Arlington County's Energy Lending Library

As part of Arlington County’s long-term commitment to sustainability, the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy (AIRE), in partnership with Arlington Public Library system, established an Energy Lending Library program, which provides a suite of tools to help community members take a hands-on approach to evaluating energy consumption and identifying opportunities to save money on energy bills. The Energy Lending Library offers thermal cameras to detect heat loss, electricity usage monitors to measure electricity consumption, curated book lists to provide energy saving tips, and its most recent addition, an LED bulb sampler kit to test different lighting levels and color temperatures. These tools are available at all seven branches in the Arlington Public Library system.

Arlington is the first local government in the U.S. to make an Energy Lending Library available to residents. The Energy Lending Library is the newest component of AIRE, which aims to cut community greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent by the year 2050. Arlington’s best practices are already being replicated by neighboring municipalities – the City of Falls Church launched a similar infrared camera lending program, and Fairfax County is currently piloting the idea.