Orlando
City Scorecard Rank
15
Orlando, FL
51.50Scored out of 100Updated 8/2019
Local Government Score:
7.5 out of 9 points
Local Government Climate and Energy Goals List All
The City of Orlando releases annual progress reports to its Municipal Operations Sustainability Plan.
Climate Mitigation Goal
The Municipal Operations Sustainability Plan established a goal for the Orlando city government to be greenhouse gas-neutral by 2030. To meet this goal, the city must reduce per capita emissions by 5% annually. Orlando is on track to meet this goal. Based on ACEEE’s analysis of past years emissions data, ACEEE projects that the city will meet its near-term GHG emissions reduction goal for local government operations.
Energy Reduction Goal
The Plan includes a goal to reduce municipal energy consumption 50% below 2010 levels by 2030.
Renewable Energy Goal
The Plan also includes a goal to use renewable energy to power 100% of municipal operations by 2030.
Last updated: March 2020
Procurement and Construction List All
Fleet Policies and Composition
As part of the Energy Secure Cities Coalition (ESCC), the City of Orlando has made a commitment to transition 100% of city fleet vehicles to alternative fuels by 2030. Since 2013, the city has worked to increase the percentage of fleet vehicles with some form of alternative fuel, including an all-electric city motor pool at City Hall and electric motorcycles for the Orlando Police Department. We were unable to determine the current composition of Orlando’s municipal fleet. By 2020, Orlando reported the city would have 170 electric vehicles, 10% of total city fleet. By 2025, this will increase to 440 EVs or 25% of fleet total. Orlando also has a goal to procure 10 electric buses by 2020.
Public Lighting
Orlando passed a lighting ordinance in 2014 for public outdoor lighting. As an alternative to the development standard, lighting that conforms to the Joint International Dark-Sky Association and Illuminating Engineering Society Model Lighting Ordinance is also acceptable. Orlando has also installed over 20,000 LED streetlight in the city in collaboration with the utility, Orlando Utilities Commission. There are no formal efficiency-driven lighting replacement programs in this city, however some lighting replacements are being prioritized as part of its 7-year payback period equipment upgrading policy.
Onsite renewable systems
We were unable to find information regarding onsite renewable energy systems in Orlando.
Inclusive procurement
Orlando requires 18% MBE participation and 6% WBE participation for all municipal projects. The city has also expanded its inclusive procurement practices to support LGBTQ+ owned businesses.
Last updated: July 2020
Asset Management List All
Building Benchmarking
The Building Energy and Water Efficiency Strategy requires municipal buildings 10,000 sq. feet and up to benchmark energy usage, this information was made public on September 1, 2018. The City of Orlando has brought their buildings online through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and Lucid BuildingOS to achieve greater visibility over their portfolio. This enables the City team to better benchmark and manage their facilities and turn what used to be speculative guesswork into data-driven decisions about energy improvements and building management.
Comprehensive Retrofit Strategies
Since 2010, the City of Orlando has conducted ASHRAE Level II audits and retro-commissioning of all City facilities and identified more than 55 buildings as a priority for retrofits, based on a seven-year ROI. Utilizing a revolving energy loan fund established from a municipal bond, the City is pursuing these improvements by investing $17.5M in these facilities. Currently, the City is surpassing its Better Buildings goal of 20% savings, with those investments are tracking at $1.1M in savings and an average 31% reduction across 6.8 million square feet in energy use from the baseline in 2010.
Public Workforce Commuting
We did not find information on a policy aimed at reducing commutes of city employees, such as flexible schedules or telework.
Last updated: July 2020
Community-Wide Initiatives
Score: 10.5 out of 16 points
Community-Wide Summary List All
The City of Orlando’s Community Sustainability Action Plan outlines the city’s sustainability agenda.
