The
A2ZERO Plan is centered around 7 overarching strategies:
- Powering our electrical grid with 100% renewable energy.
- Switching our appliances and vehicles from gasoline, diesel, propane, coal, and natural gas to electric.
- Significantly improving the energy efficiency of our homes, businesses, schools, places of worship, recreational sites, and government facilities.
- Reducing the miles we travel in our vehicles by at least 50%.
- Changing the way we use, reuse, and dispose of materials.
- Enhancing the resilience of our people and our place.
- Cross-cutting initiatives such as equity, engagement, and reporting.
Supporting these seven core strategies are 44 actions. Each year the City prioritizes which actions to advance based on funding, staffing, community interest, political support, and strategic opportunities. 2024 priorities include:
- Launching the A²ZERO Assessment: Path to Zero for all residents.
- Launching a series of residential rebates and incentives programs thanks to the recently passed Community Climate Action Millage.
- Achieving 5MW of rooftop solar through Solarize.
- Breaking ground on Wheeler Center Solar Park on the City’s capped landfill.
- Collaborating with Washtenaw County and other regional stakeholders to expand County-wide climate action, including expanding many A²ZERO programs across the County.
- Growing the momentum and support for the Bryant neighborhood decarbonization program, including securing funding to help 20 homes become fully carbon neutral.
- Continue investigating pathways to achieve 100% renewable energy powering the community with a strategy brought to Council for formal consideration by year’s end.
- Making the Bryant Community Center a carbon neutral building and the City’s living, learning laboratory for climate action. To learn more about this work, check out this press release.
- Creating a circular economy strategy that is co-designed with a wide variety of Ann Arborites.
- Starting the process of creating Ann Arbor’s third and fourth resilience hubs.
- Deepening and sustaining community engagement, with a focus on engagement in underrepresented communities.
- Deploying 50 more EV chargers. Learn more about electric vehicles in Ann Arbor here.
- Embedding A²ZERO in the community’s comprehensive land use plan and unified development code.
- Completing the next two rounds of A²ZERO Ambassadors, bringing the total number of residents trained through the program to over 100.
- Expanding and unlocking greater collaboration opportunities with the A²ZERO Collaborators and OSI.
- Finalizing a green rental housing initiative and formally launching the program.
- Finalizing and formally launching a home energy rating disclosure initiative.
- Securing funding to scale the Aging in Place Efficiently program.
- Installing at least four more air quality monitors through Ann Arbor.
- Installing at least 4MW of solar at City facilities, including multiple energy storage systems.
- Planting 10,000 trees and conducting a survival study to understand efficacy of the program. Learn more about the 10,000 Trees Initiative here.
- Fully launching the A²ZERO Home Energy Advisor Program. Learn more about energy efficiency at home here.
To learn more or help support any of these initiatives, please send a note to
[email protected].