residential and commercial construction
  6. Build a Green Retrofit Program for existing homes and buildings
  7. Create an integrated, efficient multi-modal transportation system for San Antonio
  8. Create new sustainable real estate development that is mixed-use, mixed income, walkable, and transit-oriented
  9. Create a Green One-Stop Center to coordinate sustainability efforts and to provide information to residents and businesses
  10. Address sustainability and resource efficiency across City facilities and departments
  11. Maximize the Energy Efficiency of all City Facilities

For more information, visit the City's Sustainability webpage.