Last updated: March 2020
Community-Wide Climate Mitigation and Energy GoalsList All
Climate Mitigation Goal
The Community Sustainability Action Plan establishes a greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal of 90% below 2007 levels by 2040. Based on ACEEE’s analysis of past years emissions data, ACEEE projects the city will not achieve its near-term community-wide GHG emissions reduction goal.
Energy Reduction Goal
Orlando plans to achieve a community-wide energy reduction of 25% below 2010 levels by 2040, as stated in the Community Sustainability Action Plan.
Renewable Energy Goal
Orlando plans to generate 100% of it community-wide electricity by 2050, as stated in the Community Sustainability Action Plan.
Energy Data Reporting
OUC’s annual and financial reports include community-wide energy data.
This section applies only to community-wide energy data reporting. For information on data reporting due to building energy benchmarking and disclosure policies, click on the Buildings tab.
Last updated: September 2020
Equity-Driven Approaches to Clean Energy Planning, Implementation, and EvaluationList All
Equity-Driven Community Engagement
While developing the Parramore Comprehensive Plan, the city conducted public meetings in Parramore, a historically black community, where residents were able to speak, provide comments, vote, and engage with community leaders
Equity-Driven Decision-Making
We were unable to determine if the city has created a formal role for marginalized community residents or local organizations representing those communities to participate in decision-making that affects the creation or implementation of a local energy, sustainability, or climate action plan.
Accountability to Equity
The Parramore Comprehensive Plan includes several metrics to track outcomes related to energy and health.
The city hosted internal social equity training and conducts monthly workshops to evaluate sustainability programs through a social equity lens.
Last updated: July 2020
Clean Distributed Energy SystemsList All
The Orlando Utility Commission offers district chilled-water cooling via OUCooling. There are several districts with access to OUCooling.
The City has partnered with Solar United Neighbors of Florida, to offer residents a solar co-op. Over 250 residents signed up in the first co-op (Aug-Nov 2019) and an expanded co-op will be offered in spring (Apr-Jul) 2020. OUC customers may also participate in the utility’s solar bulk purchasing program OUCollective or enroll in a community solar program (the city is an anchor tenant of the community solar farm).
The City is also partnering with the Orlando Utilities Commission and the Orlando Economic Partnership to launch a 100% Renewable Energy Pledge campaign in April, 2020. This will support the demand for additional utility scale solar farms to be added to the grid mix.
Working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Solar Energy Innovation Network, the city developed a Roadmap to 100% Renewable Energy that included analysis of rooftop solar and storage potential. This informed a Capital Improvements Projects request for five resiliency hubs, the expansion of the city's Fleet and Facilities Solar Array, and two distributed energy plus storage explorations.
Last updated: July 2020
Mitigation of Urban Heat Islands List All
UHI Mitigation Goal
The Community Sustainability Action Plan’s Livability chapter includes a goal to increase the urban canopy coverage to 40% by 2040.
UHI Policies and Programs
The city provides development bonuses for buildings that exceed the minimum environmental sustainability requirements, such as energy efficiency enhancements, stormwater design, and solar and/or other renewable energy installation.
The city has adopted a private tree protection ordinance. The Southeast Orlando Sector Plan Development Guidelines and Standards protect urban wetlands from development beyond what is currently required by state law.
Last updated: August 2020
Buildings Policies
Score: 14 out of 30 points
Buildings Summary List All
The City of Orlando complies with the State of Florida’s codes. The Building Energy and Water Efficiency Strategy requires buildings over 50,000 square feet to benchmark energy use and will require energy-saving actions beginning in 2020. Orlando offers several incentives to encourage energy efficiency improvements, solar installation, and low-income energy actions.
Last updated: September 2020
Building Energy Code AdoptionList All
Overview
Effective 2017, Florida law requires that residential and commercial buildings comply with the 6th Edition Florida Building Code. The code is based on the 2017 International Energy Conservation Code with state amendments. Cities are not permitted to adopt codes more stringent than the state codes. To learn more about Florida’s building energy codes, please visit the State Policy Database
Commercial
Commercial projects in Orlando comply with Florida’s building energy codes. Orlando has not yet begun to advocate to the state level for increased stringency in commercial building codes. The city’s zEPI score for their commercial energy code is 53.4.
