City of St. Louis Park, Minnesota

St. Louis Park is a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. Its portfolio of buildings contains seven major facilities which produce around 1,200 tons of CO₂e annually. Municipal operations run on electricity from rooftop solar or renewable energy subscriptions, which means all of the municipal emissions come from the burning of natural gas. An additional 3,000 tons CO₂e come from fleet vehicles, street lighting, and wastewater treatment and water distribution.

In 2018 the City of St. Louis Park passed its Climate Action Plan, adopting an ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goal of carbon neutrality by 2040. Since the adoption of the Climate Action Plan, the city established a new sustainability division in 2019, a new funding source for climate action incentive programs in 2021, and staff created equitably designed programs to incentivize energy efficiency, install solar, and support electrification for all types of buildings in the city. While city operations comprise just 1.5% of total city emissions, city leaders are encouraged to track and demonstrate how goals in the Climate Action Plan can be achieved. All city departments have taken steps to electrify equipment whenever possible, including purchase of light-duty fleet vehicles, landscaping equipment, and hybrid water heaters. The utilities division has taken steps to replace all motors with high-efficiency versions.

Additionally, the city cut the ribbon on the new interpretive center at Westwood Hills Nature Center, one of the only net-zero-designed commercial buildings in the state.

Leadership Commitments