Richmond to advance Net Zero buildings with global cohort

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The City of Richmond is now one of eight global communities in the cohort to advance Net Zero buildings following an announcement by city officials on Thursday.

On Thursday, Oct. 23, the city announced it had joined a global cohort of the Urban Land Institute (ULI)’s Net Zero Imperative (NZI) through the "RVAgreen 2050" climate action plan. The cohort is an effort to speed up decarbonization through net-zero strategies and community collaboration.

The initiative supports Richmond Mayor Danny Avula's mission of "thriving" Richmond -- where he released his 25-page “Mayoral Action Plan.”

"This is a watershed moment for Richmond. City buildings and facilities account for 26% of our municipal GHG emissions and a staggering 63% of total Citywide GHG emissions," said Laura Thomas Director of Sustainability. "Joining the ULI Net Zero Imperative is a critical step that gives us access to international expertise to turn our RVAgreen 2050 goals—a 45% GHG reduction by 2030 and net-zero by 2050—into reality. We are thrilled to collaborate with a global network of peers to tackle this universal challenge."

Richmond joins other cities like Nashville, Portland, New Orleans, Seattle, Bristol, Melbourne, Australia and Shanghai, China.

According to the Thursday release, participation in the NZI program will give Richmond technical assistance, which includes a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) consisting of national and local experts in finance, design and construction. The TAP will help the city develop tools, financial modeling and a roadmap to ensure city staff and the development community can meet net-zero targets.

City officials will begin implementation immediately, with additional updates to be shared in the coming months.

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