Residential
Residential projects in Orlando comply with Florida’s building energy codes. Orlando has not yet begun to advocate to the state level for increased stringency in residential building codes. The city’s zEPI score for their residential energy code is 60.7.
Solar- and EV-ready
The city has not passed a policy mandating new developments be solar- and/or EV-ready. The city is currently exploring an EV-Ready ordinance.
Low-energy Use Requirements
The city requires municipal buildings to achieve LEED Gold standards.
Last updated: September 2020
Building Energy Code Enforcement and ComplianceList All
The city has 42 permitting staff who are comprehensively trained on all facets of building code compliance, but does not have any full time employees soley dedicated to energy code compliance. The city requires third-party plan review and performance testing for code compliance. The city provides opportunity to review plans prior to submission but only does so at a cost.
Last updated: September 2020
Policies Targeting Existing BuildingsList All
Commercial and multifamily benchmarking
In December 2016, Orlando passed the Building Energy and Water Efficiency Strategy (BEWES), an energy benchmarking and transparency policy. The policy requires existing commercial and multifamily buildings larger than 50,000 square feet to track whole-building energy use. Building owners must report energy use data to the City annually and make their information transparent to the real estate marketplace. The city achieved a compliance rate of 40%.
Cross-cutting requirements
Starting in May 2020, in accordance with the Building Energy and Water Efficiency Strategy, owners of buildings larger than 50,000 square feet that score under the national ENERGY STAR score of 50 must either perform an energy audit or perform a retro-commission one time every five years.
Incentives
Residential and commercial property owners may access property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing for both energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy installations.
The city partners with the non-profit Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF) and the municipal Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) to provide property owners with home energy improvements. The program is far-reaching and provides additional support to low-income homeowners.
Last updated: September 2020
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Workforce DevelopmentList All
The City of Orlando has partnered with outside organizations to develop its local energy workforce. The city participated in a taskforce with Valencia College to develop an Associate’s Degree dedicated to energy management, automation, and controls technology.
The city has also partnered with the United States Green Building Council to host ENERGY STAR 101 and 102 workshops and webinars. These training sessions are free of charge and provided to building management professionals through a classroom-style learning experience.
Last updated: September 2020
Energy & Water Utilities
Score: 5.5 out of 15 points
Energy & Water Utilities Summary List All
Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC), a municipally-owned utility, provides water and electric service to the citizens of Orlando. TECO Peoples Gas, an investor-owned utility (IOU), is Orlando’s primary natural gas utility. The State of Florida requires its utilities which post sales of 2,000 GWh or more to implement cost-effective energy efficiency programs and to conduct energy efficiency potential studies. Natural gas programs are required by orders and legislation. To learn more about the state requirements for electric and gas efficiency, please visit the Florida page of the State Database.
The City of Orlando’s Department of Public Works provides wastewater and stormwater management services for Orlando.
Last Updated: March 2020
Electric & Gas Energy Efficiency Programs and SavingsList All
In 2018, OUC reported 84,350 MWh in net incremental savings, representing 1.24% of retail sales. In 2018, OUC spent $6,616,000 on energy efficiency programs, which represents 1.01% of its retail revenue.
In 2018, TECO Peoples Gas reported 0.53 MMtherms of net natural gas savings at the meter, which represents 0.52% of its retail sales across the utility’s service territory. In 2018, TECO Peoples Gas spent $18,605,532 on energy efficiency, which equates to $53.17 per residential customer. These savings and spending figures cover the entire jurisdiction of both utilities, not just the City of Orlando.
OUC offers electric efficiency incentives and technical assistance to residential and commercial/industrial customers. TECO Peoples Gas similarly offers natural gas efficiency programs to residential and business customers.
The City of Orlando is actively working with OUC on developing more efficiency programs through the City Energy Project, including data access platform for whole-building energy use data and additional services, including benchmarking and retro-commissioning. Through the City Energy Project and the Central Florida Energy Efficiency Alliance (CFEEA), the City of Orlando is actively promoting OUC and efficiency rebates and incentives, along with organizing various summits and workshops including the efficiency and conservation managers for each company to participate. OUC also partners with the City on energy efficiency workshops for multifamily and Housing Authority communities.
At this time, the City of Orlando does not have a formal partnership with TECO Peoples Gas in the form of a jointly developed or administered energy saving strategy, plan, or agreement.
Last Updated: April 2020
Low-Income & Multifamily EE Programs List All
Low-Income Programs
The OUC offers the Residential Efficiency Delivered Program to qualified low-income residential customers. This program provides up to $2,000 of energy and water efficiency upgrades based on the needs of the customer’s home. Upgrades include ceiling insulation, duct system repair, pipe insulation, window film, window caulk, door caulk, door weatherstripping, door sweep, threshold plate, air filter replacement, toilet replacement, irrigation repairs, water flow restrictors and minor plumbing repairs. This program is implemented in collaboration with an Efficiency Delivered contractor, who are selected through a request for proposal process on a routine basis. Customers may qualify for on bill financing options. OUC and the City partner to conduct in-person outreach, host workshops and information sessions, and spread the word about the program.
In 2018, according to OUC, it achieved 2,866 MWh savings, while spending $5,791 on its low-income program and served six low-income customers.
At this time, TECO Peoples Gas does not offer energy efficiency programs targeted at low-income customers in Orlando.
Multifamily Programs
OUC offers the comprehensive retrofit Multi-Family Efficiency Program. This program provides rebates for energy efficiency upgrades such as window improvements and film insulation, cool reflective roofs, ceiling and attic insulation, new heat pumps, proper sizing of air conditioning systems, duct repair, ultra-low-flow toilets, and new water heaters and washers. A property inspection is performed to validate which energy efficiency upgrades are needed.
In 2018, according to OUC, it achieved 2,359 MWh savings, while spending $30,656 on its multifamily program and served 8 multifamily customers.
At this time, TECO Peoples Gas does not offer energy efficiency programs targeted at multifamily properties.
Last Updated: March 2020
Provision of Energy Data by UtilitiesList All
Neither Orlando Utilities Commission nor TECO Peoples Gas provide building managers with automated benchmarking data through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager for multitenant commercial or multifamily buildings. The City of Orlando is in the process of working to accelerate data provision by its utilities. Orlando is also a member of the Energy Data Accelerator through DOE.
Last Updated: March 2020
Renewable Energy Efforts of Energy UtilitiesList All
Renewable Energy Incentives
In 2018, OUC provided $126,012 in incentives for the installation of 4,274 kW of new distributed solar systems, equating to $29/kW installed.
City-Led Efforts to Decarbonize the Electric Grid
In 2018, OUC produced 3% of its total generation from renewable sources.
Last Updated: May 2020
Efficiency Efforts in Water ServicesList All
City-wide water efficiency and goals
The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) provides water saving solutions and rebate programs for residential and commercial buildings that include both water and energy efficiency measures.
The City has set a goal of reducing potable water consumption per capita by 20%, which has been reduced from 92 gal/day in 2012 to 83 gal/day in 2017. The City has also developed a Water Resource Strategy to address water conservation concerns.
Water plant efficiency and self-generation
In 2015, the Orlando Utility Commission set a Clean Energy Strategy goal of 20% of retail sales from renewables and energy efficiency by 2020. This target will require significant investment in both landfill gas and solar generation.
The city’s water system does not self-generate its own energy.
Last Updated: March 2020
Transportation
Score: 14 out of 30 points
Transportation Summary List All
The transportation authority serving the City of Orlando is The Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (Lynx). Lynx provides the public transportation for the city and the broader metropolitan area, including bus service. METROPLAN Orlando is the MPO in charge of conducting metropolitan transportation planning. Its area of jurisdiction encompasses Orlando, and many surrounding cities and towns. The Department of Transportation Engineering is the city agency charged with managing the city’s transportation network.
Last updated: January 2017
Sustainable Transportation Planning List All
Sustainable Transportation Plan
Orlando’s Community Sustainability Action Plan outlines strategies to reduce energy use in the transportation sector including expanding pedestrian and bike access to roads, increasing transit ridership, and expanding EV infrastructure.
VMT/GHG Targets and Stringency
Orlando does not have a VMT/GHG target in place for the transportation sector.
Progress Achieved Toward VMT/GHG Targets
Orlando does not track progress towards a VMT/GHG target.
Last Updated: March 2019
Location Efficiency List All
Location Efficient Zoning Codes
Orlando’s zoning code includes transect-based zoning as well as form-based zoning.
Residential Parking Policies
The City of Orlando was the first municipality to incorporate maximum parking standards into their parking code. The city has also adopted a new parking minimum requirement (to one-space per unit) for multifamily properties in Downtown Orlando.
Location Efficiency Incentives and Disclosure
As an incentive to promote location-efficient real estate development, Orlando provides discounts on impact fees up to 80%. The city also offers a robust density and intensity bonuses for development within mixed-use activity centers; mixed uses are required to obtain bonuses.
Last Updated: May 2019
Mode Shift List All
Mode Shift Targets
Based on the Community Sustainability Action Plan Update in 2018, the city is pursuing the goal of more than 50% of trips to be made by carpool, transit, bicycle, or walking city-wide.
Progress Achieved Toward Mode Shift Targets
Currently, Orlando is only tracking commute trips and no data is available for total trips made within the city.
Complete Streets
The City of Orlando has not yet adopted a complete streets policy.
Car Sharing
Orlando has a parking space lease agreement with FDOT for the on-street spaces (and one garage location) to be used for carsharing.
Bike Sharing
The city has 71.36 docked bike share bikes per 100,000 people.
Last Updated: May 2019
Transit List All
Transportation Funding
Orlando spends an average of $28.32 per capita on transit.
Access to Transit Services
The city has an All Transit Performance score of 7.1 out of 10.
Last Updated: March 2019
Efficient VehiclesList All
Vehicle Purchase Incentives
The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) offers a $3,000 rebate towards the purchase of a new Nissan Leaf.
Vehicle Infrastructure Incentives
OUC offers incentives for EV vehicle charging via its Charge-It program.
EV Charging Locations
Orlando has 51.74 publicly available EV charging locations per 100,000 people.
Renewable Charging Incentives
Orlando does not have any incentives for renewable EV charging infrastructure installation.
Last Updated: March 2019
Freight System EfficiencyList All
Orlando does not have a sustainable freight transportation plan in place nor does it have any policies that address freight efficiency.
Last Updated: March 2019
Clean, Efficient Transportation for Low-Income CommunitiesList All
Affordable New TOD Housing Policy
Orlando allows for affordable housing as a qualifying use towards mixed use requirements for density and intensity bonuses.
Connecting Existing Affordable Housing Stock to Efficient Transportation Options
As a strategy included in the Community Sustainability Action Plan 2018 Update, Orlando in the process of developing a car sharing program for low-income neighborhoods where public transit services are currently lacking. This will temporarily boost mobility options until public transit infrastructure is expanded to provide the level of service needed in these areas. To encourage the use of this program, the city will also consider providing subsidized rates for the program’s membership options to ensure affordability for all users.
Low-Income Access to High Quality Transit
51.2% of low-income households (those that earn less than $50k annually) are located near high-quality, all-day transit in Orlando.
Last Updated: April 2019